This Issue Impacts Workplace Select Customers on the Modern Workplace Architecture.
Introduction
When a user inserts a hyperlink to a file residing on Workplace Drive within a Hosted Office product, the hyperlink's text displays the Workplace Drive file path however, the link is resolved as the UNC (Universal Naming Convention) path.
For example, in Outlook, a user inserts a link and then is prompted to select the file. If the user navigates to a file residing on Workplace Drive and inserts a link to that file, the link will be created to the file via its UNC path (ex: \\S-12345\Workplace\Important\document.docx) instead of its Workplace Drive path(ex: S:\Important\document.docx).
After the link has been inserted, the user can then hover over the link and see that the full UNC path has been used when creating the link to the file.
When a UNC file link is sent to a recipient, the recipient will not be able to open the document and will receive the following error message.
Cause
The cause is due to the way Office creates links to files. Office products will create links to files using the UNC path and will not use the Workplace Drive location, even if it displays it in the hyperlink text.
For more information on this issue, visit Microsoft Documentation.
Proposed Solutions
Typing the Path Manually
The Following Solution Assumes the Following Dependencies:
- The recipient has permission to access the folder and file.
- The recipient has access to the Workplace Drive within the Hosted File Manager or locally synced to their device.
- The recipient has access to an application that is capable of reading the file (ex: Microsoft Word for .docx files).
- The recipient is accessing the file on a computer and NOT a mobile device.
The following instructions are based on Hosted Outlook.
- Create/Open an email message or document.
- In the body of the email message, in the spot where you want to insert the file link, type <file:\\
- Once you have typed <file:\\, navigate to the Insert > Hyperlink dialog box.
- Navigate to the desired folder in Workplace Drive and select the desired file. Do NOT click OK.
- Copy the path in the address field to your clipboard (Control + C)
- Close the Insert Hyperlink window by clicking Cancel.
- In the body of your email/document imediately after <file:\\ paste the link from your clipboard (Control + V). Be sure to remove any extra spaces between file:\\ and S:\.
- Add a closing chevron (>) at the end of your link address. You final link should look like this: <file:\\S:\Important Documents\document.docx>
- Add a space or enter/return at the end of the file:\\ link. Office will automatically detect a link that has been entered and convert it to a hyperlink. You can hover over the new link to verify it is using the correct Workplace Drive path.
- When the recipient clicks on the link for the first time or the file has not previously opened the file, the recipient may be prompted with an error message "Please make sure you're using the correct location or web address." Ask them to click on the link a second time and it should open correctly.
Using Workplace File Links
If your organization has File Sharing enabled, you can create a Share File Link in the Workplace Web App, copy the File Link and paste that link in your office application.
Note: This will open the file in the Workplace Web App.
Using Workplace Folder Sharing
If you're trying to link a directory and your organization has Folder Sharing enabled, you can share the folder in the Workplace Web App. When you share a folder, Workplace will send a notification to the recipient letting them know a folder has been shared with them.
Note: This will open the folder in the Workplace Web App and only top-level folders can be shared.
Contact Workplace
If the link file continues to result in an error after trying the proposed solutions, please contact your Workplace provider or Customer Sucess Manager.