Open PDFs from MS Teams in Your Desktop PDF Viewer

Microsoft Teams
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I've been using MS Teams as a file folder, which works well for accessing and editing Office files. However, it doesn't work well with PDF files. I rely on a specialized PDF viewer/editor, Bluebeam, which I've customized to maximize my productivity. Unfortunately, MS Teams and web browsers aren't effective for viewing and editing PDF files, forcing me to download the file, open it locally, and then use it. This is frustrating and inefficient. It seems like MS Teams has taken a step back in productivity by not providing adequate navigation and functionality for PDF files. This issue needs to be addressed!

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You’re not alone in this frustration I’ve got a solution that might help. Here’s how you can get your PDFs to open in Bluebeam straight from MS Teams:

First, you’ll need to set up your default PDF viewer on your system. This will ensure that when you open a PDF from Teams, it opens in Bluebeam instead of the web browser or Teams’ built-in viewer. Here’s how to do that:

  1. Windows Users:
    • Open the Start menu and search for “default apps.”
    • Click on “Default Apps” to open the settings.
    • Scroll down to the “Choose default apps by file type” section.
    • Click on “.pdf” and select Bluebeam from the list.
    • If you don’t see Bluebeam, click on “Choose an app” and navigate to where you installed Bluebeam.
  2. Mac Users:
    • Go to the Apple menu and select “System Preferences.”
    • Click on “General” and then select “Default Apps.”
    • Click on “Select” next to “PDF” and choose Bluebeam from the list.

Once you’ve set up your default PDF viewer, you can try opening a PDF from MS Teams again. Here’s how:

  1. Go to the file you want to open in MS Teams.
  2. Hover over the file and click the three dots that appear.
  3. Click “Open in” and then select “Open in browser” (don’t worry, it won’t open in the browser).
  4. The file should now download and automatically open in Bluebeam.

Alternatively, if you have the OneDrive sync app installed on your system, you can also sync your Teams files to your local machine. This way, you can access your files directly from your local folder and open them in Bluebeam without having to go through Teams:

  1. Install the OneDrive sync app if you haven’t already.
  2. Set up the app to sync your Teams files to your local machine.
  3. Open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) and navigate to your synced Teams folder.
  4. Find the PDF you want to open and double-click it – it should open in Bluebeam.

Give these methods a try and see if they improve your productivity with PDF files in MS Teams.