OneNote links Copied from Onenote have stopped working when clicked in Word / Excel, but only for work accoutns.

Hi @Jason Chapman, 

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

I can totally understand the inconvenience of your OneNote page links suddenly stopping working, especially since this workflow was previously working smoothly across Word and Excel. 

Based on your description, the issue could be due to recent changes in how Office handles links to work or organizational OneNote notebooks. Microsoft has tightened link-handling security for work accounts, especially when files are opened from desktop apps like Word or Excel. This can cause links to organizational OneNote pages to fail, even though personal OneNote links still open normally. 

To resolve this, here are a few things you can check: 

1. Confirm you’re signed into the same Work Account in all Office apps 

Make sure Word, Excel, OneNote, and Windows are all using the same work account. 

• In Word/Excel: File > Account > check "Connected Services". 
• In OneNote: File > Account > verify the work account is added and logged in.  If accounts don’t match, OneNote links from Excel/Word may fail. 

2. Verify that “Office File URI Handling” is enabled 

• Go to Settings > Apps > Default Apps 
• Search “Choose defaults by link type” 
• Look for onenote and onenote-cmd → ensure they open with OneNote (desktop). 

3. Repair Office  

• Right-click the Start button (lower-left corner) and select Installed apps on the pop-up menu.   

• Select OneNote to repair, click the ellipses, and select Modify. 

• Select Online Repair. 

• Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the repair. 

4. Contact Microsoft Support 

If the issue persists after trying these steps, the best next step would be to have your IT administrator open a support ticket with Microsoft via the admin center. A technical support engineer can then initiate a remote session, review backend settings, and run diagnostics. If needed, they can escalate the case to specialized engineering teams who are well-equipped to perform advanced troubleshooting and provide targeted solutions. 

As moderators, our primary goal is to provide helpful guidance and support through general troubleshooting steps. While we don’t have access to internal systems or administrative tools required to resolve account-specific or backend issues, we truly appreciate your understanding of these limitations. We genuinely hope the information we share helps point you in the right direction, and we're always here to assist as much as we can within our scope. 

For guidance on how to request support in the admin center, please refer to: Get support - Microsoft 365 admin.     

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.    

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you. 

I look forward to continuing the conversation.  

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The problem you're facing with OneNote links not functioning in Word or Excel for work accounts may stem from several factors related to hyperlink handling in Microsoft Office applications. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Default Browser Configuration: Verify that your default web browser is set correctly. If the default browser is not recognized, it may prevent hyperlinks from opening as expected.
2. Registry Key Check: Look into the registry setting for ForceShellExecute. If this key is absent or not set to 1, it could hinder the opening of hyperlinks. The registry paths to check are:
   • For 32-bit Office on 64-bit Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Internet
   • For 32-bit Office on 32-bit Windows or 64-bit Office on 64-bit Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Internet
3. Network and Proxy Settings: Since the issue is specific to work accounts, examine any network restrictions or proxy settings that might block access to OneNote pages from Word or Excel. Such restrictions can lead to errors like "Cannot Open the Specified File."
4. Permission Issues: Ensure that you have the appropriate permissions to access the work notebooks. Changes in permissions can affect the functionality of links.
5. Office Updates: Confirm that your Office applications are updated to the latest version. Updates can often resolve compatibility issues that may arise.

If the links function correctly when pasted into the Run dialog but not within Word or Excel, it indicates that the issue likely relates to how Office applications are set up to handle hyperlinks for work accounts specifically.

References:

• Error message when selecting hyperlink in Office: "Cannot locate the Internet server or proxy server"

As per my other notes, both machines just required a reboot.

Strange that both machines has the same issue.