Microsoft is preparing a new feature for the program tours Edge, which will allow users to open Office files directly in the browser, instead of downloading them.
Feature detected by user Reddit Leopardeva64-2 to Edge Canary. But if you have the latest version, you may not see the new feature, as it seems to be gradually activated for users.
If you're one of the chosen ones, you can enable the feature on the pro's download settings pageletterbrowser, where you would normally select the default download folder and such.
The option is called “Quick view files of Office on the web using Office Viewer” and what it does is, instead of downloading a file to your computer, it sends it to Microsoft and opens it with the equivalent Office web application, but in viewer mode.
The feature could have many uses as well protection if you are worried about a file being infected by malware.
It could also be useful if you just want to read a document quickly and do not want to save it to your computer or if you are using a computer that does not have Office installed for any reason.
Additionally, you can save files to your OneDrive directly from Office Viewer if you want to keep them.