Previewing files is about to get a whole lot easier for Office 365 users as Microsoft has added a new toggle to Edge that allows users to to open presentations, spreadsheets and documents right from its browser.
First discovered by Reddit user Leopeva64-2, the new toggle is currently available in Canary builds of the software giant’s browser which means that Stable and Beta Edge users won’t be able to try it out just yet.
Once enabled, clicking on an Office file will open it in a new tab where users will be able to read the file without Edge downloading it first. However, there is also an option to download the file for those who want a copy saved on their device as well as an option to save it to OneDrive. Users will even be able to print Office files without downloading them directly from Edge.
Essentially this new feature will work in a similar way to how Edge and other browsers open PDF files which can be previewed without having to download them.
Office Viewer toggle
Edge Canary users that want to test out this new feature for themselves can find the new Office Viewer toggle by going to Settings > Downloads in their browser. Once at the Downloads page, you’ll see a toggle called ‘Quickly view Office files on the web using Office Viewer’.
Microsoft has also added another new feature to Edge Canary that allows users to sort their Collections by recently used, date created and name.
Downloading every file you need to look at while working from home can take up unnecessary space on your hard drive which is why this new feature will likely be welcomed by Edge users once it gets incorporated into a stable build of the browser.
Via MSPoweruser