Outlook Error “Your Organization’s Policies are Preventing”

You may have come across an error that restricts you from opening hyperlinks while using Microsoft Outlook. Depending upon your version of Outlook, this error varies but the actual problem is the same. This issue has been addressed several times on Microsoft website because a lot of Windows users started receiving this problem whenever they tried to open a hyperlink from within their Outlook program.

On versions 2007 & 2010 of Outlook, you may come across a different error i.e. “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator”.

But if you tend to use later versions of Outlook i.e. Outlook 2013 & 2016, you might be presented with an error stating “Your organization’s policies are preventing us from completing this action for you. For more info, please contact your help desk”.

Why Hyperlinks don’t open from within Microsoft Outlook?

There might be several reasons why Outlook stopped opening hyperlinks from within. One of them corresponds to your default internet browser that you might have set to other third party browsers like Google Chrome/ Firefox installed on your computer. If you haven’t done it yourself, then it might have happened unnoticeably due to different add-ins that change the default browser to another one.

So, How to Fix Hyperlinks not Opening from With Outlook?

In order to fix this problem, you can follow the under-mentioned solutions and check if it works for you.

Solution # 1: Setting Internet Explorer & Outlook as Default Programs

To cope up with this issue, you need to set Internet Explorer as your default program for opening links. On the other hand, you are also required to set MS Outlook as a default program for all of your email related services. To do so, just follow these steps. This process is almost the same on all versions of Windows.

1. Open Control Panel > Default Programs and click on Set your default programs.
2. On the next window, set your default web browser to Internet Explorer and default Email client to Outlook.
3. Afterwards, restart your MS Outlook and check if it opens hyperlink. If it doesn’t, move to the next solution.

Solution # 2: Resetting Internet Explorer Settings

If the problem with Outlook still persists after following above mentioned solution, then you need to reset settings of Internet Explorer.

1. Open Internet Options from Control Panel. You can also click on the gear icon located at the top right corner of the Internet Explorer and select Internet Options.
2. Inside Internet Options/ Internet Properties window, go to Advanced tab and click on Reset and OK buttons as illustrated in the image below.
3. On Reset Internet Explorer Settings window, tick the Delete Personal Settings checkbox and hit Reset After the process is completed, set Internet Explorer and Outlook default programs as depicted above and restart Internet Explorer. Check Outlook to see if the problem has been resolved.

Solution # 3: Checking for Registry Key inside Registry Editor

Registry Editor is a graphical tool that allows the users to make changes to Windows registry.

Note: Before following this step, make sure that you create a system restore point. We have a comprehensive guide covering all the ways to create a system restore point.

1. Open the registry editor by typing regedit inside the search box in Windows 8 and 10. If you are using Windows 7, you can do so by clicking on Start > Run and typing regedit followed by the Enter key.
2. Inside registry editor, find .html key inside HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT location, click over it and on the right pane, check for (Default) If it is blank or has no data, then it might definitely be a loophole.
3. Double click on (Default) and set its Value Data to htmlfile (case-sensitive). Click on OK and restart your PC. Check for Outlook if it opens hyperlinks without any problem.

Solution # 4: Using Microsoft Easy Fix Tool (Windows 7 & earlier Versions only)

This solution is for those who are using Windows 7or earlier versions. Download the Easy Fix Tool from this link. Click on I Agree check and Next button multiple times. It would automatically fix the problem. Check for the Outlook again. Hopefully, it might have been resolved.