Share via

We cant open ".." its possible the file is already open, or you dont have permission to open it error in outlook

Anonymous
2023-07-20T20:27:26+00:00

Dear Microsoft Support Team,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to seek assistance with a persistent issue I am facing with Microsoft Outlook and the Teams add-in.

The problem I am experiencing is related to opening attachments in Outlook. Whenever I try to open an attachment, I receive the following error message: "We can't open, it's possible the file is already open, or you don't have permission to open it." After performing extensive troubleshooting and trying various solutions, I have observed the following:

  1. When I disable the Microsoft Teams add-in in Outlook, the issue is resolved, and I can open attachments without any problems.
  2. Additionally, when I run Outlook in Safe Mode, the error does not occur, further suggesting that the problem might be related to an add-in conflict.

To provide a summary of the steps I have taken so far:

  • Updated Microsoft Teams to the latest version.
  • Disabled the Microsoft Teams add-in in Outlook, which temporarily resolved the issue.
  • Checked file associations and default app settings.
  • Repaired the Office suite installation.
  • Checked for Windows updates and installed all available updates.
  • Disabled third-party antivirus temporarily to rule out any conflicts.
  • Tested Outlook in Safe Mode to rule out add-in conflicts.

Despite these efforts, the error persists whenever the Teams add-in is enabled in Outlook, indicating a potential conflict between Outlook and Teams.

I am reaching out to seek your expert assistance in diagnosing and resolving this issue. Your expertise in identifying and addressing add-in conflicts will be greatly appreciated.

Please let me know the best course of action to proceed, whether it involves providing additional information, logs, or any other steps to identify the root cause and resolve the problem.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

22 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2024-02-16T22:01:12+00:00

    I have users with the same issues.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-07-27T18:35:07+00:00

    Dear Nikhil-Patel,

    Many thanks for your kind follow up reply,

    Here is the update on the Service Health dashboard. A dedicated team is still working on it. I will post back here once the issue is resolved on SHD.

    Image

    Your kind patience and cooperation will be highly appreciated. Thank you for your precious time.

    Stay safe and healthy. Have a nice day!

    Sincerely,

    Libeamlak | Microsoft Community Moderator

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-07-20T20:40:57+00:00

    Dear Nikhil-Patel,

    Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to assist you.

    I'm sorry to hear that you are having issues opening attachments in Outlook. I greatly appreciate your time and effort to narrow down and try to troubleshoot the issue from your side.  There is an incident that was posted to the Service Health with ID EX648854 which is related to this behavior.

    The user experience of this incident is: Users can't open email messages saved as a file more than once in the Outlook desktop client.

    More info: This may affect users that have enabled the Microsoft Teams Meeting Add-in for Microsoft Office. Impacted users can close and reopen the Outlook desktop client to open email messages saved as files. Once an email message saved as a file has been opened, it can’t be opened again until the Outlook desktop client has been closed and reopened.

    Current status: We've identified that a recent update introduced a code regression that causes email files to be locked by the Microsoft Teams Meeting Add-in for Microsoft Office if an email saved as a file is opened more than once in the Outlook desktop client, resulting in impact. We've deployed a code fix to our internal environment for validation before deploying it to the impacted environment. We expect it will completely deploy and remediate impact by our next scheduled update.

    Scope of impact: Any user with the Microsoft Teams Meeting Add-in for Microsoft Office enabled that attempts to access an email from a file more than once in the Outlook for desktop client may be impacted.

    Root cause: A recent update introduced a code regression that causes email files to be locked by the Microsoft Teams Meeting Add-in for Microsoft Office, resulting in impact.

    Estimated time to resolve: We expect that the issue will be fully resolved by Tuesday, July 25, 2023.

    Admins can view current information and updates on Service health dashboard in the Office 365 admin center (https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home#/servicehealth/:/alerts/EX648854).

    For affected customers to easily identify the information here, this thread may be closed. You may subscribe to this thread or refer to Service Health dashboard for updated information. I will also post back here once the issue is resolved on SHD.

    Thank you for your precious time and understanding.

    Sincerely,

    Libeamlak | Microsoft Community Moderator

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2023-08-02T11:07:13+00:00

    Hello Steve Brown_LMH and ChrisBishop33

    Good day!

    Here is the update on the Service Health dashboard on August 1. I will post back here once the issue is resolved on SHD.

    In the meantime, I do apologize for the inconvenience, as a workaround I sincerely suggest disabling Teams Add-in in Outlook or start Outlook in safe mode. Your kind patience and cooperation will be highly appreciated. Thank you for your precious time.

    Stay safe and healthy. Have a nice day!

    Sincerely,

    Libeamlak | Microsoft Community Moderator

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2023-07-27T14:34:52+00:00

    Any updates in regard to this issue?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments