Forum Discussion
.ASPX Files Now Download Instead of Launching from SharePoint
Hello all,
My organization has recently discovered an issue with .aspx files hosted on SharePoint. We've been using them to launch Storyline and Rise files so they act like web pages (like this). However, we just recently found that after reuploading the file or folder to SharePoint, SharePoint no longer opens the page. If you navigate to the .aspx file, it force-downloads the file. If you use the direct URL, you get a File Not Found error.
We suspect this is a SharePoint issue that has to do with the upload process. My IT department has asked me to check here to see if anyone else has experienced this problem, and if so, what the root cause was (e.g., Microsoft update, policy change, etc.)?
We're looking at SharePoint because:
- It happens to multiple people in multiple offices (not a computer issue).
- It happens with Chrome and Edge. Modifying the URL to add ?web=1 has no effect. Clearing cache and cookies has no effect (not a browser issue).
- I tested the "old" file to confirm it worked, then downloaded the .zip package from SP. When I reuploaded the exact same package back to SP, the file now force-downloads/is not found (so it's not the files or the Storyline version).
- I copied a file that's still working and uploaded the copy. The original opens as a web page, the copy doesn't (again, not the files).
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
HI all,
We've confirmed the issue is related to what's described in the links above. Our IT group was able to implement a temporary solution that lasts for 1 day, so right now we need to ask in advance for a script to be run when we want to make an update. If you need to talk to your IT team about this, ask about delaying enforcement of the "Deny Add and Customize Pages" setting.
It sounds like there are SharePoint changes coming in November of '24 that will block this workaround and require a shift to SharePoint Framework (SPFx) or an alternate solution. So now would be a great time to start engaging your SharePoint admin or IT team for planning purposes.
Hi All, I'm now facing this same issue that everyone here has been describing when publishing to sharepoint using a .aspx file. After investigating with IT and trying the solutions that many of you recommended (thank you!), nothing is working. I have a .aspx file from last year that is publishing just fine, it is the one from 2024 that is not working. When looking at this we realized it doesn't appear to be a Sharepoint issue, we can publish .aspx files just fine. Instead, we think it has to do with the export and something having changed in storyline that is impacting that. Has anyone been able to talk to someone from Articulate support about this issue? If not, does anyone know how to do that?
Hi HayleyNewbery,
Thanks for reaching out and I'm sorry to hear you're running into this issue!
Is this happening with one specific course or multiple courses from 2024? If you'd like to share your file with one of our Support Engineers, you can connect with them in a support case. They'll be happy to take a closer look to resolve your issue or point you in the right direction. We'll delete any files from our systems once troubleshooting is complete.
Hi Kelly I also tried to reach out to our supplier / support and they said they could not help and just wished me luck! We thought we had found a way around the problem by saving the files in the assets folder rather than a document library. This worked once and then Microsoft must have made another change their end because it stopped working.
I have just today had to publish a new resource as a bog standard static SharePoint page rather than a lovely interactive Rise 360 product. I wonder how much I will be able to use our Articulate licence going forward now, unless this problem is resolved, as many of my creations are published on SharePoint rather than an LMS.
Thanks for the feedback, We're currently looking at a custom script setting as the possible cause of the problem: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/allow-or-prevent-custom-script#to-allow-custom-script-on-other-sharepoint-sites.
We're working to see if changing the site permissions to custom script allowed to see if that solves the problem. Implementation is still in progress but this might be worth investigating.
maybe this has to do with the problem
We have multiple SharePoint Online sites and some don't have the custom scripts permission enabled due to the IT and security restrictions, hence the asp files will force download instead of open in the browser on those sites. The workaround for us is to get a site owner to upload the asp file to the SharePoint site that has the custom scripts enabled, then use the "move to" or "copy to" SharePoint feature to transfer the files to the other SharePoint sites. For some reason the permission retains, and the asp files would open in browser on all sites regardless the custom scripts permissions. Not sure if this method will continue work as the future SharePoint updates may block it, but at least it works for us now.
In the past, when we ran into this problem in SharePoint Online, it was always fixed by "Enabling Script" in that site (Set-PnPSite -NoScriptSite $false)
But today, we ran into this problem even on sites where that setting was turned on.
The "solution" that worked was a strange behavior:
- When the file was "dragged and dropped" into the library, it did not work.
- When the same file was "uploaded" into the library, it worked.
When I looked deeper into why this was happening:
When the file was dragged and dropped, the above "No Execute" property on the file was set to 1 and it did not work..
When the file was uploaded using the upload button, this property was set to 0 and it worked.
However, since this is a read-only built-in hidden property, it was not possible to update it through a script.
I believe, this started happening after the recent updates to SharePoint Online Admin portal to control the "Enable Script" behavior through UI (SharePoint Admin Center --> Active Sites --> Change View to 'Custom Script allowed Sites' --> Settings --> Custom Scripts) and the auto-switching they implemented to get it back to Blocked within 24 hours.
Unfortunately the above solution to upload instead of Drag-Drop is not reliable and if anyone can shed any help or pointers to work around this, it will be a great help.
Thanks!
@Karthik Selvaraj We have the same issue, and as a workaround to having to upload everything, I ran a sync from each document library where I have published eLearning content, and it syncs the library to OneDrive, which I can access through File Explorer on my computer.
Now I can drag (copy) all of my project files EXCEPT the .aspx files (story.aspx and analytics-frame.aspx). Once those files and folders finish syncing (you can tell by the Status symbol in File Explorer), then I just go to the same folder in the appropriate SharePoint document library and use the upload button for those two .aspx files. So far, that's worked perfectly for us. I have site owner permissions on the site, and the other trainers have design permissions, and there have been no issues.
It's not ideal, but it works.
Hi Tichelle, I tried this exactly as you have instructed but when I click the ellipsis to get the story.aspx > Copy Link> I still receive a download.aspx in the SP link.
Is there anything I'm missing here? Where do you copy the link from for the story.aspx?
Many thanks!!
@Tichelle Berg, I agree on the SPFx. We were advised that we'd need to work with our SharePoint developer to rebuild all of our courses and that we'd need developer assistance anytime they needed to be modified. It just doesn't seem scalable, even for a small number. We're still investigating other options.
Hello Kelley,
We experience the same issue. We tried the same ways to sort out the problem, trying different solutions around AR, browser. Converting both html files into aspx (index and goodbye for Rise) helped for a couple of days (previously we converted only index), now it does not work too. Would you please share if you've found a solution? Many thanks in advance! Irina.
I'm running into the same issue and have attempted the same steps. Our SharePoint admin says there have been no changes on their end. Our SharePoint is hosted in the Government Cloud (GCC).
We have this same issue now, and what i can see is that when the owner of the site uploads (who also is a administrator) the aspx file it gets the proper string to launch the file in sharepoint: ?web=1 etc.., but if a member of the site uploads, its only a force download link for aspx files.
Dunno if this is helpful.This doesn't work for us. My ID team are all listed as owners of the SP site and we're experiencing the same issue. :(
We tried all the different permission settings on my account, without fixing the issue for myself. But for some reason my colleauge can download my aspx file and re-upload it and it works again. Still looking for why.
