You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.

Forum Discussion

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

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!

  • missionstudios's avatar
    missionstudios
    Explorer | Level 4

    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?

    • anonymous's avatar
      anonymous

      Good morning, I am getting the exact same issue on the Mac - we have a cross-platform company, so we are constantly sharing files via "dropbox links" so we can find the right file in the right location. I used to click "show in Finder" and it is no longer there, it has broken our workflow as the item just disappeared. I have updated my dropbox to v106.04.368 and I am on the latest chrome Version 85.0.4183.121. 

       

      Would love to get some help on where this valuable feature has moved to. 

      • Lusil's avatar
        Lusil
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hey anonymous - thanks for joining us on this discussion, and it's great to hear from you again.

         

        Are you not getting the "Open" option for all files or specific ones? 

         

        For those that you can't see the button for, do you see them locally on your computer? 

         

        Keep me posted!

    • Lusil's avatar
      Lusil
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hi there missionstudios, thanks for checking in with us. 

       

      Out of curiosity, is the video file sent to you as a shared file, in a shared link, or as part of a shared folder?

       

      Looking forward to hearing back from you!

  • jcoop's avatar
    jcoop
    New member | Level 2

    Hi-

    This drives me crazy - sometimes, while accessing Dropbox Excel or Word files stored here- they are allowed to be opened & edited in the full desktop program instance of either. Then the next day, when going back to work on the same file - I only have the option of the web version of Excel or Word. Nothing has changed, from the way I access the files. I don't understand?! Can anyone shed any light on this?

    Thanks

    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hey jcoop, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

       

      Can you double-check that the Dropbox desktop app is working on your computer?

       

      If you hover over your Dropbox icon, what's the sync status and version of the app?

       

      Also, if you navigate to the files directly from the Dropbox folder and not from the website, are you able to open and edit the files?

       

      And do your changes sync online?

  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    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!

    • acboydston's avatar
      acboydston
      Helpful | Level 6

      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?

      • tmorgan's avatar
        tmorgan
        New member | Level 2

        Trying to open a file save in dropbox as an excel file. It won't give me the excel option in the drop down anymore

         

    • SalimB's avatar
      SalimB
      New member | Level 2

      I have setup dropbox for business for a client and they now have members of staff working from home on their own PCs.  They should be able to open dropbox files from a browser login and work remotely without having the company dropbox account linked and downloaded on their PC.

      Please tell me this is a software issue and not a "feature" as people who have Microsoft office installed should not have to rely on online versions of this software to open their own files.

      I can't accept that as an "accepted solution".  Can someone from Dropbox please clarify if this is the case going forwards or will this be fixed.

      • acboydston's avatar
        acboydston
        Helpful | Level 6

        Here's what I've been using for years on dropbox.com:

        'Open in Microsoft Word' and 'Show in Finder' are brilliant features. As expected, the document is opened by desktop Word. The initial accepted response is incorrect--docs are supposed to be opened in desktop Word from the browser. (Unless DB is sunsetting this feature) These two options disappeared for me for some weeks and recently returned.