SharePoint Update: We couldn't find the file you wanted. It's possible the file was renamed, moved or deleted.

Question

SharePoint Update: We couldn't find the file you wanted. It's possible the file was renamed, moved or deleted.

Jules Caruso 6 Microsoft Employee

As of two weeks ago (October 2020) all of the attached files within a SharePoint List are now unable to be opened or viewed.

The following error Message appears when attempting to open an attached Excel documents:

Unable to Open File

We couldn't find the file you wanted.
It's possible the file was renamed, moved or deleted.

The above message is displayed for all files that are attached to items in this list.

We have not rearranged any folders. Please advise.

Grace KAMGOUA 11 Reputation points

2022-06-13T13:28:25.7+00:00

Disable the TLS 1.0 and 1.1 on your client. The only one that must be enabled is the TLS 1.2

If my Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

4 answers

Your answer

Grace KAMGOUA 11 Reputation points

2022-06-13T13:28:25.7+00:00

Disable the TLS 1.0 and 1.1 on your client. The only one that must be enabled is the TLS 1.2

If my Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

Answer 1

Hi @Jules Caruso , thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

I would like to confirm a few things with you:

Are you using SharePoint Online along with Office Online or Office Online Services on SharePoint Server?
How many items do you have in this list? Can you reproduce this issue in another list in this site?
If you are using a large list, please switch to another list with fewer items and see if the files can be opened properly.
Also, please reupload a list attachment and try opening it again to see the result.
Do you see the same issue if you open a word document from list attachment, or when opening a document from a document library?
What browser are you using when running into this error? Please switch to another browser (e.g. Chrome, Edge) and see the result.

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Anonymous

2023-06-20T14:42:26.68+00:00

I've got the same issue, it happens on my Mac, it affects Word and Excel as well.

Once that message appears , your document is dead, might as well start again. Its happening with increasing frequency.

Answer 2

Jules Caruso 6 Microsoft Employee

Hello @Chelsea Wu ,

Thank you for getting back to me regarding this issue. We are using SharePoint Online as we are an MSFT Team.

There are 348 items in our list. We have multiple libraries set up in this SharePoint and all of the linked files in the Libraries work as expected.

Unfortunately this list is the only List we attach files to. I have tested a what you requested regarding uploading a file to one of the items in the list to see if I could access this. However upon performing this test I received the same error message for the test Excel File I uploaded. BUT...I also tested this with a Word Document and the Word Document opens without any issues. That seems promisingly odd to me.

I attached the test Excel File to another List item within our Site and I receive the same error message. I also attached the Word Document there as well and I was able to open the Word Document without any issues.

Our entire Team uses Microsoft Edge. I have tested all of the above in Explorer and the same results persist in Internet Explorer.

Chelsea Wu 6,341 Reputation points Moderator

2020-10-20T07:09:13.283+00:00
@Jules Caruso , thanks for the information.

I cannot reproduce this issue in my test environment, and there does not seem to be other recent reports of the same issue, so this should not be an incident at the service side. But just in case, please try to open an Excel file from a document library and see if it Excel Online works as expected.

Here are a few more things to check to narrow down this issue:

Clear the browser cache or open the site in InPrivate mode in Edge and test again.

Test in another site. Make sure you use a site collection administrator account to avoid permission issue.

By default, Excel file URL opened in Excel Online should be formatted as
https://<tenant>.sharepoint.com/:x:/r/sites/<sitename>/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc={GUID}&file=<filename>&action=default&mobileredirect=true
No matter if it is from a list or a library. Check if there is anything unusual with the URL for the issued files.

Answer 3

Hello @Chelsea Wu ,

Thank you for your advice. That is bizarre that we are the only team that seems to have this issue.

I was able to successfully open several Excel files that are attached in our document library and our libraries are working as expected.

I cleared my cache and I still run into the same issue with Excel files attached to items in the List.

I tested this on another site and as well as our main site again and I found some interesting results. When I uploaded an Excel file that was already saved to our OneDrive I was able to open the document, however when I uploaded an Excel file from my desktop I received the same error message as before on both SharePoint sites.

I found this behavior a little odd. Do you know what might be occurring here?

Here is a modified link to the test file which is giving the same error message as all of the other files (MODIFIED ITEMS noted as **):

https://microsoft.sharepoint.com/:x:/r/teams/**TEAM NAME**/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc=%GENERATED GUID%7D&file=This_is_a_test_file.xlsx&action=default&mobileredirect=true

Do you notice any issues with the link? Or could you provide any other insights regarding this?

Chelsea Wu 6,341 Reputation points Moderator

2020-10-21T07:35:42.413+00:00

@Jules Caruso , thanks for the test and update.

Do you have trouble opening Excel files with client application? If yes, try cleaning the local file cache for Office client.
Based on your description, it seems that Excel Online is working fine, and so are most Excel files in your tenant. Nothing is wrong with the link you provide as well.

I cannot be sure what is the problem, but it looks a lot like permission issue to me.
If you are a global admin in your tenant, please check if there is any setting or site policy that would possibly block files from unknown or unmanaged device from opening in web browser, site level or tenant level.

Answer 4

Jules Caruso 6 Microsoft Employee

Hello @Chelsea Wu ,

Thank you for all of your help with this.
I have opened several Excel files using Excel Online and it seems to be working just fine.
I will connect with the admin and check on this.

Thanks again.

Chelsea Wu 6,341 Reputation points Moderator

2020-10-22T01:45:17.78+00:00

@Jules Caruso
If you need further assistance on finding the root cause of the issue, it is recommended that you contact Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) via telephone so that a dedicated Support Professional can assist you in a more efficient manner. Please be advised that you might be charged for phone support service.
Please go to the website (https://support.microsoft.com/en-sg/help/4051701/global-customer-service-phone-numbers) to find related number and call it to create a new Phone Service Request to Microsoft Phone Support team.

If you decide to open a ticket with Microsoft, please remember to update this thread with any progress.
Thank you for your understanding.

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SharePoint Update: We couldn't find the file you wanted. It's possible the file was renamed, moved or deleted.

4 answers

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