I recently ran into a very annoying issue while using Outlook on my computer. When I tried to click the link, I received the following message:
This operation was canceled due to restrictions on this computer. Contact your system administrator.
Hmm, a few days ago I was able to open hyperlinks normally in Outlook, so what has changed? It didn’t seem to matter which link I clicked on, I was getting this message all the time. After doing a little research, I found out that it had something to do with the fact that I uninstalled Google Chrome and for some strange reason Outlook no longer opens links properly.
In this article, I will show you several different methods to solve this problem so that you can open links in Outlook again without any problem.
Method 1 – Microsoft Fix it
The easiest choice here is to simply download and run the Microsoft Fix it fixer to fix this specific issue.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/310049/hyperlinks-are-not-working-in-outlook
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Go ahead, give it a try and see if it solves the problem for you. Otherwise, you can continue reading and try other solutions.
The second method – registry changes
The second way is to manually edit the registry. You need to open an elevated command prompt (right click on Run and select Run as administrator) and copy / paste the following commands:
REG ADD HKEY_CURRENT_USER Software Classes .htm / ve / d htmlfile / fREG ADD HKEY_CURRENT_USER Software Classes .html / ve / d htmlfile / f REG ADD HKEY_CURRENT_USER Software Classes .shtml / ve / d htmlfile / fREGhtUS ADD HKEY_CURRENT html. HKEY_CURRENT_USER Software Classes .xhtml / ve / d htmlfile / f
Once you’ve done that, make Internet Explorer your default browser and restart it once. You should be good. You can read this guide on setting IE as your default browser:
https: //support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17435/winds-internet-explorer-makedefault-browser
Again, this happens if you recently uninstalled Google Chrome and have this problem in Outlook.
Method 3 – Set IE as the default program
You can also set IE as the default program for opening links by going to Control Panel, clicking Default Programs, then clicking Set Default Programs.
Click Internet Explorer and click the Set this program as default link. This is for Windows 7. In Windows XP, you need to go to Control Panel, then Add or Remove Programs, then under Default Programs, click Set Default Programs. After that, the process will be the same.
Fourth method – system restore
The last thing you can try is to restore the system to a previous point where you know the problem did not occur. Just click Start, type System Restore, and select a restore point far enough in the past to make sure you missed what originally caused the hyperlink issue.
Method 5 – reinstall Chrome
As a last resort, you can always reinstall Chrome, set it as your default browser, and then check if the links are working correctly. If so, change your default browser to Internet Explorer. Then check if the links work. If so, uninstall Chrome. Quite frustrating, but if all else fails, it’s worth a try.
Unfortunately, if you are still unable to open hyperlinks, this may be a policy in place by your IT department to prevent accidentally downloading viruses or malware. However, it is very rare for IT pros to block all links, as many legitimate emails contain links. You can try contacting your IT department to see if they can fix the problem.
If you are still having problems with this issue in Outlook 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 or 2016, please leave a comment here and I will try to help. Enjoy!
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