This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect

Browse: Home / Problems / This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect

This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect

By Diane Poremsky August 4, 2011

Note: These solutions work in all versions of IE.

A very common question comes up often in the Microsoft forums:

When clicking on a hyperlink in an e-mail, I get this Message : “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.” I get this message every time that I attempt to use the hyperlink. I am the administrator on this stand alone computer. How do I deactivate this feature so that I activate hyperlinks ?

This is not an Outlook error. The most common cause is a corrupt registry key in Internet Explorer. The registry key found at

HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command

is either damaged or corrupt.

To fix it, try resetting Web settings in Internet Explorer. If this does not resolve the issue, set IE as the default browser following the steps in Set Program Access in Control Panel. If you use a different browser as your default, you need to set IE as the default until you verify the links work in Outlook.

If you uninstalled Chrome (or Firefox) and then received the error, see Edit Registry, Part 2

In addition to Chrome and Firefox, Maxthon and other HTML rendering and editing programs may take the HTML open command and cause this error. Greg reports UltraEdit is one such program. See Edit Registry, Part 2 for the fix.

You can find solutions suggested by others users below. Many users report successfully using Alan’s suggestion here. If you are using Outlook 2010, see tgrf’s suggestion to change your Junk email settings. It’s quick to try and won’t be a waste time if it doesn’t fix your problem.

Import the Registry Key | Edit Registry, Part 2 | Set Program Access in Control Panel
Other Causes | More Information

Reset Web Settings

To Reset Web settings in Windows XP:

  1. Close Outlook
  2. Open Internet Explorer.
  3. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
  4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click the Reset button.
  5. Under Internet programs, verify that the correct e-mail program is selected.
  6. Click to select the Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser check box.
  7. Click Apply, and then click OK.

If you receive a message when Internet Explorer starts telling you that IE is not currently your default browser, click Yes to make it your default.

If you are using Windows 7 or Vista:

  1. Close Outlook
  2. Open Internet Explorer.
  3. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
  4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click the Reset button.
  5. On the Programs tab, under Internet programs, click Set Programs, then “Set your Default Programs”, select your e-mail program and click “Set this program as Default”. Repeat for Internet Explorer.
  6. Click OK and close the dialogs.

Note: You need to set Internet Explorer as default and verify the problem is fixed. If you prefer a different browser, you can set it as default later.

Import the Registry Key

When resetting the web settings doesn’t help, you’ll need to recreate the corrupt key. The easiest way to do this is by exporting the key from another computer. To save exporting it from another computer, download this registry key exported from my computer. Right click on the link and choose Save target as then double click on it to run it. If you prefer to use a key from a computer you have access to, follow the instructions in You receive an error message when you click a hyperlink in Outlook (MSKB 310049).

You may need to restart Windows for the change to take effect.

Edit Registry, Part 2

If you received this error after uninstalling any application that takes over the HTML open command (including, but not limited to, Chrome & Firefox browsers) you may also need to change the HTM/HTML association in the registry.

  1. Start, click Run, type Regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
  2. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.html
  3. Right click the value for the .html key and select Modify…
  4. Change the value from “ChromeHTML” to “htmlfile” (or from FireFoxHTML to htmlfile)

Repeat these steps for htm and .shtml keys if they exist. You may also want to check the xhtml and xhtm keys. Don’t want to edit the registry? Download this file (right click and choose Save target as…) Then double click on the file to run. From After uninstalling Google Chrome Links in e-mail don’t work any more

You may need to restart Windows for the change to take effect.

Set Program Access in Control Panel

Windows XP and Vista allow you to control program defaults through Control Panel. If the above methods fail, use this method to set the default browser. In Windows XP, go to Add and Remove Programs, Set Program Access and Defaults. In “Choose a default web browser”, check on the “Internet Explorer” option and click the OK button. In Vista, access the Default Programs applet from the Start menu or Control panel. Click on the “Set program access and computer defaults” (last option) then expand Custom. In “Choose a default web browser”, check on the “Internet Explorer” option and click the OK button

Users Solutions

tgrf makes this suggestion as one possible cause and solution:

I am using Outlook in Office 2010, Windows 7, and IE8. I just fixed this problem when trying to set up my junk mail filter. Click on any email header. Select Junk mail menu, then Junk mail options. Clear the check mark at Disable links and other functionality in phishing messages.

