Enabling 'View in File Explorer' in Office 365

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 Office 365 has a new method to open libraries in Windows Explorer.

Although Microsoft makes it clear that OneDrive should be the preferred way to access online content going forward (in tandem with files on demand feature to avoid using storage space), the open with explorer option, now called "View in File Explorer" is still an option.

To enable this option fully, without issues, there are a number of steps that should be performed.

Enable the option at the tenant level

To enable the option to open a library with explorer, we need to have tenant rights and run the following commands:

Connect-SPOService -Url https://contoso-admin.sharepoint.com

Set-SPOTenant -ViewInFileExplorerEnabled $True


Push the registry key to allow the action

Unlike in previous iterations, the open with explorer option is only available in the browser Edge from Microsoft and even then it is only usable (even though it can be visible) if a certain key is installed.

Enable the ConfigureViewInFileExplorer policy for Microsoft Edge that allows URLs with the viewinfileexplorer: scheme to open WebDAV URLs in Windows File Explorer

Example (can be saved as .reg and executed):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge]
"ConfigureViewInFileExplorer"="[{\"cookies\": [\"rtFa\", \"FedAuth\"], \"domain\": \"sharepoint.com\"}]"


Configure the domain as a trusted site

After doing both of the above, the option will a) be there and b) be clickable.
But that is not all.
If we don't have the optimum internet settings by adding our domains as trusted, we will receive security warnings when moving content around in the explorer window.




Fortunately, there are keys available to setup our domains as trusted sites, both in terms of browser access (https) and explorer access (file). Note that this particular key requires the user to sign out and then sign back in, as adding the key alone will not be enough.

Example (can be saved as .reg and executed):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;browser access
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains\sharepoint.com\contoso]
"https"=dword:00000002

;explorer access
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains\sharepoint.com@ssl\contoso]
"file"=dword:00000002



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