Sync includes Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 Online integrations that make it easy to open and edit Office documents stored in your Sync account using Office for mobile, web or the desktop apps. In this article:
- Open and edit from the Sync web panel with Microsoft 365
- Open and edit from your phone or tablet
- Open and edit directly on your Windows or Mac desktop
- Document preview preferences for Office
- Data privacy and retention when using Microsoft 365 Online
Open and edit from the Sync web panel with Microsoft 365
Sync Pro Solo and Pro Teams customers can open and edit Office documents stored in Sync, using the Microsoft 365 online web-based editor.
To open or edit Office documents:
- Sign in to the web panel.
- Click on a .docx, .xlsx or .pptx document to preview it (older .doc, .xls, or .ppt formats are not supported).
- To edit a document, from the preview screen or file menu, click Edit in Office (editing may require an Microsoft 365 license, depending on your account type).
- When you are finished editing, click Back to Sync from the Microsoft 365 editor (located on the title bar at the top of the editor window), to save your edits back to Sync.
Notes:
- The Free Sync Starter plan has the Edit in Office option, but does not have the View in Office option.
- Password protected Word documents cannot be edited with the Office Online editor. Once a Word document is password protected it can only be edited using a desktop version of Word.
- The maximum file size supported for web-based editing is 50 MB for .docx, 5 MB for .xlsx and 300 MB for .pptx. If your files are larger you'll need to edit with the Office desktop or Office mobile apps.
Collaborating with multiple users on Microsoft 365:
For more information on how to collaborate with other users refer to: How to manage shared link permissions
Open and edit from your phone or tablet
Microsoft provides a full suite of mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android devices, including Word, Excel and Powerpoint. All Sync customers can open and edit documents and files stored in Sync, directly from these apps (editing requires an Microsoft 365 subscription).
See the using the Microsoft Office mobile apps for iOS and Android with Sync article for step-by-step instructions.
Open and edit directly on your Windows or Mac desktop
When you install Sync on your Windows or Mac computer, the Sync app will create a special Sync folder. The Sync folder works just like any other folder on your computer, allowing you to open and edit your documents and files, using virtually any application installed on your computer, including Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
To open and edit Office documents stored in your Sync account, directly on your computer, you'll need to have the Sync desktop app installed, and Microsoft Office installed (editing requires an Office license). All Sync customers can install the Sync desktop app.
To open or edit Office documents:
- Install the Sync desktop app on your computer.
- With the Sync desktop is installed, navigate to the Sync folder.
- Double click on any Office document in your Sync folder to open it (you'll need to have Microsoft Office installed on your computer).
- Save your edits. The Sync app will automatically synchronize your edits to the cloud.
Document preview preferences for Office
The Sync.com web panel includes a built-in previewer, that makes it easy to view Office documents without downloading them first.
Sync Pro Solo and Pro Teams customers can choose whether to use Sync's built-in previewer or use the Microsoft Office Online previewer, which provides more accurate rendering and better performance for larger documents.
Document previews are not available to Sync free or Personal customers.
To change your previewer preferences:
- Sign in to the web panel.
- Click Settings from the left navigation bar.
- Under Web previews click the (setting cog)
- Select Office Online, or Office Online for Business to use the Microsoft-hosted previewer (choose the Business setting to use an existing Microsoft 365 account).
- Select Sync to use the built-in Sync previewer.
- Click Save.
Notes:
With Office Online selected (or when editing with Microsoft 365), the encrypted document data is downloaded directly into the browser, decrypted in real-time, and then re-encrypted and streamed through an automated Microsoft-hosted helper server.
With Sync selected, the encrypted document data is downloaded directly into the browser, decrypted in real-time, and then re-encrypted and streamed through a Sync-hosted helper server.
See the previewing documents and photos, from the web panel article for more information.
Data privacy and retention when using Microsoft 365 Online
The Microsoft previewer is not enabled by default, and opt-in only on first use. You can toggle the previewer or choose not to use this feature anytime.
If you choose the Edit in Office or Office Online preview options in Sync, your document is securely transmitted to a Microsoft-hosted application server. This process is triggered client side, and cannot be triggered server side by Sync. This feature is encrypted, but not end-to-end encrypted. Here, our encryption methodology minimizes data exposure by re-encrypting the document being shared to the Microsoft application with a unique share key.
While in use, Microsoft’s hosted editor temporarily gains access to the document. Based on Microsoft’s documentation, this data should only persist for the duration of your session. However, Sync does not have visibility into or control over Microsoft’s internal data retention policies. Your use of the Microsoft 365 Online editor is governed by Microsoft’s Services Agreement.
If you prefer not to share document data with Microsoft, we recommend you edit your files locally using the Sync desktop app and locally installed Microsoft Office software.