How to Change OneDrive View-Only Links Back to Reading View by Default?

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How to Change OneDrive View-Only Links Back to Reading View by Default?

Pete 20

I've been sharing docs on my organizations website using View-Only links. It's been great because it always opened in Reading View by default and has all these accessibility features and looks clean like the desktop view, because for whatever reason Microsoft decided the web and browser editing experience has wildly different formats.

I got a complaint today from a coworker and checked to see that now the View-Only links open in a non-editible view of the browser editing window, which mucks up all the formatting! I double checked by going to an InPrivate version of our web page so I'm signed out of everything and it still opens like that. Now users have to go to View > Reading View to get back to what was the default view and access the accessibility features.

I'm hoping someone can point me to what Microsoft changed and if there's a toggle or option I can select so that View-Only links go back to Reading View as the default. If there's not a way, 90% of the whole purpose I've been selling coworkers on using this platform instead of exporting to PDFs goes right out the window.

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Answer 1

Ian-Ng 10,515 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Pete,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Thanks for that detailed breakdown. I can totally see why this change is such a headache, especially since you’ve been doing such a great job pitching OneDrive and Office for the web as the go-to, streamlined alternative to those static PDFs.

Microsoft periodically implements service-side modifications to the default "open experience" parameters. Given the absence of a global tenant-level configuration to enforce legacy Reading View, it is necessary to determine if this behavior stems from a broad service-side deployment or a specific environment configuration.

To identify the appropriate workaround, please I will need to clarify these points first:

Are these files stored in a private OneDrive for Business folder or a SharePoint site library?
Does this happen specifically with Word documents, or are Excel and PowerPoint files also losing their default Reading View?
Could you provide a redacted example of the link format (removing your tenant and file names)?Seeing the URL parameters specifically what follows the ? or & is the fastest way to see how the browser is being told to render the file.
Is the link set for Anyone (anonymous) or restricted to people in your organization?
If you create a brand-new "View-only" link for a test file today, does it still bypass Reading View?

While we investigate the details above, here are a few things you can test in the meantime:

Could you please re-check link settings?
- please ensure the link is strictly set to Can view or View only rather than "Only people with existing access."
Manual workaround: You can advise colleagues that they can return to the cleaner layout manually by selecting View > Reading View from the top menu.
Embed-style publishing: For website links, using the Embed code's source URL often forces a "viewer-only" layout that hides the editor toolbars entirely.

I hope this information helps. Thank you for your kindness and for contributing to the forum.

Looking forward to your response.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Pete 20 Reputation points

2026-03-06T19:05:07.2566667+00:00
Hello, here's the info you're asking for

SharePoint site library

There doesn't seem to be any changes with PowerPoint or Excel from how they've been shared before, just Word.

Here's the end of the url, created using Anyone Can View: ?e=MgJfIC . It changed to this when viewed in an InPrivate window and when signed out of OneDrive: ?rtime=1qF2brJ73kg

All links I share on the website have been Anyone Can View, not restricted

I created a new doc and created a Anyone Can View share link and it also defaulted to the non-editable editor view, not reading view. Here's what the end of that URL looked like ?e=Xf5dRJ . It then transformed into this when looking at the link destination in an InPrivate window: ?rtime=0-7jQrJ73kg

I checked the settings for the other links on our site, and they remain Anyone Can View links and access. The 2 work arounds are unacceptable for our organization. The files need to be hyperlinked docs that display as they should in an accessible format, which if not the Reading means it needs to be an accessible PDF, we also cannot expect the public visiting our website to know the manual work around.
Ian-Ng 10,515 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-06T22:37:37.9966667+00:00
Hi @Pete,

Thanks for the additional details. Since this is affecting only Word documents and remains even with new links, it confirms that this is a result of a recent service-side update to the Word Online rendering logic. It has been aligning the View-only experience closer to the Editor interface to maintain UI consistency across the suite, but I understand how this disrupts the clean, accessible layout your organization requires.

Because manual workarounds aren’t feasible for public-facing links, one option to test is adjusting the URL to request the embedded viewer experience.

Office for the web recognizes an action=embedview parameter (an “embed view” action), which is commonly used in embed links and is documented for embedded viewing scenarios.

If your existing “Anyone can view” link already contains a ? (for example it ends with ?e=...), try appending: &action=embedview

Example: ...sharepoint.com/:w:/s/SiteName/FileID?e=XXXXXX&action=embedview

This may load a more minimal viewer-style page compared to the full editor shell, but behavior can vary by file type and Microsoft’s service-side rendering.

Please try opening a modified link in an InPrivate window. If this provides the layout you need, you can update the hyperlinks on your website with this parameter. This is a much more stable approach than relying on the default open behavior, which Microsoft can change at the tenant level without notice.

Let me know if this parameter successfully forces the view you're looking for.
Pete 20 Reputation points

2026-03-06T22:53:11.3166667+00:00

Hi there, I tried that and it works! It's an unfortunate extra step to take but the formatting is preserved this way and people are still able to view the accessibility tools and download their own copy. Thank you for this work around. I hope Microsoft changes it back or at least gives us the option to make the reader view the standard for view-only content.
Ian-Ng 10,515 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-10T22:54:56.2733333+00:00

Hi @Pete,

That’s great to hear. I'm glad the &action=embedview parameter restored the clean, high-fidelity layout your organization requires. I know you may make an extra step, but forcing the Viewer Engine is currently the most reliable way to bypass the Locked Editor interface Microsoft has recently standardized.

By using this parameter, you ensure that the document’s formatting remains preserved much like a PDF while keeping the accessibility tools and download options intact for the public.

Answer 2

The provided information does not describe any setting or toggle that controls whether OneDrive/SharePoint “view-only” links open specifically in Reading View versus the standard web viewer. It only documents:

How to control whether links open in desktop apps vs browser/Teams/Outlook.
How to configure sharing link types and permissions (including view-only and “Block download”).

None of these options change the internal default view mode (Reading View vs editing-style web view) for Word documents opened from a OneDrive/SharePoint sharing link.

Based on the available information, there is no documented way to revert view-only links to open in Reading View by default; users must manually switch views after opening.

References:

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How to Change OneDrive View-Only Links Back to Reading View by Default?

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