Microsoft Edge Canary has added a new option that brings the ability for users to open Office files directly on the web without downloading them. The feature is available for select Insiders in build 90.0.800.0, as spotted by Reddit user u/Leopeva64-2.
Edge Insiders who have the option enabled in Settings will be able to quickly open online documents, including spreadsheets, presentations, and more, in the Office web app. The feature even works on PCs where Microsoft Office is not installed. However, the files will only open in a view-only mode (with download, save to OneDrive, and print options), and users won’t be able to edit the document directly from the browser.
To use this feature, users first need to go to Settings and click the Downloads tab. From there, enable the “Quickly view Office files on the web using Office Viewer” option, and finally, restart the browser to apply the changes.
In addition to this feature, the latest build has also enabled a new Collections sorting option for users. Edge has added the ability to sort items by the date they last accessed the collection entries. This functionality is in addition to the existing sort by name and date options, and it’s already available to a large number of Edge Canary users.
This tiny but useful addition has been designed to make it easier for users to catch up on recent work after a break. Currently, there’s been no word on when Microsoft will bring the feature to its Stable channel, but it should begin showing up for users running Beta and Dev versions of the browser sooner rather than later.
