SharePoint Basic Troubleshooting Tips

SharePoint is an Internet service used by faculty, researchers and staff to collaborate and can be accessed with any web browser (Note: The browser Internet Explorer (IE) may be required for certain features. To access the top level University of Waterloo SharePoint, please use this URL (the ‘https’ is required): https://sharepoint.uwaterloo.ca/.

Open

Common Questions and Solutions

Issue: Files in SharePoint fail to open in Office

SharePoint browser support

• Internet Explorer 11.x is best for Windows access to SharePoint

• Windows 10: Microsoft Edge does not support the add-ons SharePoint requires

• Google Chrome generally works well. Some features are not available

• MacOS/iOS: Chrome has better results than Safari

• Firefox generally works (all platforms) but may have issues after updates (Chrome is recommended over Firefox)

Add SharePoint to the local intranet sites in Windows Internet Options

1. Click the Windows Key (or open the Windows Menu)

2. In the Search/Run line Type: Internet Options

3. Click on Internet Options in the displayed list and then click the Security tab

   Open

   

4. Select the Local intranet security zone and click Sites

5. Then click on the Advanced tab

6. Make sure the below URL's are in the website list. To add a URL, enter the address in the Add this website to the zone field and click Add.

   • https://sharepoint.uwaterloo.ca

   • https://sp16a.uwaterloo.ca 

7. Click Close, and then click OK twice to exit and save

Enable the Office SharePoint add-on in Internet Explorer (IE)

1. From the Tools menu, select Manage add-ons

2. In the Show dropdown, select All add-ons

3. Locate the SharePoint OpenDocumentsClass add-on

4. If it isn't Enabled, select it and click Enable

5. Click Close

Check that your IE cache is set correctly

1. From the Tools menu, select Internet Options

2. In the General Tab, under Browsing History, Click Settings

3. A new Window will pop-up with the Temporary Internet Files Tab active

4. Verify that the Current Location is set to a path you can access e.g. C:\users\YOURUSERNAME\Appdata\Local\????

Issue: SharePoint OpenDocuments Class is not listed

It's possible that the add-on does exist but wasn't updated when recent Office upgrades were installed on your computer.

1. From the Start menu, click Control Panel, and then select Programs

2. Select Programs and Features

3. Scroll down the list of installed programs, select Microsoft Office, and then click Change

4. In the Change dialog, click Repair and then click Continue

5. You might need to reboot your computer so the changes can take effect

6. When your computer finishes rebooting, go back into Internet Explorer and repeat the procedure for enabling the add-on

I see an "unable to display file" error

A SharePoint site administrator can check to see if documents are set to open correctly. Please submit an RT to https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/2/create/1306.

Issue: I don't see any content or I'm constantly prompted to authenticate

1. Add SharePoint to the Local Intranet Sites in Internet Options

   • See steps above

2. Clear cached credentials

   1. Windows 7/8/10

      1. From the Start menu, click Control Panel, and then select User Accounts

      2. Select Manage your credentials and review the contents in the main window

      3. Delete (remove from the Vault) all SharePoint and all ADS\ accounts

   2. MacOS

      1. Use the KeyChain Access app (in the Utilities Folder, which is located in the Applications Folder) to delete all SharePoint or old ADS references

3. We may need to verify that your Nexus account has been correctly added to SharePoint

   • A SharePoint site administrator can check to see if your account has the appropriate permissions. Please submit a ticket via https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/2/create/1306 and include your NEXUS\username.

Related articles