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I have a vast number of Word documents that include links to jpg images in nearby folders.
When you click on it, normally (until today) the image opens up in Photoshop Elements 14, and I can edit and save it etc.
Today however when I click on any of these links I get a box asking me to look for an app in the Microsoft Store: "you'll need a new app to open this about link". I don’t want to go there as I already own Photoshop and if I click on Store it doesn’t seem to have a route back to my own programme files.
In Windows Explorer I can see that jpg files default open with Photoshop, as they always have done. This only seems to apply to hyperlinks. It continues to work for .tiff files, but not for .jpg or .jpeg files.
On Settings/App/Default apps, Photoshop is correctly set as the default software for images
Photoshop Elements Update says it is fully up to date. In settings/App etc. there is no Modify button, just uninstall which I don’t want to risk. I’ve tried to Repair Office which made no difference.
Allori.jpg
AlloriT.tif
[Moderator note: thread updated with operating system (Windows 10)]
A family of Microsoft word processing software products for creating web, email, and print documents.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
I can now confirm that the fix has been done, and having reenabled auto updates on Office the hylerlinks are now working correctly.
Hi Neil, Luke here. I tested several recent Office update releases and I think I isolated the culprit that broke your Word doc links.
For the April 20 Version 2203 (Build 15028.20228), the test docs with JPG and PNG links work as expected when I click on the hyperlink. Note the first time I tried the JPG link, there appeared a security warning about dangerous file formats which you can ignore. Standard Microsoft procedure for JPGs.
For the subsequent release of April 26 Version 2204 (Build 15128.20178), the test docs with JPG and PNG links did not work and produced this error message when I click on the hyperlink: "No Program is registered to open this file." I checked my file associations in Windows settings and confirmed this is incorrect; my JPG and PNG file associations are still the same as ever.
To rollback to the last working version, I modified LiranLustig's suggestion with the version number. You can use this command line (following LiranLustig's instructions):
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.15028.20228
After a successful install is achieved, open Word again, go to File\Account, and make sure to Disable Updates so you don't receive the rogue update. No telling how long the wait for an update with the bug fix but there's little downside to sticking with the April 20 Version for a while.
Note that I have tested this only on Windows 11 and Office 365. It is expected to work on Windows 10 and Office 2016 but no guarantees. As LiranLustig notes, this is not a system restore so it is relatively low impact and should not affect other operations or programs.
So to recap, it appears the April 26 Version 2204 (Build 15128.20178) update introduced this bug.
Cheers,
Luke
I'm sorry but I don't think you have understood the problem. I have been inserting hyperlinks into Word documents correctly for 15 years and they always worked until Monday. It's not a design fault, it's a corruption somewhere within the registry on my computer that has not survived a full repair.
The workaround is of no use to me as I have several thousand Word documents with more than 30,000 hyperlinks which I use daily. I cannot rewrite all of them. Solving this problem - getting my computer back to the position it was in until earlier this week - is of vital importance to me.
Let me restate the issue: I'm using Windows 10 with Office 2016. I have a Word document in a folder on my C drive, and an image in another folder on the C drive. I insert a link within the Word document and select the image file. When you click on it, normally (until Monday) the image opens up in Photoshop Elements 14 (which was and remains the default image software), and I can edit and save it etc. If you take this document and the image and set them up on another computer, they work correctly.
But since Monday when I click on any of these links I get a box asking me to look for an app in the Microsoft Store: "you'll need a new app to open this about link".
Within Windows Explorer the jpg files open with Photoshop, as they always have done. This only applies to hyperlinks. It continues to work for .tiff files, but not for .jpg or .jpeg files. If I create the hyperlink in say Excel or even in a message created in Outlook (which uses Word as its word processing software), they work correctly.
On Settings/App/Default apps, Photoshop is correctly set as the default software for both jpg and tif images. If I select say Microsoft Photo as the default image app, the same problem arises with jpgs, while tifs continue to work properly, just opening in MS Photo instead of Photoshop.
I have looked at the Trust Center options within Word but have found no relevant choice.
Photoshop Elements and Office 2016 are fully up to date. I’ve done a full Repair to Office which made no difference. I tried a Restore System but the only dates offered were Tuesday (too late) and two years ago (too many changes to risk). The Tuesday restore which I tried anyway made no difference.
There were no relevant updates, changes or problems immediately preceding the change of behaviour.
I am also having the same issue all of a sudden. I have many Word documents with many hyperlinks that link to HTML files. When I used to click on them, they opened in the browser just fine, but in the last day or two, I am instead getting an error saying "you'll need a new app to open this about link". This seems to apply to any hyperlinks linking to local files (.html, .jpg, .png, etc). Clearly, something broke. I've spent the last two days trying everything to fix it including reinstalling Windows 11, but nothing has helped. As NeilJeffaresFA, this feature still works fine in Excel. This seems to be only a Word issue.
Please help resolve this. I have spent nearly a year working on a project that depends on this feature working. It should not just suddenly break.
Hi NeilJeffaresFA:
Thank you very much for your feedback and I apologize for the inconvenience this issue has caused you.
This problem also occurred in my tests, it seems that when opening image files through hyperlinks, the default application is not recognized. Currently, the application files that can be opened directly are Office applications and browsers：
I understand your feelings very well, I think this is a design flaw, and I apologize for the inconvenience caused to your work. At the same time, I also thought of a Workaround for you, using the method of inserting objects to insert picture files：
Choose Create from File:
After inserting, you will get small icons, click the icon to open the file with the default program：
We do understand the inconvenience caused and apologize for it. However, we really believe your requirement can improve our products and bring a better user experience. You can kindly give your valuable suggestion in Word; your feedback will be sent to the related team directly. For your reference: How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office?
Thank you for your understanding.
Tin