Junk Filter menu

I can’t vouch for this solution (as I haven’t experienced the restrictions error with Outlook 2010) but its painless and easy to try. Links are disabled by default for all users. The restrictions error is typically caused by browser settings.

Alan’s Solution

Alan has this suggestion:

I found that re-installing Google Chrome or FireFox and setting it as the default, the hyperlinks worked. I then went to Internet Explorer and set it as the default browser. I again checked the hyperlinks, and again they worked. I then un-installed Google Chrome and have had no problems since. Hopefully this will work for others as well.

While I haven’t tested Alan’s solution, logic tells me it will work. Possibly the most common cause is because users uninstall Firefox or Chrome while either is set as default and setting IE as default before uninstalling would prevent the problem. If Alan’s solution doesn’t work, make sure Chrome is not running when you set IE as the default browser.

From Greg Chapman: “This is IMPORTANT – Close Chrome and make sure it isn’t running in Task Manager because even when you close it, it can remain running. Open IE and reset it as default.”

Other Causes

There are several other causes of this error. In most cases, they do not affect hyperlinks in Outlook. If you found this page searching for the error message, check out the following pages. Note that if you receive this error on a computer at work, you should contact your administrator, they may want access to applications restricted for security reasons.

MSKB Articles

You receive the message when:

Last reviewed on Apr 24, 2012

Posted in | Tagged , , | 112 Responses

Written by Diane Poremsky

A Microsoft Outlook Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999 and involved in IT support since 1985, Diane is the author of several books and video training CDs and online training classes for Microsoft Outlook. You can find her helping people online in Outlook Forums as well as in the Microsoft Answers and TechNet forums. +Diane Poremsky+

112 responses to “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect”

  1. Andre September 9, 2011 at 8:53 pm |

    Alan’s solution worked for me on win7 and IE8. Thx Alan!!

  2. Biggles September 14, 2011 at 7:11 am |

    Thanks for this!

    I have just uninstalled Chrome & Firefox, I then got the error message when clicking on e-mail links. I have followed your instructions on the “htmlfile” Regedit – and it worked…

    Thank you so much… : )

  3. Rae September 14, 2011 at 10:10 am |

    I have been trying and I mean TRYING to get this issue fixed for about a month since I became aware of it. I wasted time with Microsoft and was treated like crap by them, they claim they tried ever possible deal to fix this issue however not one of them worked. I gave edit register 2 a try but this did not work, then I read down further and gave Alan (User soulution) a try and all I can say is Alan THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! You should work for Microsoft for these stupid problems that can so easily be solved! I wish that I had read this link earlier because I am so so so pleased to see that I now can use ALL of my Microsoft Office without any problems or issues what so ever!

  4. george September 16, 2011 at 9:12 am |

    For me, it did not work, but it got me close. After regedit, I already had .html …. But I following the next suggestion and went to Access and Default settings. It was set to CUSTOM. (Both FireFex and Chrome had previously been removed. I changed it back to MICROSOFT, and everything if fine. Thank you for the original post and suggestions.

  5. Jarek September 18, 2011 at 9:42 pm |

    Thanks. “Edit registry, part 2″ helped. html in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes was missing.

  6. Mike September 21, 2011 at 6:13 pm |

    Many thanks! When I saw the note about Google Chrome being previously installed and uninstalled, I was confident I had the right fix. My daughter installed Chrome, which I subsequently removed, and it was some time after that I started noticing this error cropping up. The simple fix of the registry took care of it.

  7. Sian Wiseman September 25, 2011 at 12:44 pm |

    Brilliant! Have been going around in circles for ages. I have never put Google chrome on my computer but when I sorted the Regedit as above it was there in the files. Anyway I followed the very clear instructions and it has WORKED. Thank you very much

  8. Frank September 28, 2011 at 5:21 pm |

    This one works for me just changing the registry value.
    Thanks

    Edit Registry, Part2

    If you received this error after uninstalling any application that takes over the HTML open command (including, but not limited to, Chrome & Firefox browsers) you may also need to change the HTM/HTML association in the registry.

    1.Start, click Run, type Regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
    2.Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.html
    3.Right click the value for the .html key and select Modify…
    4.Change the value from “ChromeHTML” to “htmlfile” (or from FireFoxHTML to htmlfile)
    Repeat these steps for htm and .shtml keys if they exist. You may also want to check the xhtml and xhtm keys.

