Blocked Links in Enterprise Email

PROBLEM You click a link in your Outlook Web Access and are told that access to the link is “disabled to protect your security.”

The Error Screen

LinkDisabled

 

Clicking some links returns this error

Solution! Simply highlight the link as text using your mouse, then copy the text. You will then be able to paste the address into a new browser window and visit the site you are attempting to access. Note Internet Explorer offers a “Copy Shortcut” option when you right click on a link. Since the location of the link itself is changed, but the text is not, then using this option will not work. You must use the basic “Copy” function in order to copy a blocked URL.

Copy, NOT Copy Shortcut!

CopyLink

28 Responses to “Blocked Links in Enterprise Email”

  1. Christopher Taylor
    • Arcadio

      The “work around” is that you need to change the address that the email is being sent to. When it goes to the us.army.mil address it is disabling all links, that’s why the copy shortcut does not work. I had this problem the Microsoft Home Use Program. Update your contact information on the website sending you the link and when it comes to your mail.mil address it will work again, I promise.

      Reply
  2. Mike

    This will not work if the link is sent to you as a button to click and not a complete link typed out. I am trying to buy Microsoft Office through the HUP program and have to use my professional e-mail(EE) but when they send me the link I cannot click it or find the address to open in a new window. The Army has now made it even harder for Soldiers to actually do their jobs and be efficient. EE may have some benefits but in an attempt to make something easier the Army has actually made it much, much more difficult to execute simple tasks. Congradulations, once again the cream has risen to the top.

    Reply
    • Mike

      This solution is fixed in Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 but Im sure we wont upgrade to 2010 until 2020.

      Reply
  3. Tommy

    Yes, thanks for the Home Use Program, Army. Too bad we can’t use it because we have to click on a button to activate our product: A button which is disabled thanks to your over-the-top security settings in OWA–which, oh-by-the-way, cannot be changed by the user. And there is no work around, because the “copy” and paste only works when the link is a full address, not a button. Why even have a Home Use Program at all? No one can use it!

    Reply
  4. Tim

    Great job! Fix it until its broken, that’s the wise thing to do.

    Reply
  5. Chris

    I too am completely boned when it comes to using the HUP. What’s worse is that I work in IT and know a thing or two about my own internet security. The way they stonewall EVERYTHING like this is just a slap in the face since there is no way we can adjust the settings ourselves.

    Reply
  6. Zach

    I found a solution to this. It’s a pain but it works. You need to forward the email AS AN ATTACHMENT. You must click “Forward as attachment” to another regular email address you use. Then log in to your regular email and open the attachment, right click the link and select copy shortcut. Open up a new tab or window, paste the shortcut but don’t hit enter yet, go to the beginning of the web address bar and delete the word “blocked” from in front of “https”. Now your link should work!

    Reply
  7. Marcus

    AKO mail sucked and enterprise email sucks even worse. Just the idea that some moron thought this was a fix indicates how inept the techs that design and manage these sites are.

    Reply
  8. Paul
    • Arcadio

      yes, you’re correct Paul links are disabled, for HUP use your @mail.mil address thus cancelling the forwarding of e-mails and disabling of links.

      Reply
  9. Jason

    Found an official fix!
    after you enter your @us.army.mil address and program code, send the email. once it says the email has been sent look towards the bottom and it will ask if you want to resend the email. click that and then you’ll be given an option at the top to send as PLAIN TEXT. select that, enter the required info and then send. you’ll receive a new email without the hyperlinks and the link is in plain site. highlight the link, copy it (cntrl+C or right click, copy) and paste it into your web browser.

    Was pretty bitter until i found this work around. ENJOY!!

    Reply
  10. Blake

    Terribly disappointed in this technique for blocking links, as I am with all of OWA. Best solution I could find was to forward to my civilian e-mail as an attachment, and then work from there (Thanks Zach!).

    Reply
  11. Anonymous

    For the professors who teach in online settings, it can be a little disconcerting at first. “In a classroom, I can look at a student’s body language and facial expressions,” says Cummings of Babson. “I can tell when they’re not getting it. Now I am deprived of that.”

    Reply
  12. LTC Victoria Kilcawley

    Hello,
    It has been over a week since I could access my EE account.
    I spent over 6 hours running scans to determine the cause.
    I installed Firefox instead of IE 10.
    Please help.

    Reply
  13. wayne adams
  14. Chris

    I have checked the plain text box, and it will not send me a plain text e-mail.
    I have tried this in Chrome and Safari: same result.
    Also: the site will only accept my “@us.army.mil” address, not “.mil@mail.mil”, if that makes a difference.
    I have to be missing something…

    Reply

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