SharePoint - Open in app

Owned by Dan Jakubiak
Last updated: Dec 05, 2023
2 min read

Faculty, staff and students can work in SharePoint without needing to synchronize the library with their computers by using the “Open in app” feature. Users with large Document Libraries, over a couple hundred thousand files, can operate entirely within their browser using the OneDrive app as an intermediary. Using this approach, users can open a file in its corresponding desktop application without keeping their entire SharePoint Document Library in sync with their computer.

Use this approach when

  • You have hundreds of thousands of files and therefore cannot sync the data in a traditional manner

  • The files are not interconnected (linked to one another)

  • The files are not M365 files (Word, Excel, etc.)*

  • You prefer the website interface

*This approach will work just as well with M365 files; however, it is not required because these files can be opened and edited directly in the web browser.

How is this approach different?

This approach exists to overcome a limitation of the OneDrive app. The OneDrive App can keep up to roughly 300,000 files in SharePoint/OneDrive in sync with your computer. This limitation is further explained here: OneDrive App Sync Limitation - File Count.

Following the “Open in app” approach, users can edit individual files without needing to sync the entire SharePoint, or Document Library, to their computer. The files that you open are still downloaded and kept in sync using the OneDrive app. The files are stored in a temporary repository on your computer. These files stored in the temporary location are one-time-use files; if you need to open the file again, open the file from the web browser a second time.

How to “Open in app”

“Open in app” can be set as the default action when you click on a file. Learn how to adjust this preference by following the SharePoint - Desktop App as Default guide.

  1. Navigate to s.uconn.edu/sharepoint and sign in with your UConn email address and NetID password.

  2. Click on your SharePoint site.

  3. Click on Documents or another Document Library to view the files.

  4. Find the desired file and right-click, or click on the ellipsis, to find more options.

  5. Click on Open and then Open in app.

  6. Accept the popup windows if they appear.

  7. Work on the file in its respective application and save your work as you normally would.

  8. When you are finished, close the file.

The OneDrive app will handle the downloading of the file and the uploading of your changes to the file.

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