I was recently asked how to configure documents that are in a SharePoint document library to open in their native application on the client computer instead of the browser. This question came from a user in SharePoint Online, but the answer is the same for those using SharePoint Server 2013, 2016, and 2019.
There is a feature at the site collection level and a setting on every document library that you use to decide how documents get opened. I searched for an official Microsoft document detailing how this can be accomplished, but I could only find a post from 2014 that said it was for Office Web Apps – a product that has been replaced by Office Online Server – and SharePoint 2013.
Check out my short video below walking through the settings!
