Forum Discussion

Sherly's avatar
Sherly
Explorer | Level 3
5 years ago
Solved

How to open word desktop in the online version

I open my document in microsoft word online version of Dropbox and I would like to edit it using my desktop app. How can I do this? There is no function for opening it in word desktop version. 

 

  • Hi Sherly, thanks for reaching out to us here!

     

    Through the Word Online app, there wouldn't be an option to open the file locally for editing.

     

    To open your files in the local Microsoft apps for editing, you can use the Dropbox desktop app to sync your files locally to your computer. You can check out more info about the desktop app here.

     

    It will create a local Dropbox folder on your computer which will sync any changes with your account online. This will allow you to open the files in local apps for editing and the changes you make with sync with your Dropbox account.

     

    Let me know if this helps!

46 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion
  • acboydston's avatar
    acboydston
    Helpful | Level 6
    5 years ago

    Hi Walter,

    Yes, the open button is present and works find.

    There used to be an option to open in desktop Word. Now this is only an option to open in Word for the web.

    Connect aps:

    Default aps:

    Thanks.

  • gabicatalyze's avatar
    gabicatalyze
    New member | Level 2
    5 years ago

    Hi Walter, 

     

    My entire organization is having the same problem. We all have the "open" button (next to "share") when we open a link to the doc/ppt/excel, and that used to list an option called "Open in Word" /PowerPoint/Excel but that is gone and we only have the edit online version. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Our connected apps only shows "Microsoft office online"

     

    Thanks!

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    5 years ago

    Hi there acboydston; happy Friday and thanks for joining this discussion. 

     

    Could you clarify if you're not seeing the Open button on our website at all or if you're not getting the results you'd like? 

     

    On that note, can you take a look at your Connected Apps tab as well as the default ones and let us know what you find there? 

     

    Thanks!

     

     

  • missionstudios's avatar
    missionstudios
    Explorer | Level 4
    5 years ago

    When someone emails me a video file with a dropbox link, I click it and it opens a window in my browser (Chrome). I can preview the video. Up in the top left, there are two buttons, Share and Open. Both have a drop down arrow. For Open, I used to click the drop down arrow and I would see "Open in File Explorer" or something like that. When I clicked it, it opened the folder with the file location in Windows 10 File Explorer.

     

    It is now gone. All I have are "Connect Apps".

     

    The Dropbox app is running on my system. I'm logged into the browser and the app with the same DB account. I restarted the system.

     

    Thoughts?

  • acboydston's avatar
    acboydston
    Helpful | Level 6
    5 years ago

    But previously, in the browser view of dropbox, there was an option to 'open in Word desktop.' Similarly, there was an option to 'show in finder.' Have these features intentionally been removed?

  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    5 years ago

    Hi Sherly, thanks for reaching out to us here!

     

    Through the Word Online app, there wouldn't be an option to open the file locally for editing.

     

    To open your files in the local Microsoft apps for editing, you can use the Dropbox desktop app to sync your files locally to your computer. You can check out more info about the desktop app here.

     

    It will create a local Dropbox folder on your computer which will sync any changes with your account online. This will allow you to open the files in local apps for editing and the changes you make with sync with your Dropbox account.

     

    Let me know if this helps!

About Delete, Edit, and Organize

Solve issues with deleting, editing, and organizing files and folders in your Dropbox account.

The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X, Facebook or Instagram.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!