    Don’t want to edit the registry? Download this file (right click and choose Save target as…) Then double click on the file to run.

    From After uninstalling Google Chrome Links in e-mail don’t work any more

  9. Peter September 28, 2011 at 8:57 pm |

    Changing the Junk mail option properties in Outlook worked for me.

    Clear the check mark at Disable links and other functionality in phishing messages. “

  10. JK September 29, 2011 at 1:17 pm |

    After applying Alan’s solution – re-installing FireFox and setting it as the default, – the hyperlinks work. I then went to Internet Explorer and set it as the default browser. I again checked the hyperlinks, and again they worked.
    Thank you for this tip, as anything else didn’t work
    JK

  11. Bob S October 15, 2011 at 3:03 pm |

    This has been extremely helpful.

    My wife was getting the “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions” error message, and blaming me for messing up her computer. She is now very happy.

    Thank you.

  12. Danie Nel October 17, 2011 at 7:16 am |

    Excellent!! The Edit Registry Pt 2 worked a charm for Outlook 2007 on an XP machine, where I had previously uninstalled Chrome.

  13. SamF October 19, 2011 at 4:56 pm |

    I get that message. none of the above fixes works for me. I can’t access Control Panel–get the same message. Can’t restore–same message. It does not seem to be an IE problem as I have the same message when not online. I really need help here. I’ve looked all over Microsoft, various help sites and none seem to be the same problem. I can only go online, write text documents; I lost everything in “All Programs” and most of my desktop icons went away (thought I found the solution on that one, but it only restored a few). AND I have the Microsoft EULA stuck on my desktop, can’t click it closed. HELP PLEASE!
    Thanks in advance

  14. Diane Poremsky October 19, 2011 at 5:16 pm |

    have you seen this KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=278839? While its probably not for your version, the cause and solution is basically the same – a policy blocking access.

  15. elizabeth October 26, 2011 at 12:16 pm |

    i used the reset websettings…..after a couple of tries, it worked. I had to have my outlook closed when i performed the process. It did not work when it was opened.

    thank goodness for forums such as this!

  16. Valerie October 28, 2011 at 11:00 am |

    Oh, thank goodness! Links are functioning in my emails again. I had uninstalled Chrome without really noticing (just housekeeping…) when this mess started. Reinstalling Chrome didn’t help at all. Thanks to all who posted the fix!!!

  17. Mike November 4, 2011 at 2:58 pm |

    Set Program Access in Control Panel worked for me on WIN7, Office 2010, thank you!

  18. Mike Linham November 4, 2011 at 7:41 pm |

    Hi. Thanks for this information. The Regedit operation worked for me. Excellent !!

  19. Jrad November 5, 2011 at 11:15 pm |

    I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! NOT REALLY :) BUT THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME HOW TO FIX THIS ERROR. I HAD TO CHANGE THE REG AND NOW AFTER TWO MONTHS OF PULLING THE REST OF MY HAIR OUT AND CUSSING ALOT, IT ALL WORKS PERFECT. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

  20. Joanne November 6, 2011 at 8:16 am |

    This issue was driving me crazy. I tried doing everything to fix this unfixable problem until I read your solution. Thank you so much for this utterly easy fix. My blood pressure is almost back to normal!

  21. Hank Arnold November 8, 2011 at 3:47 am |

    Ran into this after uninstalling Chrome. Turned out that the keys referenced in teh post were missing!. Importing the reg file fixed it. Thanks!

    Hank Arnold (MVP)

  22. Peter Leeming November 12, 2011 at 7:33 am |

    Only Alan´s solution worked – Everything works fine now! This is great as it was driving me crazy!!!
    Thanks….

  23. Laura November 16, 2011 at 3:05 pm |

    Tried all suggestions above, didn’t currently have Google Chrome (had uninstalled it in the past because I heard it was a memory hog) and when I performed the regedit….sure enough…there was Google Chrome hiding in the registry. I am VERY happy to say….the registry edit worked!!! Thank you for this information!

  24. chenghe November 18, 2011 at 12:13 am |

    Well, Edit Registry, Part 2 works for me!! thank you!

