Office LTSC 2024 vs Microsoft 365 Apps - SharePoint doc.aspx URL Opening Behavior

Question

Subject: Office LTSC 2024 vs Microsoft 365 Apps - SharePoint doc.aspx URL Opening Behavior

Hello,

I am investigating a difference in behavior between Microsoft 365 Apps and Office LTSC Standard 2024 when opening Excel files stored in SharePoint Online.

Environment

• Microsoft 365 Apps (works correctly)
• Office LTSC Standard 2024 (issue observed)
• SharePoint Online
• ERP

Scenario

Our ERP system launches Excel using the following type of command:

excel.exe "https://tenant.sharepoint.com/.../_layouts/15/doc.aspx?...xlsx..."

Expected Behavior

Microsoft 365 Apps successfully resolves the SharePoint URL and opens the target .xlsx file in Excel.

Observed Behavior on Office LTSC 2024

Instead of opening the workbook, Excel opens the doc.aspx page itself blank file

As a result, the Excel file is never opened.

Troubleshooting Performed

• User is signed in to Office with a corporate Microsoft 365 account.
• Connected Services shows:
  • OneDrive
  • SharePoint Sites
• protocolhandler.exe is present in: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\
• The same SharePoint URL works correctly on a machine running Microsoft 365 Apps.
• Excel add-ins appear similar between Microsoft 365 Apps and LTSC 2024.
• No obvious Trust Center or Protected View differences were found.
• File associations (.xlsx and Excel.Sheet.12) appear correct.

Additional Information

The ERP trace/log shows that the application launches:

excel.exe "https://.../doc.aspx?...xlsx..."

It does not appear to use the following protocol:

ms-excel:ofe|u|https://...

Questions

1. Is there any known limitation or design change in Office LTSC 2024 regarding opening SharePoint Online URLs of the form: https://tenant.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/doc.aspx through Excel.exe?
2. Does Microsoft 365 Apps include additional SharePoint/OneDrive integration components that are not available in Office LTSC 2024?
3. Has Microsoft documented any differences between Microsoft 365 Apps and Office LTSC 2024 related to handling SharePoint Online URLs or doc.aspx links?
4. Is the recommended method for opening SharePoint-hosted Excel files now: ms-excel:ofe|u|<SharePoint URL> instead of: excel.exe <SharePoint URL>
5. Has anyone successfully implemented this scenario with Office LTSC 2024?

Any guidance, documentation references, or confirmation of expected behavior would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi Daiane,

Thank you for the detailed information and the troubleshooting steps you've already completed.

Based on my research, I'm unable to locate Microsoft documentation that explicitly states Office LTSC 2024 supports opening SharePoint Online doc.aspx URLs when they are passed directly to excel.exe. I also did not find documentation confirming that this behavior is identical between Microsoft 365 Apps and Office LTSC 2024.

At this time, I have not found any Microsoft documentation that specifically addresses differences in handling SharePoint Online doc.aspx URLs or confirms whether opening these URLs directly via:

excel.exe "https://tenant.sharepoint.com/.../_layouts/15/doc.aspx?...xlsx..." is a supported scenario for Office LTSC 2024.

If this functionality is critical for your ERP integration, please use your Microsoft 365 administrator account to open a support request with Microsoft through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center: Create a Support Request and presenting the scenario as a product behavior difference between Microsoft 365 Apps and Office LTSC 2024. This would allow the support team to test and confirm whether the observed behavior is expected or if a product issue exists.

As community moderators, we’re here to guide you, but due to privacy and security limitations, we don’t have access to the backend tools required for a full resolution. For this reason, contacting Microsoft Support via the Admin Center is the most secure and efficient way forward.

I hope this helps you resolve the issue quickly. I’m glad to assist and truly hope the information provided has been useful. Please feel free to reach out anytime if you need further assistance.  

If you find my post helpful, kindly consider marking it as the accepted answer. Doing so can assist others in the community who may have similar questions in finding solutions more quickly.  

Thank you for your kindness and contributions to the forum. 

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