You get an error message when you open an Office file from SharePoint on a computer on which you installed more than one version of Office

Symptom

When trying to open an Office document from a SharePoint site, you get one of the following behaviors:

The file is being downloaded instead of opening directly from SharePoint:

 

      Do you want to open file.xlsx From SharePoint?

OR

Error message " 'Edit Document' requires a Windows SharePoint Services-compatible application.”

OR

Error message "The document could not be opened for editing. A Microsoft SharePoint Foundation compatible application could not be found to edit the document."

OR

Error message “To open this workbook, your computer must be running a supported version of Microsoft Office_application and a browser that supports opening files directly from the Office Web Apps”

 

The issue occurs on computers on which you have installed more than one version of Office.

e.g. Visio 2007 and Office 2013, Office 2010 and Lync 2013

 

Cause

The issue can occur when you have several different versions of Office installed on the same computer and you have several different versions of the OWSSUPP DLL available which are not registered correctly. The OWSSUPP.DLL corresponds to the SharePoint OpenDocuments Class Add-On for Internet Explorer and is the integration Add-On for opening Office documents from SharePoint.

To check the version of the SharePoint OpenDocuments Class Add-On (OWSSUPP.DLL) open Internet Explorer when the error is showing and go to Tools > Manage Add-ons. In Manage Add-ons click on SharePoint OpenDocuments Class and notice the version:

12.0.. stands for Office 2007

14.0.. stands for Office 2010

15.0.. stands for Office 2013

Tip: if you don’t see the SharePoint OpenDocuments Class Add-On in the Add-Ons list in Internet Explorer, select the option to Show: Run without permission

 

 

Resolution

The OWSSUPP.DLL is installed as part of the “Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support” category under Office Tools.

To resolve this issue you should disable Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support in any other version of Office installed on the machine and then repair Office.

e.g. if on a computer with Office 2010 and Lync 2013 you installed “Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support” for both versions (Lync 2013 is part of the Office 2013 suite), you should disable “Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support” for Lync 2013 and then repair Office 2010 so that the OWSSUPP.DLL gets registered.

To uninstall “Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support” for all non-Office 2010 components:

 

Windows XP Solution:

  • Go to Control Panel, Add Remove Programs
  • For each Office program that is not an Office 2010 program, select the item and click Change, Choose Add or Remove Features, Click Continue.
  • In Installation Options, expand Office Tools, Click Windows SharePoint Service Support OR Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support, Choose Not Available, Click Continue. You must do this for all Office programs that are not Office 2010 including earlier versions of Office Project or Visio.
  • Once configuration is complete, In Add Remove Programs, click Office 2010, click Change, Choose Repair, Click Continue. (Note: A reboot will be required after the Repair completes)

Windows Vista/Windows 7 Solution:

  • Go to Control Panel, Programs, Uninstall a Program.
  • For each Office program that is not an Office 2010 program, select the item and click Change, Choose Add or Remove Features, Click Continue.
  • In Installation Options, expand Office Tools, Click Windows SharePoint Service Support OR Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support, Choose Not Available, Click Continue. You must do this for all Office family programs that are not Office 2010 including earlier versions of Office Project or Visio.

Once configuration is complete, in Programs, click Office 2010, click Change, Choose Repair, Click Continue. (Note: A reboot will be required after the Repair completes)

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    It shouldn't reappear after you restart the machine, unless group policies add the feature back

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Hello, I have Sharepoint Open Document version 15.0.
    I have Office 2007 and Sharepoint Designer 2013. Sharepoint version is 2013. Should I remove the feature from 2007 products? Thank you!

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    I have tried both variants :( However, result was the same.
    What is interesting, is that when I open the browser and open documents for the first time from Sharepoint, I see the "Edit or Read-only" window. But after editing, when I open the same document, I can open it only as a read-only.
    Also, xslx documents always open as read-only...

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Hi,While removing the "Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support" for Lync 2013 and SPD 2013, its reappearing again once the system is restarted.Regards

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    If you get "The document could not be opened for editing. A Microsoft SharePoint Foundation compatible application could not be found to edit the document." on a machine with Office 2013 where you have regional language settings other than EN-US, you should try out this hotfix: Description of the Office 2013 hotfix package (Owssupp-x-none.msp): June 11, 2013 support.microsoft.com/.../en-us

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Hi Glen, you cannot remove the entry "Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support" from the Lync 2013 installation source. Instead set it on "Not Available". If you want to deploy the setting on several machines you can create a MSP file using the Office Customization Tool: Configure feature installation states for Office 2013 technet.microsoft.com/.../cc179043.aspx Radu

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    I agree, I don't think it can be removed without perhaps removing Lync 2013 entirely.

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Roland, SharePoint Designer 2010 and Office 2013 should work OK. Maybe you have another issue.. But if the repair does the trick and you are happy with it, you can automate the repair with a GPO or something. The command would be: msiexec /fm {GUID for SharePoint Designer 2010} /qn The switches are documented in Start > Run > msiexec /? Radu

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Thanks, Works perfectly :)

  • Anonymous
    May 08, 2013
    Is there any way of removing Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Support from lync basic 2013?

