#Outlook is not allowing me to open links in emails

Question

I am trying to click on links within emails sent to me by known sources, but I keep getting a popup saying "Your organization's policies are preventing us from completing this action for you. For more info, please contact your help desk.

Answer 1

See https://www.slipstick.com/problems/this-operation-has-been-cancelled-due-to-restrictions/ .

Answer 2

Hello,

The email address in your Classic Outlook app, is it a personal address, or a work/school address?

Can you tell me, what your default web browser is?

Answer 3

In classic Outlook for Windows, this message usually appears because links are being blocked by Outlook’s security settings or by how the message is formatted.

For classic Outlook, use these checks:

1. Verify the message format
   • Open the email.
   • Check whether the message is in Plain Text format.
   • Plain text messages do not support clickable links in the same way as HTML or Rich Text. If possible, have the sender resend the email in HTML format, or copy the URL and paste it into the browser as a workaround.
2. Check the InfoBar for disabled links
   • With the message open, look at the top of the message window for an InfoBar (a yellow/gray bar) indicating that external content or links are disabled.
   • If present, select the button in the InfoBar to enable external content/links for that message.
3. If links point to FQDNs or IP addresses
   • If the links are to a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or IP address (for example, \\server\share or http://10.x.x.x), Outlook may block them after recent security updates and show errors such as “Something unexpected went wrong with this URL” or silently fail.
   • This behavior is by design after the July 11, 2023 Outlook security updates.
   • An administrator can change this behavior by following the guidance in Enable or disable hyperlink warning messages in Office programs, including the registry setting:
     • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\security
     • DWORD: DisableHyperlinkWarning
     • Value: 1
   • This should only be done by someone who manages the device and understands the security implications.

If the device is managed by an organization (work or school), the message indicates that an admin policy may be enforcing these restrictions. In that case, the organization’s IT help desk or administrator must review and adjust the policy if appropriate.

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References:

• Hyperlinks are not working in Outlook
• Links are disabled in Outlook for Windows email messages
• Outlook blocks opening FQDN and IP address hyperlinks after installing protections for Microsoft Outlook Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability released July 11, 2023