  25. The Cat November 18, 2011 at 5:28 am |

    Thanks a lot, the Remedy:
    Edit Registry, Part 2

    worked great, I just downloaded the registry key and let it run.

    The Cat

  26. Grumpy November 21, 2011 at 4:11 am |

    Thank you Alan!! Nice, easy fix that worked for me on win7 and IE9 when nothing else did.

  27. Marty November 29, 2011 at 8:34 am |

    Chrome sucks. Screwed up a bunch of stuff. Microsoft was no help. Thank you for supplying the ONLY solution that actually worked!

  28. Andie November 29, 2011 at 8:19 pm |

    Thank you so much. I followed your instructions and changed the HTML/HTM association in my registry and now my links from Outlook works.

    Thank you so much! OMG! You don’t know how MUCH that error has been driving me crazy!!!!!!!

  29. Klossie December 2, 2011 at 1:42 am |

    Thank you so much – after unistalling Google Chrome this was driving me nuts – your first and very simple fix made it all go away!!!
    Windows 7 and Int Exp 9

  30. Philip December 11, 2011 at 12:48 am |

    Thank you so much – after unistalling Google Chrome this was driving me nuts – your first and very simple fix made it all go away!!!
    Windows 7 and Int Exp 9

    You guys are the Mac daddy on this problem. I thought I was lost!!!!!! I had spent several hours trying to fix the problem!!!!!

  31. Ben Scott December 15, 2011 at 7:48 am |

    For those who want to know the nitty-gritty details: In my testing (Outlook 2003 SP3 on Win XP Pro SP3), it appears that Outlook is looking for the file association registered for “.HTML” files, and then looking for a “shell” subkey named “open”, and invoking that. It has to be named “open”.

    Outlook will chase the .HTML handler properly, using the default value for “HKCR\.html\” — mine is “htmlfile_custom”. However, it appears Outlook ignores the default action (the default value for “shell” — “HKCR\htmlfile_custom\shell\” in my case) and is hard-coded to look for a key named “open”. I originally had keys named “firefox”, “msie”, “chrome”, “safari”, etc., with the default specified, per Microsoft’s docs. Apparently Outlook doesn’t follow Microsoft’s own standards. So I had to rename “firefox” to “open” to get Outlook to work.

  32. Randy December 27, 2011 at 2:58 pm |

    I too had this problem and I found this page by Googling the error message. Modifying the reg solved this, thank you very much!!!

  33. @virMarie December 28, 2011 at 1:14 pm |

    After trying to sort this for 1 week updating the registry worked 1st time – Thank You!

  34. Bruce December 31, 2011 at 7:05 am |

    Treid many different “fixes” before I ran on to this “Edit Registry, Part 2″
    This worked great thank you so much.
    “htmlfile”

  35. Douglas Trolan December 31, 2011 at 10:46 am |

    I had just uninstalled Ghrome and used the above. It worked!

  36. Eamon January 2, 2012 at 5:16 am |

    Problem solved with “Edit Registry, Part 2″ . Thank you so much.

  37. howard olsen January 3, 2012 at 9:05 pm |

    tgrf’s solution worked for me too: I’m using Firefox and the problem was definitely Outlook Junk Mail: Click on any email header. Select Junk mail menu, then Junk mail options. Clear the check mark at Disable links and other functionality in phishing messages. “ Thanks

  38. Elizeu January 12, 2012 at 10:54 am |

    Excelente, já estava desistindo, quando achei esta solução! Parabéns! Desinstalei o Chrome e desabilitou os meus hiperlinks em EXCEL 2010. Segui os passos Redefinir Configurações da Web.

  39. Michael January 15, 2012 at 5:15 am |

    Alan, I just wanted to send a zillion thanks for your super-simple solution to this problem. The steps were easy to follow and I didn’t have to retry to get it resolved. In my case Maxthon was the issue even though it was never my default browser. A quick fix in the Registry and all is well. Thanks again.

  40. Trevor January 17, 2012 at 1:26 am |

    Excellent advice. Worked a treat!

  41. dave jackson January 18, 2012 at 8:19 am |

    thanks for your assistance with the outlook disbled hyper links. it was chrome which had prefixed the html files etc and was stopping them from working.

    thanks
    i downloaded the reg file key you offered and it work a treat thanks again, have to admit was sceptical about using the file but worked well.

    regards

  42. Malcolm January 18, 2012 at 10:02 pm |

    Thanks for the advice. How dare Google go stomping all over the registry leaving chrome marks everywhere. Methinks Google is more of an evil empire than Microsoft.

