What you need to know
- Microsoft recently changed the way you open Office files on Android.
- If you currently have Microsoft 365 and standalone Office apps installed on your phone, files will open in standalone Office apps by default.
- Microsoft explained that many users find the old default behavior confusing.
Microsoft 365 can be evaluated in several ways on your smartphone, which is useful, but can also be confusing. Users shared with Microsoft that the default way to open Office files on iOS and Android created uncertainty. Microsoft has resolved the issue with new default behavior that determines how Office files are opened.
If you have standalone Office apps installed, such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, the file you open will open in each standalone app. If you don’t have standalone Office applications on your phone, you won’t see any changes and your files will continue to open in Microsoft 365 apps. If you’re sent an Office file but don’t have a Microsoft app to open it, you’ll be directed to the App Store or Google Play Store page for the appropriate standalone app.
Microsoft detailed the changes in a Tech Community post.
| composition | Previous/current behavior | planned action |
| Users have both Microsoft 365 apps and standalone Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps installed | Microsoft 365 apps typically handle opening files | Standalone Word, Excel, and PowerPoint handle their respective file open actions |
| The user has Microsoft 365 apps installed, but not the standalone Word, Excel, or PowerPoint apps. | Microsoft 365 Apps handles file opens | Microsoft 365 Apps handles file opens |
| User doesn’t have Microsoft 365 apps or standalone Word, Excel, or PowerPoint apps installed | User is directed to App Store/Google Play to download Microsoft 365 | Users are directed to the App Store/Google Play to download standalone Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps |
“Our goal is to improve predictability of how files are opened when starting from the main ‘hub’ experiences on mobile devices (OneDrive, Outlook, Teams). If a standalone Word, Excel, or PowerPoint app is installed, it will generally be used first to process files. Open Operations,” Microsoft said.
“For customers who want to open multiple Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files at once, standalone apps can better handle side-by-side and window scenarios that modern tablet and mobile operating systems support.”
OneDrive on iOS and Android has already received the changes. Microsoft plans to ship updates for Outlook on iOS and Android in stages from October to November. The exact date the changes will be implemented in Teams on iOS and Android has not yet been determined by Microsoft.
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Comparing Microsoft 365 and standalone Office apps
Microsoft’s Office apps have been available on iOS and Android for years, but the exact way you use the apps has changed a bit over time. In 2020, Microsoft introduced unified Office apps that include Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. This app also integrates with Office Lens to make scanning documents easier.
If you look in the Google Play Store or App Store for Microsoft Office, you won’t find any apps named “Office.” This is because Microsoft rebranded Office to Microsoft 365 in 2022. With the rebrand comes a new name for the tech giant’s mobile efforts. Microsoft 365 is now the central hub for Microsoft services.
While a centralized hub is helpful, opening all your Office files in one app can be limiting. As Microsoft highlights, standalone apps improve multitasking by allowing you to open apps side by side. For example, if you want to open a Word document and an Excel spreadsheet at the same time, you need to have at least Word and Excel installed on your phone.
Opening a spreadsheet and a document on a smartphone at the same time would have been laughable when devices were small, but now that large screens are the norm and foldable devices are commonplace, multitasking on a smartphone has become a no-brainer. It’s a realistic option. If you’re using a device that supports a desktop-like environment, such as Samsung DeX, being able to open multiple files at once is also useful.
