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OWA saves .docx and .xlsx file as .zip

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› Exchange Server › OWA › OWA saves .docx and .xlsx file as .zip

Last reviewed on February 8, 2018     6 Comments

We've had a lot of complaints about OWA saving Office 2007 files using the zip extension the last few weeks. It's an old issue and I'm surprised at the number of times it's come up recently. My best guess is that a lot of organizations with Exchange 2003 are only now upgrading to Office 2007.

The problem: When any Office 2007 attachment (.docx, .xlsx, etc) is opened from OWA, the user is asked to save the document before they open it. When they do this, the default extension is .zip. If the user changes it to the correct extension before opening, the file opens correctly.

This happens because the Office 2007 MIME file types are not configured on the web server and the users browser does not know how to open the files. If IE is configured to open files based on the file header, it identifies the file as a zip, which is technically correct.

The administrator can fix it sitewide by adding the Office 2007 file types to the MIME settings on the server.

On the user side, IE has an option to open files based on content, not extension. The user should add the OWA URL to the Trusted (or Local Intranet) list and disable the option to open files based on the content. It's in IE's Tools, Internet Options, Security tab, Trusted sites (or Local Internet). It's near the bottom of the settings in the Custom level dialog.

If the administrator hasn’t updated the server and global policy prevents the user from changing the IE settings, an old Windows trick allows users to correct the extension before saving. Replace zip with the correct extension and enclose the full filename in quotes before saving it, as in this example:
"my_file.docx"

Workaround

If the administrator hasn’t updated the server and global policy prevents the user from changing the IE settings, an old Windows trick allows users to correct the extension before saving. Replace zip with the correct extension and enclose the full filename in quotes before saving it, as in this example:
"my_file.docx"

Add Office 2007 MIME types to IIS

For the sites that have not yet added the Office 2007 MIME types to the OWA server, administrators can add them in one step. Begin by stopping the IIS service then edit the metabase XML file using a text editor. The metabase XML file is at C:\WINDOWS\system32\inetsrv\MetaBase.xml.

Search for the IIsMimeMap Location element and append the following lines to the MimeMap attribute

.docm,application/vnd.ms-word.document.macroEnabled.12
.docx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
.dotm,application/vnd.ms-word.template.macroEnabled.12
.dotx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.template
.potm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.template.macroEnabled.12
.potx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.template
.ppam,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.addin.macroEnabled.12
.ppsm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.slideshow.macroEnabled.12
.ppsx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.slideshow
.pptm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.presentation.macroEnabled.12
.pptx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation
.xlam,application/vnd.ms-excel.addin.macroEnabled.12
.xlsb,application/vnd.ms-excel.sheet.binary.macroEnabled.12
.xlsm,application/vnd.ms-excel.sheet.macroEnabled.12
.xlsx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
.xltm,application/vnd.ms-excel.template.macroEnabled.12
.xltx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.template

Open files based on Content

Internet Options dialogIE has an option to open files based on content, not the extension and this can cause issues.

First, the user needs to add the OWA URL to the Trusted (or Local Intranet) list.

Next, disable the option to open files based on the content. It's in IE's Tools, Internet Options, Security tab, Trusted sites (or Local Internet). It's near the bottom of the settings in the Custom level dialog.

For best security, do not enable this option in the Internet zone.

OWA saves .docx and .xlsx file as .zip was last modified: February 8th, 2018 by Diane Poremsky
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About Diane Poremsky

A Microsoft Outlook Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999, Diane is the author of several books, including Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginners Book. She also created 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.

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sunny (@guest_175468)
April 8, 2013 4:59 am
#175468

Hi,
I am facing this issue but the setting at End-user not working. we are not using MIME too.

some of the users are facing this problem.

0
0
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Diane Poremsky (@guest_175477)
Reply to  sunny
April 8, 2013 7:36 am
#175477

Do you know which version of OWA you are using?

0
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rob (@guest_172643)
November 28, 2012 11:58 am
#172643

happy to say that it works. thanks again

0
0
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rob (@guest_172563)
November 23, 2012 8:29 am
#172563

thank you kindly for the fast response. i will implement and let you know

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0
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rob (@guest_172542)
November 21, 2012 10:49 am
#172542

hello

i have 10 FE exchange servers serving OWA and 7 back-end servers as mailboxes.
where should i make those changes?

0
0
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Diane Poremsky (@guest_172543)
Reply to  rob
November 21, 2012 12:01 pm
#172543

On the OWA servers.

0
0
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