Unable to open hyperlink: Cannot open the specified file.

Question

I'm experiencing a problem opening the hyperlinks from Word (Office 365).

I tried to open the same hyperlink (ctrl+left click), same document, opened on 2 different laptops[1]: one of the 2 presents this[2] error. Several other desktops in my network are experiencing the same problem.

Could you please help me with the debug sharing some ideas?

Thank you very much in advance for the help!

Simo

[1]

The computers are both running Windows 10 enterprise and are both joined into the same domain.

 [2]

Unable to open https://faerew3423432vhmx.cloudfront.net/auscon/pages/1469/attachments/original/14686565/my_doc.pdf?14686565. Cannot open the specified file.

Answer 1

Hi Simo,

You can try adding the Internet Subkey to the Registry and Setting the Value Data.

1. Quit any programs that are running.
2. Click Start, and then click Run. Type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. In Registry Editor, browse to one of the following subkey (create the keys when they do not exist):

For a 32-Bit version of Office on 64-bit version of Windows

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Internet\

For a 32-Bit version of Office on 32-bit version of Windows

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Internet

For a 64-Bit version of Office on 64-bit version of Windows

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Internet

4. Make sure the Internet subkey is selected. On the Editmenu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value. Add the following registry value:

Value Name: ForceShellExecute

5. Double-click ForceShellExecute, and then set the Value data to 1. Click OK.
6. On the Registry menu, click

Here is an article for your reference: Error message when clicking hyperlink in Office: "Cannot locate the Internet server or proxy server".

.

If the issue persists, I’d like to confirm some information as below:

1. The screenshot of the error message.
2. The screenshot of your Word version. To check it, please go to File > Account and capture the screenshot shown as below:

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Edit at your own risk.

Regards,

Tisky

Answer 2

Hi Simo,

Have you tried the steps above? Could you share some updates?

Regards,

Tisky

Answer 3

Hi Tisky,

Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance yet. Hopefully I will be able to test it today.

Thank you very much for your help, I will update you asap.

Regards,

Simo

Answer 4

Hi Tisky,

Sorry for the late reply. Yesterday I had a chance to try the solution suggested and I have some updates.

I tried to modify the registry as suggested, and rebooted the machine, but unfortunately it didn't solve the problem.

If I log into the same machine with a different user, I don't experience any problem.

I tried to log into another workstation (same version of Office365) with the credentials of the user experiencing the problem and everything works well.

Office 365 Version :

Error message

Thanks again for your help!

Regards,

Simo

Answer 5

Hi Simo,

Thanks for your screenshots.

You can try adding the path of the file server to the “Trusted Locations”, please follow the steps below:

1. Go to File > Options > Trust Center
2. Click the “Trust Center Settings” button.

3. In the Trusted Locations tab, check whether the “Allow Trusted Locations on my network” box is ticked.

4. Then click “Add new location” and add the path of the file that the hyperlink points to.

Regards,

Tisky