  43. Diane Poremsky January 18, 2012 at 10:06 pm |

    It’s not just google – firefox does it to. :)

  44. Susan Clark January 20, 2012 at 5:03 pm |

    I tried all the I.E. and Outlook solutions and none worked, I they uninstalled Google Chrome and reinstalled it, and voila! The hyperlinks work on Outlook and use I.E. So while I do not have to use “Chrome”, I must have it installed as “default” to use the Outlink hyperlinks. Much simplier than all the other solutions I tried.

  45. Sam January 26, 2012 at 11:07 pm |

    Everyone,
    I bet this is part of the new internet bill that Congress is trying to pass.
    And Microsoft is denying that the last upgrade to everyone’s computer did something to cause this problem
    they’re not going to fix it. all hyperlinks are to be cut based on the two bills going through Congress.
    I’m trying to emilinate microsoft off my computer and use other programs. maybe that will fix the problem, nothing else is working (i have tried the IE tools, the control panel solution, changing to firefox, nothing works)

  46. Sam January 26, 2012 at 11:08 pm |

    Also, i never had Chrome on my computer

  47. Diane Poremsky January 27, 2012 at 5:03 am |

    Did you try rebooting? The changes don’t take effect for some users until they reboot. Use the fix in Import the Registry Key section and either use my key or the FixIt in the other link in that section (it’s to a Microsoft KB) then reboot.

  48. Gary January 28, 2012 at 2:28 pm |

    Many thanks to Slipsticks Systems. My day is clogged enough without computer snags. You corrected the error (links would not open after uninstalling Chrome – change registry keys) on the first try. Waydago!

  49. Dave January 29, 2012 at 6:52 am |

    Great Job! Thanks for the info it worked on the first try.

  50. KYFAKT January 30, 2012 at 9:29 pm |

    WINDOWS 7, IE 9: Okay, here is the fix that worked for me… With Outlook closed, open IE, click on Tools, then Internet Options and select the Programs Tab. Click on the Set Programs Button and then select the fourth selection down “Set Program Access and Computer Defaults”. The Custom option was selected for some reason on my machine – click on the down arrows to the right of the Custom option to expand the setting options and then select Internet Explorer as the default web browser and Outlook as the default email client and click okay. Okay your way out of the Option windows and open Outlook – Hyperlinks should work in Outlook again!

  51. Alan Did Not Work January 31, 2012 at 5:23 pm |

    Alan’s approach did not solve a Word 2010 problem which prevented at least two functions:

    Ctrl+C from the Table of Contents and Check for Updates.

    I did try the install/uninstall of Chrome, plus setting IE as default, but within its Options and Also from the Control Panel.

    What worked for me was editing the Registry as suggested. I found the following entries when I went there:

    .thm & .html were Max3.Association.HTML
    .shtml & .xhtml were FirefoxHTML

    I changed them all to htmlfile

    Good luck!

  52. Cdmspecial February 3, 2012 at 11:57 am |

    WORKED FOR ME THANK YOU!!!!!!!

    1.Start, click Run, type Regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
    2.Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.html
    3.Right click the value for the .html key and select Modify…
    4.Change the value from “ChromeHTML” to “htmlfile” (or from FireFoxHTML to htmlfile)

  53. Michael F February 5, 2012 at 11:01 pm |

    I too got this problem after uninstalling chrome toolbar. I have Win7 SP1 & MS Outlook 2007 SP2. The “Edit Registry, Part 2″ worked flawlessly. But be sure to set a restore point before you change the settings, just in case. Also be sure to change all the keys to “htmlfile”: html; htm; shtml; xhtml; xht. You should NOT have to reset IE8 or 9. Once you finish, do a cold startup so that the new registry entries can take effect.
    P.S. I did try the Microsoft Fix-It, but it just hung-up and didn’t do anything.

  54. John February 7, 2012 at 1:43 pm |

    Alan’s solution worked fro me after many hours of trying other solutions. Thank you Alan.

  55. G Thomas Mortensen February 8, 2012 at 11:02 am |

    I don’t know whether the default reset in IE or the downloaded file resolved it for me.

