Integrate Full Microsoft Office Online Experience in ACC (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

[tahir.mavricR8XEG]

Autodesk must fully integrate the latest Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) functionality into Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) to streamline collaboration and eliminate outdated workflows.

Key Features Needed:

1. Create New Office Files Directly in ACC
   Users should be able to create Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files natively within ACC — without needing to upload or copy files through Desktop Connector or other workarounds.

2. Native Microsoft Integration with Open Options
   Just like in SharePoint, users should have the flexibility to:

• Open in Browser (Office Online)

• Open in Desktop App

• Open in Protected View (if needed)

This would enable real-time editing, co-authoring, and seamless integration with Microsoft 365, massively boosting productivity and reducing file versioning issues. See picture attached.

[s.helfer]

The lack of full Microsoft Office integration in ACC frequently causes issues with file locking. Files edited via the Desktop Connector using Word, Excel, or PowerPoint are often either not properly locked or remain locked indefinitely. As a result, we regularly experience:

• Unreliable synchronization between local Office applications and ACC

• Data loss due to parallel editing or unsynchronized changes

This makes collaboration risky, can lead to data loss, and creates unnecessary manual work to recover or re-upload file versions.
A native, seamless Office integration is urgently needed to ensure stable and predictable file behavior.

[richard.bornhoffer]

This is one of the biggest obstacles to implement ACC in companies. Sharepoint functionalities are so much better when working with Office files.

Also the possibilities to Comment and use Rewiew features inside Office FIles triggering also notfications to document owner, or use @User  feature in while commenting to get people involved in the review is essential.

[tahir.mavricR8XEG]

Dear
@CGBenner, @mari.shimode, @kimberly_fuhrman-jones 
@Tarek_K, @joaquim.moral,

I hope this message finds you well. As the Autodesk Senior Community Manager of ACC Ideas, I wanted to bring to your attention a critical issue that has garnered significant support within the ACC user community. This topic has received over 25 kudos in less than a month, underscoring its importance to users.

As highlighted by @s.helferand @richard.bornhoffer in their comments, the current lack of full Microsoft Office integration is causing substantial data loss and inefficiencies in our workflows. This situation is far from user-friendly and directly contradicts ACC's promise of providing a single source of truth, as stated on your website: https://construction.autodesk.com/

We strongly advocate for the integration of the full Microsoft Office Online experience in the next release of ACC. It is essential that this request is forwarded to your development team to ensure it is prioritized in the Autodesk ACC development pipeline.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your continued support.

Best regards,

Tahir

[jonminick]

Hi all and @tahir.mavricR8XEG - Thanks for your feedback and for pinging everyone in the last message for awareness. However, the best practice for increasing awareness and support for Ideas is by voting and gathering continued support from the community for Ideas you are passionate about.

As communicated more broadly, we will work to provide updates on the most impactful Ideas across the community so please continue to drive community support for this Idea. Thank you!

[tahir.mavricR8XEG]

Hi @jonminick 

Thank you for your response and for encouraging community engagement around our Ideas. I appreciate your commitment to keeping us updated on impactful suggestions.

• Could you please provide some concrete steps regarding the implementation of the Microsoft Office Online integration in ACC?
• Has this idea been accepted by Autodesk, and when can we expect to see this integration?

It's important to note that we have received nearly 50 votes in just two months, highlighting the community's urgent need for this feature. Implementing this integration would significantly help us address the challenges we face when working with Office documents in ACC.

Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to your updates!

Best, Tahir

[DWarren_CPL]

Jumping on to say that a full integration with co-authoring, collaboration and the like in ACC would smooth out a lot of our data management. 

The ability to co-author word, PowerPoint and Excel files would be beneficial. Our MS tenant is locked down for data sharing so having a secure place to put project data to collaborate with external partners would be a boon for us.

[ana_nicholson2Y27F]

This is an essential feature to truly collaborate on Project Documentation. We have been co-authoring in desktop apps for years in SharePoint and we are having a real hard time explaining to our stakeholders that when they move from SharePoint to ACC Docs, they won't be able to open the desktop version of the Microsoft apps. This is a real step backwards given the limited functionality available on the web version of the Microsoft products, which is the only one supported by Autodesk.

The alternative offered by Autodesk is un workable ... which is to use the Autodesk desktop connector app.

We have tested and there are a few problems with this option:

• Users would have to have a local copy of the ACC folders/files which negates the safety & collaboration aspects of using ACC.
• When using the Autodesk desktop connector app to open the Microsoft Desktop version of Word/Excel/PowerPoint the document is locked which means that 2 people can't edit the document simultaneously.  This is seen as a step backwards when compared with the SharePoint option.

[MavenH]

Any updates from Autodesk on this? I can not find anything related to this on the roadmap for this year : Autodesk Construction Cloud Product Roadmap. Our team is also struggling with collaboration on MS files on ACC.

[jonminick]

Following up @tahir.mavricR8XEG - Thanks sharing your idea, and thanks to the broader community for the engagement and support. Our Product team is reviewing this and will provide a status update here once we have more information.

[tahir.mavricR8XEG]

@jonminick These are great news, thank you very much for your reply and for pushing this idea forward. This is essential for all ACC users worldwide.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you about any further updates and the expected date for full integration.

[toni_wunderlin]

Bei mir geht es nicht.

[thomas_frey2JSBP]

With the current level of integration, it is not possible to work professionally with several people at the same time. The current integration is essentially unusable.
In order to work professionally and efficiently, a deeper and stronger integration of MS Office is absolutely essential.

[MavenH]

@jonminick Thanks for responding to this. What is the timeline for the product team to review this and give us the updates? Anything in the works with Microsoft? 

[Michael-Mair]

It is essential that Autodesk Construction Cloud fully supports advanced Excel features in Office Online, especially Power Query refresh and Office Add-ins. Many workflows depend on real-time data updates and custom integrations, and the current limitation to SharePoint/OneDrive severely restricts productivity. Enabling Power Query refresh for ACC-hosted workbooks and allowing Office Add-ins built with modern technologies like JavaScript would provide users with the same flexibility and automation they expect from Microsoft 365.

[tahir.mavricR8XEG]

@jonminick 
Do you have any update for us?

[jw.vanasselt]

@jonminick Did the develop team know that you can’t edit excel files by using the mobile app?  It would be nice to fix this too 

[tahir.mavricR8XEG]

@jonminick 
Do you have any update for us?

[kristoffer_flygareA3Z4B]

Just want to throw my hat in the ring and say it is a big blocker for us and many others that simultaneous work in Office in not possible in ACC. A lot of documents are kept in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint and the way ACC currently has it set up creates hurdles and is a different way of working than many are used to - making adoption very difficult. Today the way many does it is by having their Office documents on SharePoint and the rest on ACC, which of course defeats the purpose of a CDE.

[richard.bornhoffer]

Any updates on this topic?
Using the Desktop Applications Word, Excel, Powerpoint in a collaborative way, like it is possible in Sharepoint is meanwhile showstopper to move complete project documentation into ACC. Please priorise. It has a huge business impact. Also on Autodesk Business Side. 

[MavenH]

@autodesk @autodesk  I agree, it is a huge business impact. We have to create two environments for every project - Sharepoint and ACC just to  work around this. Autodesk needs to fix this and make ACC to a true CDE to support ISO 19650 workflows.