Microsoft Teams Issue Prevents Users from Accessing Embedded Office Documents
A widespread service issue is currently impacting Microsoft Teams users globally, preventing many from opening embedded Microsoft Office documents within the collaboration platform. Reports began surfacing early this morning, with users expressing frustration over their inability to access essential files such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations directly in their Teams channels and chats. This disruption affects a core function of the Teams application, which is designed to facilitate seamless collaboration. Users typically can open and co-author Office files without leaving the Teams interface. However, the ongoing problem results in a broken workflow, with users encountering continuous loading screens, error messages, or blank windows when attempting to access embedded files. This situation is causing significant productivity hurdles for organisations that rely on Teams as their central communication and work hub.
Microsoft has officially acknowledged the issue and initiated an investigation, posting an advisory on the Microsoft 365 Service Health Dashboard under incident ID TM1143347. While Microsoft engineers work towards a resolution, affected users have identified several temporary workarounds. These include using the “Open in Browser” option to view files in the respective Office web application, selecting “Open in Desktop App” to launch files in their native programs, downloading local copies of files, or navigating to the underlying SharePoint or OneDrive folders to access documents directly. IT administrators are advised to monitor the Service Health Dashboard for the latest updates on the situation. Although Microsoft has not provided an estimated time for resolution, the issue is being treated with high priority, and users are encouraged to utilise the suggested workarounds to minimise workflow disruptions.
Categories: Service Disruption, Microsoft Teams, Workarounds
Tags: Microsoft Teams, Service Issue, Embedded Documents, Office Files, Collaboration, Productivity, Workarounds, Service Health Dashboard, Investigation, Error Message