    Chrome was resident and the problem only started after uninstalling. Chrome hasn’t been installed as default for a long time.

    I took both steps before testing and the problem’s gone

    Thanks

  56. Thomas February 8, 2012 at 8:07 pm |

    Hello: Since I uninstalled internet explorer I have been unable to use the Table of Contents Links in Word 2007. Is the only way to get the ability to use the links restored to reinstall internet explorer? The links are not http:// links but rather they are links pointing to sections of the word documents themselves.

  57. Ceri February 11, 2012 at 4:02 am |

    Thanks so much – it worked !

  58. John February 14, 2012 at 3:57 am |

    Edit Registry, Part 2 solution worked for me. THANK YOU!!!!!

  59. Bob M February 16, 2012 at 5:29 am |

    After getting no help from my local IT repair shop, I tried Alan’s solution for not being able to access internet links from emails in Office 2010 – it worked perfectly and I now have no problems. Thanks, one less headache to worry about.

  60. Kent February 16, 2012 at 9:01 am |

    Alan’s solution worked perfectly. Use the download file instead of trying to to edit your registry. Very easy. Thanks Alan!

  61. Gabor Lorincz-Veger February 17, 2012 at 12:29 am |

    The change of the registry settings worked for me, thank you very much!!!

  62. Wilson February 19, 2012 at 9:56 pm |

    regedit. This worked for me. Thanks a mil!

  63. Atila February 23, 2012 at 4:58 am |

    This was very helpful in fixing my problem, by editing the registry Part 2, it resolved my problem.
    Just on note; I didn’t find xhtm only xht, and after editing it worked fine.
    Thank you for the help

  64. Mary D February 24, 2012 at 8:04 am |

    Thank you soooooo much. Changing the registry worked!!! I had to get rid of Google Chrome because it had this nefarious problem with Whitesmoke search engine hijacking it and IE also. It’s probably still lurking in my computer somewhere because when I tried to download Chrome again it immediately surfaced in the second tab. I got rid of Chrome and downloaded Opera instead and still have IE. So far, I haven’t seen it resurface. After uninstalling Chrome the hotlinks on my Outlook didn’t work and your solution resolved it. Thanks again.
    Mary

  65. Alan February 25, 2012 at 9:24 am |

    I have Windows 7 64x and recently deleted Chrome and anything I could find to do with Google, due to their snooping policy. Links stopped working and I tried the reset, as per above, and that did not work. I then tried your “edit reg part 2″ above and it worked instantly.
    Many thanks – appreciated!

  66. Carla February 25, 2012 at 12:09 pm |

    The note about installing and uninstalling Google Chrome and making sure the Internet Explorer was the default fixed my problem. Thank you!!!!

  67. HarleySlapper February 27, 2012 at 5:13 pm |

    The “Edit Registry, Part 2″ solution worked for me using Win XP and Office 2007 after uninstalling Chrome.

    Thanks!

  68. H February 28, 2012 at 2:39 am |

    Thank you.

    I edited the registry and presto. I appreciate your advice.

    Bye Chrome

  69. Grateful February 28, 2012 at 11:54 am |

    I had a problem similar to that described by Thomas on 2/08/12:
    Links within the Table of Contents in MS Word documents did not work.
    I am running MS Word 2002, Win XP Pro SP3, and I have IE8, Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers installed.
    I used used the “Edit Registry, Part 2″ solution. I downloaded the suggested file and ran it, rather than manually altering the registry myself. The solution worked like a charm. Thank you!!!

  70. David Gallant February 29, 2012 at 5:00 pm |

    Editing the registry worked like a charm

  71. Jason February 29, 2012 at 7:16 pm |

    Thanks so much. Everyone had answers to my problem however, none worked except this one. Thanks again.

  72. Kim March 2, 2012 at 7:37 am |

    Editing the registry worked a treat – a dodle with your signposting – all is well – thanks!

  73. chris napier March 3, 2012 at 2:38 pm |

    thankyou so much for this repair tip……who would have thought google chrome would behave so selfishly upon uninstall

    N

  74. Noemi March 5, 2012 at 1:09 pm |

    Great, simple, perfect solution following Alan’s solution.
    The whole conflict started by installing Google Earth and not realizing that the chrome was also attached if not uncheched.
    I always read everything before downloading any programme but not this time it was as if hidden in the download and not welcome later when I try my outlook.
    Bye Chrome!