  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2013
    Office 2013 and Sharepoint Designer 2010 installed causes this problem. I had to repair the Sharepoint Designer 2010 installation to get rid of this error. Also happens on clients that installs Lync 2013 when they already have 2010... It is not fun to have to ask evry user to repair their office installation all the time... A permanent fix please!

  • Anonymous
    July 08, 2013
    OR, someone a bit more intelligent would have written support for discovering and launching Office 2010 applications from within the 2013 version of owssupp.dll. Doesn't sound too difficult if you ask me and it sure would have saved myself and our customers a lot of trouble.

  • Anonymous
    August 15, 2013
    I am having a similiar issue, but I have Office 2013.   I checked the Sharepoint Open Document as stated about and it shows 14.0.... Should that be 15.0 since I am running 2013?   If so,.. How do i change it?

  • Anonymous
    September 11, 2013
    I am using Windows Server 2012 and the Office 2013 professional. IE 10 But it occurs to me that if there is no compatible version of Office Name:                   SharePoint OpenDocuments Class Publisher:              Microsoft Corporation Type:                   ActiveX Control Architecture:           32-bit and 64-bit Version:                15.0.4420.1017 File date:              ‎01. ‎oktobar ‎2012, ‏‎20:36 Date last accessed:     ‎11. ‎septembar ‎2013, ‏‎14:19 Class ID:               {9203C2CB-1DC1-482D-967E-597AFF270F0D} Use count:              55 Block count:            0 File:                   OWSSUPP.DLL Folder:                 C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice15

  • Anonymous
    September 13, 2013
    The length of the protocol + path +file name (that sharepoint has to use for every file) is the problem. approx 256 chars (depending on unicode vers and special chars) is the limit.

  • Anonymous
    September 13, 2013
    In my case, a simpler problem and solution.  I was using Firefox and/or Chrome.  These features work only when I use Internet Explorer.

  • Anonymous
    January 24, 2014
    Issues like this give users a bad taste for Microsoft

  • Anonymous
    March 21, 2014
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    April 07, 2014
    I uninstalled Lync 2010 and repaired Office 2013 and I'm able to edit doc's now

  • Anonymous
    April 23, 2014
    I am experiencing the first issue at the top of the page "The file is being downloaded instead of opening directly from SharePoint." Programs and Features only shows Office Pro 2013, Visio 2013, and Project 2013 but I am also running a newer version of Lync (CU6) as apart of the vNext program. Lync does not appear in P&F. The odd thing is IE has two (2) SharePoint OpenDocuments Class Add-Ons and both are the exact same version. Any idea how to make the issue go away? Perhaps disable one of the SharePoint OpenDocuments Class Add-Ons?

  • Anonymous
    April 23, 2014
    Follow up to my previous post. It turns out I have the OWSSUPP.DLL under both Program Files and Program Files (x86). I am only running the 64-bit versions of Office, Project, Visio and Lync. The other x86 DLL may be a tombstone from my first install of Office 2013 which defaulted to the x86 version. I promptly uninstalled it and then installed the x64 version. Can I safely deregister OWSSUPP.DLL that's in the Program Files (x86) directory?

  • Anonymous
    May 12, 2014
    Microsoft is too lazy to solve their own problems.

  • Anonymous
    May 14, 2014
    I have been battling this issue for a few days. If I install Straight Office 2013 then use a Sharepoint 2007 site and access a document in LIST mode, then click Export to Excel it fails. So I decided to install sharepoint designer 2007, then rename the OWSSUPP.DLL in the Office15 folder to ,old IT WORKS! ... BUT then if I try to use a database and click OPEN IN ACCESS it fails. we use Smartcard Auth. any suggestions?

  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2014
    Issue gets resolved for InfoPath 2010 and Excel 2010 when disabled feature for Lync 2013. But issue still there when trying to open list using MS access 2010. Please help.

  • Anonymous
    June 16, 2014
    Hey I had the same issue with my computer. I wasted my time on it for
    many days but finally I got a solution from this link
    http://www.microsoftliveassist.com/error-when-installing-an-office-2013-suite/

  • Anonymous
    June 17, 2014
    Hey I had the same issue with my computer. I wasted my time on it for
    many days but finally I got a solution from this link
    http://www.microsoftliveassist.com/error-messages-when-you-try-to-uninstall-microsoft-office-2013/

  • Anonymous
    July 15, 2014
    you can try to perform a quick repair the existing office installation.
    I don't recommend an online installation as it may reset the activation settings.
    for more understanding, I hope the below link should be useful for you.
    http://www.errosupport.com/error-messages-when-you-try-to-uninstall-microsoft-office-2013/

  • Anonymous
    July 22, 2014
    installed Sharepoint server 2010 on Server 2008R2,

    able to brows sharepoint , but after clicking on edit document getting below error on client machine, please advice about resolution to be done at client end.

