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When I try and open up a link from an email in Outlook 365 I get an error "this web page cannot be loaded". If I copy the link to the address bar it works

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All the links start with "https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/" so I suspect it has something to do with security in Outlook. Office 365 seems to think the link is malware.

If I open up the link in IE , Chrome or Microsoft Edge it works just fine.

I am using Windows 10 and FIrefox 58.0. My system admin has disabled my being able to do updates

All the links start with "https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/" so I suspect it has something to do with security in Outlook. Office 365 seems to think the link is malware. If I open up the link in IE , Chrome or Microsoft Edge it works just fine. I am using Windows 10 and FIrefox 58.0. My system admin has disabled my being able to do updates

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Hi, please update your browser to current version for security reasons. 3 Bar Menu --> Help --> About

Hi, if you Google : https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/

Everything talks about it being a disaster. Also this was one thing that was in a Windows 10 preview and is because they want people to use Edge and IE. At the moment I do not know of away around it other than to : convert emails from plain text to HTML and send as HTML as then unless it has been fixed just changes some HTML code and not the URL This .edu site sorta explains it  : https://tech.dartmouth.edu/itc/services-support/help-yourself/knowledge-base/frequently-asked-questions-about-advanced-threat & https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/office365/securitycompliance/atp-safe-links?redirectSourcePath=%252fen-us%252farticle%252foffice-365-atp-safe-links-dd6a1fef-ec4a-4cf4-a25a-bb591c5811e3

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

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Unfortunately I cannot upgrade Firefox – my system admin has blocked that. And my issue has nothing to do with HTML or plain text emails – almost all of them are HTML. I called up my tech support and they were not helpful other than saying to use IE.

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If I try the URL in your question, I get an Office365 page with this information:

"Due to an internal error, this web page could not be loaded. We recommend that you close this page."

Could you give an example of a full URL -- something that isn't business sensitive or personal. For example, you could use right-click > Copy Link Location, then paste into a reply.

I'm assuming that after the part in your message, there is a ?url= parameter so the warning page can redirect to the real site if it's okay. If found this example in a Microsoft support thread:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapp.contact.nxp.com%2Fe%2Fer%3Felq_mid%3D5486%26elq_cid%3D971721%26s%3D1764%26lid%3D12630%26elqTrackId%3Da083c187eb31427c8a62218b09ce7627%26elq%3D2ab1462b8ec64cc2a5577305d6c9c8d3%26elqaid%3D5486%26elqat%3D1&data=02%7C01%7Crzubillaga%40arroweurope.com%7Cffa5380eadcc458ad17508d52ad390b6%7C0beb0c359cbb4feb99e5589e415c7944%7C1%7C0%7C636462010519935451&sdata=oSWUrC7%2FAmpLr61a3knepBi5QRfjbUtvVCE2jl7KJRM%3D&reserved=0

Or is the problem that the parameters are getting stripped off when you click the link in Firefox, leaving just the bare URL?

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Thanks for the link, it works normally for me, meaning, Microsoft approves and loads their own page.

In your original question you mentioned that links work if your paste them to the address bar, but not if you click them. Do you mean the long safelinks link or the original link?

If the safelinks link works from the address bar but not the page, there could be an issue with the "Referer" information. Do you use any privacy add-ons or custom settings that could affect the information Firefox sends to websites?


Looking at this more closely, the original link is redirected to this second URL:

https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.microsoft.com%2Fen-gb%2Foffice365%2Fsecuritycompliance%2Fatp-safe-links%3FredirectSourcePath%3D%25252fen-us%25252farticle%25252foffice-365-atp-safe-links-dd6a1fef-ec4a-4cf4-a25a-bb591c5811e3&data=02%7C01%7Cszack%40arrow.com%7Cb632b873d26940724c4608d6091aefc6%7C0beb0c359cbb4feb99e5589e415c7944%7C1%7C0%7C636706408635537961&sdata=NRYltO2a8iG%2FTzYI9%2BLlFW%2BY6O7wkSP3HCw0b0YsTkc%3D&reserved=0

Then that page redirects to

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/office365/securitycompliance/atp-safe-links?redirectSourcePath=%252fen-us%252farticle%252foffice-365-atp-safe-links-dd6a1fef-ec4a-4cf4-a25a-bb591c5811e3

When I change the email address to person@example.com the link stops working, so these URLs seem a bit delicate. I don't know whether there is a way to see what is breaking.

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It is the safelink I am pasting into the address bar by doing a "Copy link location" when I hover over the link in the email. Though I will say when I look at the link that is copied it is different than the "safelink" I am sent to if I just click on the link from the email.

I don't use any privacy add-ons though there is software on the computer for protecting against malware, viruses, phishing, etc. so maybe there is something installed that I have never had to interact with.

From looking at some websites I'm wondering if it is the ATP settings that are controlled by our IT group that are messing things up.

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The main difference I can think of between clicking a link and pasting that identical link in the address bar and loading it from there is when you click a link in a web page Firefox may send some or all of the address of the page where you clicked the link, in the HTTP_REFERER header. There are so many details, caveats, and exceptions, that I would be surprised if Office365 was really strict about the referring page information. However, it could view some information as suspicious. Maybe your IT could investigate that if it's a company-wide problem with Firefox.

In case an add-on is causing this problem, did you ever try testing in Firefox's Safe Mode? In its Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox. (On Mac, hold down the option/alt key instead of the Shift key.)

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
  • (menu bar) Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement?

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Nope - same error message when starting in safe mode

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Okay, we might have reached the end of what we can do without input from someone else who has this kind of link in their email and likes diving into request headers. If you feel like poking at it further, you could try the Browser Console.

You can open the separate Browser Console window using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Web Developer > Browser Console
  • (menu bar) Tools > Web Developer > Browser Console
  • (Windows) Ctrl+Shift+j

Click the trash can icon at the upper left to clear the window, then click the funnel icon next to it and turn on Requests if it's not currently selected.

Then switch back over to your main window and try the link.

Then switch back over to the console window. The first request and if there is a second request the second request should be listed with little triangles in the left margin. If you expand the triangle, you can see the Request Header information for the request. You could compare this versus pasting the link in the address bar and loading it that way.

More info on the Browser Console: https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Tools/Browser_Console

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Thanks for your help. I'll think I'll try my IT group again and see if I can get someone there to dig into this.