Make Links in Office 2007 Apps Open in Firefox

Does anyone know how to make Hyperlinks in Word, Excel, etc... documents from the Microsoft Office 2007 Suite open in Mozilla's Firefox browser? I'm using XP Pro SP3 and Firefox ver. 3.0.15.

I found a couple of sites that have registry hacks as solutions but none of them have worked for me. I put a link to one of those sites below.

http://www.consumingexperience.com/2008/02/make-links-in-word-excel-etc-open-in.html​

I was able to make links in Outlook 2007 emails open in Firefox by following the directions at this webpage:

http://www.consumingexperience.com/2007/01/outlook-email-links-open-links-in.html​

Now if I could only get links in Word and Excel to open in Firefox I'd be a happy camper.


I really hope someone can help, this is driving me crazy! :confused

Thanks for your time.

 

Hi LauraR, thanks so much for your clear and speedy replies!

Unfortunately I already tried this and it didn't work. While in Set Program Access and Defaults I click on Custom and then under Choose a default Web Browser the default is Use my current Web browser. I change it to Mozilla Firefox, click OK but when I click a link in a Word document, the link still opens in Internet Explorer 8.

I went back into Set Program Access and Defaults and noticed that Use my current Web browser was selected and not Mozilla Firefox. For some reason Mozilla Firefox wont stay selected.

Currently Firefox is set as my default browser so maybe because of that, it's considered my current Web browser?

Also, let me clarify what I want to be able to do.

For example, if I open a Word document and in the text it has a link to www.google.com I want that link to open in Firefox, currently when I press the Ctrl key and click on the link it opens in Internet Explorer 8.

Thanks again for your replies.

 

If you go to Control Panel (Classic View), open Internet Options, and select the Programs tab, what do you see in the section for Default web browser?

 

Hi usafveteran, thanks for the post!

Under the Default web browser section it says:

Internet Explorer is not currently the default web broswer.

and to the right of that there's a button that says Make Default.

Below that there's a check box that is not checked and next to it, it says Tell me if Internet Explorer is not the default web browser.​

I attached a print screen of that section from Internet Properties so you can see exactly what I'm describing.

I should have mentioned this in my previous post because it is specifically the fact that it says Internet Explorer is not currently the default web broswer in IE8's Internet Options that makes me think Firefox is the default browser but I don't see anything in Firefox that definitively says Firefox is the default browser so I can't say for certain.

To double check I opened Firefox options, clicked on Advanced, General tab, and under System Defaults Always check to see if Firefox is the default browser on startup is checked but when i click on the Check Now button nothing happens. I'm not sure whats going on there. I'm going to uninstall and then re-install Firefox and see if that helps with the Check Now button but even if I'm certain that Firefox is my default browser, I don't think that will solve my problem.

I'll let you know what happens after I re-install Firefox.

Thanks again for the post!

 

While you at it, you might as well get the latest version of Firefox. I see you have Firefox ver. 3.0.15. The latest version is 3.5.6.

 

I uninstalled Firefox and then downloaded and installed version 3.5.6. The Check Now button still does nothing when I click it. Maybe it's not suppose to do anything if Firefox is set as the default browser?

Regardless, the important news is that links in word documents now open in Fire fox! I'd like to thank the academy, my mama, and usafveteran & LauraR for there time and efforts.

Mission Accomplished! :major

 

I know you've solved your problem (and I'm happy for you!) so I'm just checking. . . isn't it true that if you create a link to a website while you're using a particular browser, that link will only open in that browser? That was the case on my system when I had IE and Firefox both operating, and if I created a link in one of them, it would only open in that browser, and not the other.

 

I can't image how you experienced that behavior. It's simply not the way it works. The browser from which a link was obtained and saved in a Word file has no effect on how the link is opened; it will be opened in whichever browser is set as default.

For a link in Word to behave as you described, the source browser would somehow have to be embedded in the link. But, again, that's not the way it works. All Word sees in the link is a URL, and, therefore, it will open in the default browser.

 

Hi Imperfect1,

Hmm.... I think you misunderstood what this thread is about.

This is what I was referring to:

Lets say I open up a Microsoft Office Word 2007 document and in the text of this document there is a link, for example www.google.com, when I press and hold the Ctrl key and then click on the link the web page by default would open in Internet Explorer 8 (or whatever version of Internet Explorer you have installed). I wanted it to open in Firefox by default. Does that make sense?​

Your Question, if I understand it correctly, has nothing to do with this thread:

I think you're asking about links that are in the Favorite Bar in Internet Explorer and Bookmarks Toolbar in Firefox. My question regarded links in the body of a Word document. Both the Favorite Bar and the Bookmarks Toolbar serve the same purpose, which is while you have the internet browser open these bars serve as a list of Favorites you have created to various websites for quick and easy access. The bar usually spans from the width of your monitor and is located underneath the address bar. If you click on one of these shortcuts that web page will open up in the browser you are currently using.

If you're talking about creating a Shortcut to a webpage on your desktop (or anywhere else on your computer) that shortcut will also open in the browser from where you created it.​

Please reply and let me know if this clears things up.

Thanks for chiming in!

 

Hi benodictine. I just tested what you said and found it not to be true. I saved a shortcut on the desktop to a web page viewed in IE. When I click on the shortcut, it opens in Firefox, my default browser. This is with Win 7 RC, IE 8, and Firefox 3.5.6.

 

@ usafveteran

Ah yes, you are correct sir, my apologies. Unfortunately I can't edit my previous post but hopefully people will read yours.

Thanks for the correction.