Microsoft Edge might have some benefits over Chrome and Mozilla. These include much lower resource requirements and a more integrated user interface with other Microsoft apps (and the operating system itself). But Edge has an annoying habit of trying to open Office documents (and some other files) instead of downloading them to your device for later viewing. If you’re not careful, you might be unable to view a file when you go offline because it was never downloaded.
Here’s how to turn off Office File Viewer in Edge.
Method 1. Turn Off Office File Viewer in Edge Through Browser Settings
While it might be annoying, the ability to view files without downloading them could come in handy. This is why Edge has a setting to specifically enable or disable the function relatively easily.
Step 1. Open Microsoft Edge.
Step 2. Click on the “More” icon on the top-right (three dots).
Step 3. Choose the “Settings” option near the bottom of the menu.
Step 4. Select the “Downloads” tab on the left-hand side.
Step 5. Toggle the “Open Office files in the browser” setting to “OFF.”
If you want even more control over your downloads, you can turn on the “Ask me what to do with each download” option. Once you do that, you’ll get notifications whenever you’re about to download a file, prompting you to pick between opening or saving. With both options turned on, the first will overwrite the second, asking you to save or download.
Method 2. Turn Off Office File Viewer in Edge for All Users as an Admin
If you have a corporate PC that multiple users access on separate accounts, each user will get the default Edge settings. This means it would be up to each user to perform Method 1 on their own. Even if you change the settings on an administrator account, they won’t “go through” to the rest. However, there’s a way to bypass that with the Registry Editor.
Step 1. Log onto your PC with an administrator account. Typically, this is the first account set up on the device.
Step 2. Open Windows search and type in “regedit” in the search bar.
Step 3. You’ll get the Registry Editor as the only available option. Choose “Run as administrator” and confirm your choice when prompted by the User Account Controls.
Step 4. Go to File and select “Export.”
Step 5. Give the file an appropriate name, select the folder where you want to save it, and press “Save.” This will be your backup file that you can import if something goes wrong during the process.
Step 6. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge or
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Edge
Step 7. Import the following registry: “QuickViewOfficeFilesEnabled”=dword:00000000
Step 8. Close the Registry Editor and restart Microsoft Edge.
This should disable the option to change the relevant setting inside the browser (from Method 1).
You can also download the following registry file, then double-click on it to open and merge it with your current registry. Make sure you’ve backed up your registry before that.
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