Word/PPT files opening in two tabs, while PDF opens in one – Browser-specific behavior?

Storyline’s Open URL/File trigger immediately opens a new tab when the user clicks. After that, the browser decides what to do with the file. It’s normal browser behavior, not something Storyline directly controls.

PDF files open cleanly in one tab because browsers have a built-in PDF viewer. The tab that opens essentially becomes a PDF viewer, so the file renders directly inside it.

Office files (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) are different. Browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Vivaldi) don’t have built-in viewers for these formats. So:

1. Storyline opens a new tab.
2. The browser checks the file type.
3. Since it can’t render it natively, it decides to download it instead.
4. The originally opened tab remains blank because nothing is rendered there.

So the blank tab appears because the browser opens the tab first, then decides the file should be downloaded rather than displayed.

Edge is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 services.

When you click to open the Office file:

1. Storyline opens a blank tab.
2. Edge detects it’s an Office file.
3. Edge redirects to its built-in Microsoft/Office web viewer.
4. That viewer opens in a new tab and displays the document inline.

If you want consistent behavior across different browsers, converting the file to PDF or using a web-view link is the most reliable solution.

For example, you can upload the original document to Google Drive (or another cloud platform) and share the view/preview link instead of linking directly to the raw .docx file.

This way, the browser isn’t trying to open the actual Office file itself. Instead, it opens a web page that displays the document inside an online viewer similar to how a built-in PDF viewer works.