  75. Ms JVJ March 5, 2012 at 7:32 pm |

    Problem: Outlook 2010 would not open hyperlinks.
    Solution:
    WORKED FOR ME IMMEDIALELY
    THANK YOU!

    1.Start, click Run, type Regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
    2.Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.html
    3.Right click the value for the .html key and select Modify…
    4.Change the value from “ChromeHTML” to “htmlfile” (or from FireFoxHTML to htmlfile)

  76. Angie March 6, 2012 at 9:05 am |

    Thank you SO SO much!

  77. DG March 8, 2012 at 5:42 am |

    Brilliant advice…

  78. Russell Barry March 9, 2012 at 5:39 pm |

    followed Ms JVJ (March 5, 2012 at 7:32 pm) instructions and it worked like a charm. for those that do not know where Run is on 7 ultimate, go to start / programs / assesories / Run.

  79. Diane Poremsky March 10, 2012 at 7:19 am |

    As an FYI, this in Edit Registry part 2, and we have a reg file you can use if you don’t want to edit the registry yourself. (Windows key + R will also open the Run command.)

  80. Nick Lynn March 10, 2012 at 12:04 pm |

    The error message, “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator”, arose after an unsolicited attempt by Google Chrome to install itself on my PC. The solution was to edit the registry as described above, but it has taken me some time to find these instructions. It is very disappointing that a reputable company like Google feels that it has the right to waste my time and interfere with the settings in my software. Perhaps it would like to pay for the privilage next time?

  81. Diane Poremsky March 10, 2012 at 6:30 pm |

    I’m not sure its fair to blame google or this -it also happens with firefox and other applications. It’s caused by uninstalling the browser that is configured as default, leaving the keys orphaned. IE or Windows should be smart enough to fix it the next time you use IE…

  82. GIna March 11, 2012 at 10:11 am |

    AWESOME. Did the registry change. Worked immediately! You helped so much. I was about to SCREAM!

    Thanks

  83. Larry March 11, 2012 at 5:04 pm |

    Thanks for the information. It now works properly.

    Larry

  84. steve March 12, 2012 at 5:55 am |

    You’re a lifesaver!!

    This one works for me just changing the registry value.
    Edit Registry, Part2

    Thanks,

    Steve.

  85. Mark March 12, 2012 at 11:08 am |

    Thank you for this fix! I uninstalled Chrome and my outlook was still looking for it.

  86. Darcia March 13, 2012 at 5:27 pm |

    Thanks to the suggestion about Google Chrome. That was the problem for me. Talk about frustration!!!! Cheers mate!

  87. Beverley March 14, 2012 at 3:36 pm |

    Thank you for posting this reg fix. Changed the default from Firefoxhtml to htmlfile and it solved the problem! We have been working on this stupid issue for 3 days and really appreciate finding the solution.

  88. Ken March 14, 2012 at 4:17 pm |

    Article ID: 310049 – Last Review: November 11, 2011 – Revision: 17.0

    You receive an error message when you click a hyperlink in Outlook

    View products that this article applies to.

    This article was previously published under Q310049

    Microsoft has a link on this page that will allow them to fix it, which is what I did. and it worked perfectly.

  89. Candis March 15, 2012 at 4:30 pm |

    Thank you. I followed each of these steps and finally had the issue resolved after making the registry changes, but not until I had restarted the computer so you might want to add that step. There were in fact 4 places where chrome was still listed as the default browser in the registry and I changed all 4 of them. What a relief. No more chrome for me.

  90. John L March 16, 2012 at 7:35 am |

    Problem fixed – thanks for your advice!

  91. Carol March 19, 2012 at 2:57 am |

    I was having a problem opening links from MS word 2007. Not being very sure of myself where this sort of fix is concerned, I took the option of downloading the file for edit Reg 2 and it worked a treat.Thank you,

    Carol x

  92. Mike G March 20, 2012 at 3:29 am |

    Got this bug when I uninstalled Chrome (after Google installed for me – unbidden). Tried Alan’s solution, didn’t work for me. Tried the Edit Registry Part 2 – Bingo!

    Many thanks

  93. LisS March 20, 2012 at 7:42 am |

    User comment TGRF was the solution that worked for me, oddly enough. The links that I was clicking were company intranet links and from within word documents AND email.

