Hyperlinks don't open on Outlook web

Copper Contributor

Hi,

 

I have seen some problems when one send a e-mail with hiperlink containing links to my intranet and I have tried to open it, but this hiperlink doesn't open, the messagem is like a"not found this page", however when I have opened the same link on Microsoft Outlook it open.

In this case, when I try to open it on Outlook Web, Outlook redirect including some information after the real link like this "&CT=XXXXXXXXXX&OR=OWA-NT&CID=8f097e1b-8E8483-1078-a048-xxxxxxxxxxx".

The result is "errorpage.aspx?requestUrl="

 

In the other hand, if I try it on Microsoft Outlook is ok.

 

 

9 Replies

@Milena Mocci 

That is the Safe Links feature of Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Your Office 365 administrator can set exclusions for certain URLs which are not available via the Internet.

See: Set up Office 365 ATP Safe Links policies

Hello @Robert Sparnaaij 

 

I followed your instruction, but when I entered in this address https://protection.office.com/threatpolicy, I didn't see the Safe URL. I don't know if there is another configuration where I can verify it.

@Milena Mocci 

Make sure that this is being done by a Global Admin or someone else with the necessary rights. Also note that it requires a specific license to tweak the default policies.

 

The direct link would be; https://protection.office.com/safelinksconverged

 

For more info, also see; https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/office-365-advanced-threat-protection...

@Milena Mocci We also noticed this starting the afternoon of 7/18, about 7 hours before Microsoft sent the notice about "New Feature: Outlook on the web - new cloud doc sharing experience" being rolled out. The coincidence feels far too strong, given that we also saw the 'shared file link as name' functionality happening earlier that day, as well.

 

Pasting any intranet link (to a file, site or page) via the browser now shows a small spinning circle as it processes, before the link is rendered (non-intranet links are entirely unaffected). Files are converted to the name as the announcement describes, while all other intranet links appear unaffected to all checks (hovering to see the URL, editing the link, etc.). However, they get the appended collection of URL parameters when clicked. NOTE: This is only via the new Outlook on the web -- not the 'older' web version, not the phone app and not the desktop version, all of which render fine.

 

The issue is that the new Outlook web appends the parameter string you mentioned to ANY intranet (SharePoint/OneDrive) link, regardless. Unfortunately for non-files, there is no initial "?" included to tell the browser that the main URL is done and the parameters are separate. If you manually add the "?" to the end of an intranet link, it works fine for all users, but this is obviously not an optimal workaround.

 

@Robert Sparnaaij Thanks for the info. Any idea if this is in any way connected to cloud sharing experience referenced in the aforementioned notice from Microsoft on 7/18?

 

@Robert Sparnaaij 

I couldn't get to found these options about Safe URL. We don't pay for these protections, I can't configure it. My user is a global administrator. I don't have any idea how I can start to solve this.

 

 

 

@Bill Blais  Hi.

 

I didn't have any idea when It was started, It is interesting.

I followed the steps wich Robert mentioned before, but for me, how I have mentioned the last post, we don't have Safe URL options.

ps: I did the same test that you did, I put in the end of the URL "?" and It worked.

 

Until now I don't know what to do.

If you can solve it, keep me informed.

@Milena Mocci  and @Robert Sparnaaij 

Nothing was changed on our end, but it appears to be fixed this morning, at least for me. Still no official comment anywhere and I'm not entirely trusting that it will work properly for my entire tenant, but figured I'd share the change in experience.

 

Is it now working for you, Milena?

@Bill Blais 

 

I tried to open a link, and now It is working normally!

Thanks for letting me know!

 

@Milena Mocci No worries. Turns out it was a known issue posted to the MS Admin Panel for organizations, but not publicly announced (at least nowhere I could find. Here's what I found:

 

Summary:

  • Title EX186520
  • Service Affected Exchange Online
  • Status: Service restored
  • Time 7/25/2019 9:11:23 AM UTC
  • LastUpdated 8/2/2019 3:27:20 PM UTC
  • Message Title: SharePoint Online site links not working

Details

  • User Impact: Users are unable to access SharePoint Online sites from URL links within emails using Outlook on the web. 
  • More info: Users may receive the error massage; '404 PageNotFoundError'. 
  • As a workaround, users may copy and paste the SPO URL into their browser and it will load the SharePoint Online site as expected. 
  • Additionally, users may double click the email to open in a new window and access the SPO URL link.
  • We'd like to get your feedback on the workaround we provided. From a non-mobile device, please rate this post and submit it in the textbox. 
  • Current status: We've determined that a code regression within the Exchange infrastructure caused an issue with the way Outlook on the web interacts with SharePoint Online links. We've developed a fix and are deploying it to the affected infrastructure. The fix will be deployed to the new version of Outlook on the web in the first phase, which is expected to complete in approximately 5 days. The second phase of deployment will begin 2 days' time, which will fix the issue in the classic version of Outlook on the web. The complete deployment is expected to finish in approximately 2 weeks. Users will begin to experience remediation as the fix reaches their environment. 
  • Scope of impact: This issue could potentially affect any user attempting to access SharePoint Online URL links via Outlook on the web. 
  • Start time: Monday, July 15, 2019, at 8:54 AM UTC 
  • Root cause: A code regression within the Exchange infrastructure caused an issue with the way Outlook on the web interacts with SharePoint Online links, resulting in impact. 
  • Next update by: Monday, July 29, 2019, at 11:00 AM UTC...}