Finally! Android users can now open shared Microsoft Office files without having to sign in

Date:
Fri, 30 May 2025 12:02:32 +0000

Description:
This is an ability that iPhone owners have had for some time now, so Android is playing catch-up here but it's still a handy quality-of-life upgrade.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Android phone owners can now quickly view Office files in a hassle-free way Previously, if you were sent an Office file, you had to sign in to your Microsoft account even to have a swift glance at it No login is required now, as has been the case with iOS for a while

Microsoft has just brought the anonymous file sharing ability that was
already in iOS to Android users, so those phone owners can view an Office
file thats been sent to them without being forced to log in to their
Microsoft account.

Currently, if you get sent a link to a Word file (or other Microsoft Office format such as Excel), when you access it on an Android smartphone , youll have to sign in to your Microsoft account before you can view it.

However, as Android Authority reports , Microsoft has now done away with that requirement, so you can simply click and view the Office file on your phone. But if you want to do anything else like editing a Word document youve received, or popping in a comment then youll still need to sign in, as those changes need to be attributed to you. (You will see a prompt informing you of this, by the way).

Youll need an up-to-date version of Office on your mobile for this to work, though, with Microsoft noting in the blog post introducing the change that version 16.0.18827.20066 or later is required.

As Android Authority observes, the ability to click a link and open an Office file in this way, without being signed in, has been available on iPhone for a few months now. Analysis: About time for Android (Image credit: Microsoft)

It took some time to provide this functionality for Android, then, which is a bit odd, seeing as youd think thatd be a priority for Microsoft (with that mobile OS representing the majority of smartphones). Still, its good to see the feature debut, even if Android users have had to wait a while for this trick to be drafted across.

Obviously, its quite inconvenient to click a link on a file youve been sent and then be prompted to sign in, if all you want to do, perhaps, is have a quick glance at the document thats been sent.

I should note that the sender of the file still needs to be logged in with their Microsoft account to share a file, of course, its only the recipient that can view the file (and only view it) anonymously, with no sign-in
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/software/finally-android-users-can-now-ope n-shared-microsoft-office-files-without-having-to-sign-in


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