What you need to know
- Microsoft changed how Office files open on Android recently.
- Now, if you have Microsoft 365 and a standalone Office app on your phone, files will open in the standalone Office app by default.
- Microsoft explained that many users found the old default behavior confusing.
Microsoft 365 can be assessed several ways on a smartphone, which is convenient but can also cause confusion. Users shared with Microsoft that the default way Office files opened on iOS and Android created uncertainty. Microsoft has cleared things up with new default behaviors that dictate how Office files will open.
If you have a standalone Office app installed, such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, files you open will open in their respective standalone apps. If you do not have any standalone Office applications on your smartphone, you'll see no change and files will still open in the Microsoft 365 app. If you are sent an Office file but do not have any Microsoft apps to open it, you will now be directed to the App Store or Google Play Store page for the appropriate standalone app.
Microsoft broke down the changes in a Tech Community post:
| Configuration | Previous/Current Behavior | Planned Behavior |
| Users have both Microsoft 365 app and standalone Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps installed | Microsoft 365 app would typically handle file opens | Standalone Word, Excel, PowerPoint will handle their respective file open actions |
| Users have the Microsoft 365 app installed but not the standalone Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps. | Microsoft 365 app handles file open | Microsoft 365 app handles file open |
| Users don’t have Microsoft 365 app or the standalone Word, Excel, PowerPoint apps installed | Users directed to the App Store / Google Play to download Microsoft 365 | Users directed to the App Store / Google Play to download standalone Word, Excel, PowerPoint app |
"Our goal is to improve predictability for how files get opened when starting from our key “hub” experiences on mobile devices (OneDrive, Outlook, Teams) – the standalone Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps if installed will essentially be favored to handle file open operations," said Microsoft.
"For customers who want to open more than one Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file at once, the standalone apps can better handle side by side and windowing scenarios that modern tablet and mobile operating systems support."
OneDrive on iOS and Android have already received the change. Microsoft will ship the update to Outlook on iOS and Android gradually throughout October and November. Exact dates for the change being implemented in Teams on iOS and Android are still being determined by Microsoft.
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Microsoft 365 vs standalone Office apps
Microsoft's Office apps have been available on iOS and Android for years, though the exact method of using the apps has shifted a bit over time. In 2020, Microsoft introduced a combined Office app that included Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. The app also integrated 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 see an app named "Office." That's because Microsoft rebranded Office to Microsoft 365 in 2022. Along with that shift in branding came a new name for the tech giant's mobile efforts. Now, Microsoft 365 is a central hub for Microsoft services.
While a centralized hub is convenient, having all your Office files open in a single app can be restrictive. As highlighted by Microsoft, multitasking is made better with standalone apps because you can open them side-by-side. For example, if you want to have a Word document and an Excel spreadsheet open at the same time, you'll want at least Word and Excel installed on your smartphone.
Having a spreadsheet and a document open at the same time on a smartphone would have been laughable when devices were smaller, but with large screens now the standard and folding devices being normal, multitasking on a smartphone is now a viable option. Being able to open multiple files at once is also handy if you have a device that supports a desktop-like environment, such as Samsung DeX.
