Edit an Office file in Teams

In this article

Edit a file directly in Teams

Additional tools

Edit an Office file in its desktop or web app

Edit a file directly in Teams

1. Select a file from any of these locations:
   • The files list when you select Files on the left side of Teams
   • The Files tab at the top of a chat or channel
   • The message where the file was attached
   
   By default, the file opens inside Teams with the standard Office tools available at the top of the screen.

2. Start editing.

Additional tools

Depending on the file type, you’ll see the some of the following buttons in the top right of the Teams screen.

• Editing    Here you can indicate whether you want to work with the file as an editor (the default) or reviewer, or simply view the file.
  
  

• Copy Link    To share the file with others, send them the copied link.
  
  To change who can open the file and whether they can edit or download it, select People in your organization with the link can edit and make your choices.

• Catch up    Here you can view changes that others have made since you last viewed the file.

• Conversation    This will show you the chat or channel thread inside Teams that relates to the file.

• More options    Here you can choose to open the file in its web app or download it.

• Close  This will close the file and take you back to where you were in Teams when you first opened the file.

Edit an Office file in its desktop or web app

Before attempting to edit an Office file in its desktop app, make sure you've met these prerequisites:

• Be using the Teams desktop app for Windows or macOS

• Must have an Office 365 E3 or E5 license

• Download the desktop apps for PowerPoint, Word, and Excel (Office version 16 or newer)

1. Right-click a file from any of these locations:
   • The files list when you select Files on the left side of Teams
   • The Files tab at the top of a chat or channel
   • The message where the file was attached

2. Select Open in and choose Desktop app or Open in browser.

If you’re using Teams on the web, you’ll be able to choose between Teams and Browser.

You can also manually choose where a file is opened without changing your default setting by going to the file and selecting More options   > Open.

Alternatively, go to Settings and more   at the top right of Teams, and select Files > File open preference. From the dropdown options, select the default app you want to open Office files in.