    "Edit Document' requires a Microsoft SharePoint Foundation-compatible application and web browser"

  • Anonymous
    September 26, 2014
    Did anyone happen to check to see if the add-ons for IE were enabled to open SharePoint documents? I had to enable any add-on in IE through toolsmanage add-ons that mentioned sharepoint and the issue was resolved...

  • Anonymous
    October 02, 2014
    I uninstall Google Chrome and this fixes 90% of the systems that have the issue, the other 10% are mismatched versions of Office.

  • Anonymous
    November 02, 2014
    Great Article! I mostly use PDFfiller to fill, edit or create fillable PDFs. Its not the same thing, but maybe someone needs it. It also allows you to erase in a pdf, esign, efax, add logos and pics to pdfs. Its pretty easy to use and its pretty cheap. I think you can get a free week if you and a friend both register. Here is a link to the site's functionalityhttp://www.pdffiller.com/en/categories

  • Anonymous
    November 02, 2014
    Great Article! I mostly use PDFfiller to fill, edit or create fillable PDFs. Its not the same thing, but maybe someone needs it. It also allows you to erase in a pdf, esign, efax, add logos and pics to pdfs. Its pretty easy to use and its pretty cheap. I think you can get a free week if you and a friend both register. Here is a link to the site's functionalityhttp://www.pdffiller.com/en/categories

  • Anonymous
    November 07, 2014
    i have visio 2010 published via App-v and have office 2013 installed locally - when i try to edit visio files from sharepoint, it tries to open word instead?!!

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2014
    Exact issue I had is resolved now. Thanks.

  • Anonymous
    February 06, 2015
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    February 13, 2015
    i'had the same Issue because of installing office 2010 & Lync 2013.

    I've two easy Workarorund to Fix this Problem.



    Workarround Batchfile ( maybe you should run this as Admin):

    regsvr32.exe /s "C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficeOffice14OWSSUPP.DLL"



    Workarround StartupScript with GPO:

    Computer Configuration -> Policies-> Windows Settings -> Scripts (Startup/logoff)

    --Settings--
    Script Name: regsvr32.exe
    Script Parameters: /s "C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficeOffice14OWSSUPP.DLL"



  • Anonymous
    February 14, 2015
    I need to use Excel 13 with an MSBI app on SP 2013. The rest of my office products are 2010 and our other SP environment is 2010. I am having trouble opening documents from SP. What is the best solution?

  • Anonymous
    March 09, 2015
    if you are using 64 bit IE, go to your start button type internet in the bottom left, and use the one that doens't have 64 bit after it. this error message is often cause in IE64 and then it works just fine in IE32 with no error. much easier and faster than reconiguring everthing

  • Anonymous
    March 23, 2015
    Thanks Alex, you are right, after I search many forum and try many methods. it works after I follow your instruction to use a 32 bit IE! Thanks.

  • Anonymous
    April 14, 2015
    We have Office 2010 and installed Lync 2013 basic and have the same problems on Sharepoint 2010 (on premise). I don't know how to quick fix it unattended because it's not on 1 machine but on 700 machines.

    Other question; How can I identify this on a group of machines? Which file/folder/application/feature/... can tell me this feature is activated and must be disabled?

  • Anonymous
    August 18, 2015
    but if SharePoint OpenDocuments Class is not available then which is a next step?

  • Anonymous
    October 13, 2015
    If my crash is in Excel 2013 in the VBA7 module why does windows keep directing me to this page for the fix?

  • Anonymous
    October 16, 2015
    EXCEL 2013 keeps intermittently crashing my Excel file. Sometimes it crashes when I run the macro, sometimes it blows up as soon as I click on the macro icon, sometimes when I try to save the file. And once that file has crashed it never can be fixed. I keep about 10 good copies of the sheet to keep constantly replacing the ones that die. Any hope of ever fixing this? EventData

    EXCEL.EXE
    15.0.4737.1000
    55801a26
    VBE7.DLL
    7.1.10.49
    55a6b6cd
    c0000005
    000000000029a763

  • Anonymous
    January 08, 2016
    I have had this issue as well. I only had Office 2016 installed but kept having my IE11 (tab) crash when opening any document on Sharepoint. Managed to fix it by replacing "C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficerootOffice16OWSSUPP.DLL". I replaced it with a version 15.0.4569.1503 file (so previous office version file). Did not need to register it. It worked after an IE restart. Hope this helps

  • Anonymous
    February 02, 2016
    Simple Solution : Just Update your browser to IE 11 and install IE fix pack (IE11-Windows6.1-KB3008923-x64) and restart the machine that's it issue resolved.

  • Anonymous
    February 02, 2016
    Simple Solution : Just Update your browser to IE 11 and install IE fix pack (IE11-Windows6.1-KB3008923-x64) and restart the machine that's it issue resolved.