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To control whether Edge users can open files through the DirectInvoke protocol, configure the DirectInvokeEnabled policy in the Microsoft Edge management service. Set it to enabled to allow DirectInvoke; disable it to make requested files download to the device instead. The service is in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Settings > Microsoft Edge, where configuration policies can be assigned to Microsoft Entra groups.
What the DirectInvoke policy controls
Microsoft describes DirectInvoke as a way for a website to ask the browser to open a file from a specific URL with a file handler on the user’s device. The policy name is DirectInvokeEnabled. Its behavior can seem counterintuitive: enabled allows DirectInvoke, while disabled blocks it. An unconfigured policy also allows it. Microsoft’s DirectInvokeEnabled policy documentation describes the behavior and supported platforms.
- Enabled: Websites may request that Edge open files through DirectInvoke.
- Disabled: Users cannot open files through DirectInvoke; the requested file is saved to the file system instead.
- Not configured: DirectInvoke remains allowed.
Microsoft warns that disabling the policy can prevent some SharePoint Online features from working as expected, but its policy documentation does not identify which features. Check your organization’s SharePoint workflows before blocking the protocol.
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The Edge management service is available in the Microsoft 365 admin center at Settings > Microsoft Edge. Microsoft says administrators need the Microsoft Edge Administrator role. The service guide lists Edge version 115.0.1901.7 or later as a prerequisite and says the service is unavailable to GCC plan customers. See Microsoft’s Edge management service setup guide for current service requirements.
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Decide whether users should be able to open files through local handlers or whether ordinary downloads are an acceptable workflow. Also account for the SharePoint Online caveat and your existing device-management policies before assigning a cloud policy.
Allow or block DirectInvoke with a configuration policy
- Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center with an account that has the Microsoft Edge Administrator role.
- Go to Settings > Microsoft Edge to open the Edge management service.
- Open an existing configuration policy or create one. In the policy’s settings selection, add
DirectInvokeEnabled. Microsoft’s service guide documents configuration-policy setup and assignment but does not specify the current picker wording for this setting. - Set the policy to Enabled to allow DirectInvoke, or Disabled to block it and save requested files to the file system.
- Assign the configuration policy to the Microsoft Entra group whose users should receive the setting, then apply or save the policy using the portal’s available workflow.
Microsoft’s service documentation explains that non-conflicting policy settings can merge. If service policies conflict, the policy with higher priority wins; priority 0 is the highest. The service guide also distinguishes cloud policies from Intune-type policies, and the Intune option requires an Intune license. Review Microsoft’s configuration policy guidance when choosing the policy type and resolving assignments.
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Check whether the intended policy reached Edge
On a target Windows device, open edge://policy in Edge and inspect the applied policies for DirectInvokeEnabled. Microsoft’s Windows policy configuration guide documents this page as a way to check browser policy. Confirm the reported value matches your intended state after the policy has had an opportunity to refresh.
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If the cloud setting is missing or does not take effect, check for conflicting device policies. Microsoft warns that a conflicting Group Policy Object (GPO) or mobile device management (MDM) policy can override settings from the Edge management service. Avoid changing policy precedence casually; investigate how the device is managed and which policy source is intended to control it. See Microsoft’s service and policy precedence guidance and Windows policy configuration guide.
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DirectInvoke is separate from ClickOnce
DirectInvoke and ClickOnce are different protocols controlled by separate policies: DirectInvokeEnabled and ClickOnceEnabled. Changing DirectInvoke does not itself configure ClickOnce. Microsoft’s ClickOnce and DirectInvoke guide also explains their download and warning behavior: when an enabled request is flagged unsafe by Microsoft 365 Defender SmartScreen URL reputation, users receive an additional warning. If a protocol is disabled, its requested files are treated as regular downloads, with unsafe files marked as unsafe in the same way as other unsafe downloads.
Policies for automatically opening specified file types, including rules limited to particular URLs, are separate controls. They are not substitutes for the DirectInvoke allow-or-block policy.
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Windows policy support and other configuration routes
Microsoft’s policy reference lists Windows support beginning with Edge 78 and marks macOS, Android, and iOS as unsupported for this policy. The policy is mandatory-capable, supports dynamic policy refresh, and is not recommended-capable. These platform details apply to the DirectInvoke policy itself, not the separate Edge management service prerequisite.
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