    F.Y.I. – I am admin on my machine and using Chrome as my default browser.

    “tgrf makes this suggestion as one possible cause and solution: “I am using Outlook in Office 2010, Windows 7, and IE8. I just fixed this problem when trying to set up my junk mail filter. Click on any email header. Select Junk mail menu, then Junk mail options. Clear the check mark at Disable links and other functionality in phishing messages. “

  94. Oscar March 20, 2012 at 12:13 pm |

    I installed FireFox and setting it as the default, the hyperlinks worked. I then went to Internet Explorer and set it as the default browser.
    If I unistalled firefox the problem persist

    Thanks

  95. Grant March 20, 2012 at 8:26 pm |

    Alan’s solution worked for me using Outlook 2007 and IE8. Thanks Alan.

  96. Lise Noel March 21, 2012 at 8:43 pm |

    Thank you Alan,
    You saved me $90.00 that Dell wanted for their help in fixing my outlook hyperlink problem after uninstalling google chrome.
    You solved my problem with “Edit Registry, Part 2″
    Again, thanks a million.

  97. John A March 22, 2012 at 7:45 am |

    I tried Alan’s solution and it worked….for awhile.
    I reloaded Chrome, made IE my default browser again and then deleted Chrome.
    All email links still worked!
    Then, as my hatred for Big Brother Google grew, I deleted the google toolbar and the problem returned.
    I hate the way google, et.al have taken away my privacy. What used to be helpful additions to computers are now conduits to personal information. Did I say that I hate that?
    I guess the only way to get privacy back these days is to trash my computer and go live in the woods.
    Sorry for the rant but this is not an Outlook problem. This is google’s way of staying in your life.

  98. Diane Poremsky March 22, 2012 at 9:30 am |

    They’ll find you in the woods too.

    Thanks for letting us know about the google toolbar- it may help others.

  99. Bill Eberbach March 23, 2012 at 4:42 pm |

    Worked. Thanks. No more Google.

  100. Michelle March 24, 2012 at 11:50 am |

    “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect” thanks :) for the solution it really worked the first time and it was very easy

  101. BWCIII March 26, 2012 at 7:58 am |

    Downloaded and installed your registry key. IT WOIKS!

    Thanks for returning my sanity!

    BWCIII

  102. David March 28, 2012 at 3:55 pm |

    Thanks! Problem fixed.

  103. gina mccrary March 30, 2012 at 5:57 pm |

    thank you so much! this worked!

  104. Dave Harris April 1, 2012 at 3:30 am |

    Thanks for the help – worked great for me. Think my computer crashed when it had IE open and that might have caused the problem.

    Just thought i’d mention that running the reg fix file didn’t sort the problem – had to manually adjust the information in the registry.

  105. Vicki April 5, 2012 at 10:01 pm |

    thank you so much I have a good feeling this will now work. Blessings to you :-)

  106. Kevin April 8, 2012 at 7:18 pm |

    Edit Registry, Part 2 solved my problem too. I highly recommend it to all.

  107. ParkerB April 9, 2012 at 10:44 pm |

    Awesome fix, I am suprised how much google has got up in my business. They are getting way out of control, bye bye google. I am even thinking of bailing on my Android since the only reason I avoid Apple is that I find them to controlling. Now, Android and google are no difference.

  108. Mark April 10, 2012 at 7:24 pm |

    Add Maxthon to the web browsers causing this problem. The regedit solution worked for me.

  109. Matt April 23, 2012 at 1:56 am |

    Thank you very much. Edit Registry, Part 2 solved my problem.

  110. Mal April 23, 2012 at 11:40 am |

    Thankyou thankyou thankyou!

  111. suzi April 24, 2012 at 6:28 am |

    tgrf – I tried everything else and your’s was the only idea that worked!!! So Simple. Well done!! x

  112. Julia April 27, 2012 at 1:34 am |

    Thank you thank you thank you thank you !!!
    spent hours trying to solve this until I found this forum and performed the Edit Registry, Part 2 !
    AND I’m the most useless IT user. AND I managed.

    Thank you for making me feel like an IT queen!

Leave a Reply

More in Problems
OUTLOOK.EXE continues running after you exit Outlook

Problem: After closing Outlook, it continues to run. Outlook can't close properly if another application is accessing Outlook's message store...

Close