How to allow Excel 365 to open file paths is longer than 259 characters

Question

We have a user running Microsoft 365 Apps for business - en-us build 16.0.17231.20194 experiencing the identical problem as this 3-year old forum post: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/excel-365-cannot-open-the-file-because-the-file/c3394950-4aa3-433a-bbe4-cdb0c02a32bc?from=ContactUsWebBCQR&CorrelationId=a89cf629-2de1-4e36-a217-b9426813bae3. We hypothesize this is a limit hard-coded into Microsoft 365 as the error appears consistent in Word and Excel, and want to confirm before moving forward. We wish to avoid changing/renaming the file path strings unless this is the only option.

Answer 1

Per my knowledge, there is a character limit on creating and saving files in Office products. This issue occurs if the path of the file that you open or save meets the following condition:

• Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Access: The total length of the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 259 characters.
• Microsoft Excel: The total length of the path and the file name, including file name extension, exceeds 218 characters.

I'm afraid that the limitation cannot be changed now. Really sorry for the inconvenience caused by it.

Until now, the best workaround is to reduce the character count.

It's recommended that you give the suggestion in the feedback portal to help us make improvements. Many features of products are designed and upgraded based on customers’ feedback.

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