License & Subscription Issues

How to Fix Office E3 Cannot View Shared Project for the Web Files

Kushani Nimanthika Oct 12, 2026 869 views

Question details

Users with an Office 365 or Microsoft 365 E3 license are unable to view or access shared files in Microsoft Project for the web.

How to Fix Office E3 Cannot View Shared Project for the Web Files

Product: Microsoft 365, Project for the web
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Attempting to open and view shared project files online.
Observed behavior: The system denies access or fails to display the shared project files, despite the user having an active E3 subscription.

Before you start

Ensure you have the contact information for your organization's Microsoft 365 administrator, as resolving this licensing issue requires administrative privileges.

Solution 1Recommended

Verify and Assign Required Project Licenses

An Office E3 license alone often does not grant sufficient access to Project for the web; a standalone Project Plan license is usually required.

Microsoft documentation indicates that while certain Microsoft 365 subscriptions provide limited viewing access, opening and interacting with Project for the web files generally requires an appropriate Project subscription.

Contact Your Administrator

Reach out to your IT department or Microsoft 365 administrator and request that they check your current assigned licenses.

Access the Admin Center

The administrator must log in to the Microsoft 365 admin center using their admin credentials.

Check User Licenses

Navigate to 'Users', select 'Active users', and click on the affected user's profile. Go to the 'Licenses and apps' tab.

Assign Project License

Ensure that a valid Project license, such as Project Plan 1, Project Plan 3, or Project Plan 5, is checked and assigned to the user, then save the changes.

Verify and Assign Required Project Licenses

License Propagation Time: After the administrator assigns the new license, it may take a few minutes to an hour for the changes to propagate across Microsoft's servers before you can successfully access the shared project files.

Solution 2

Open a Tenant-Level Support Request

If multiple users in the same organization are experiencing this access issue despite having proper licenses, it may be a tenant-wide configuration problem.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does an Office 365 E3 license include Microsoft Project?

No, an Office 365 E3 license does not include full access to Microsoft Project. It may provide limited read-only viewing capabilities depending on your organization's setup, but accessing and interacting with Project for the web typically requires a standalone subscription like Project Plan 1, 3, or 5.

How can I check which Microsoft 365 licenses are assigned to me?

You can verify your assigned licenses by logging into your Microsoft 365 account online, clicking on your profile picture in the top right corner, selecting 'View account', and then navigating to the 'Subscriptions' section.

Why can some users view the shared project while others cannot?

Access to shared Project for the web files depends entirely on each individual user's assigned licenses and the specific sharing permissions configured by the project owner. If a user lacks the appropriate Project Plan license, they will be denied access even if the file was shared with them.

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