# Trouble opening files in Asana **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask the Community\ **Created:** [20 March 2023 13:16 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585 "2023-03-20T13:16:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nicklas\_Andersen](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@Nicklas\_Andersen](https://forum.asana.com/u/Nicklas_Andersen)\ **Post date:** [20 March 2023 13:16 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/1 "2023-03-20T13:16:54Z")
Hi I have received this error from a user: “When we are attaching a file in our project management system, Asana, we get this screenshot below. If we click download, we can download it, but it’s not always necessary to download and save the file on our local pc’s (actually it’s rare we would have the need for that). It seems like there is a firewall or limit to what we can open from Asana, so can you please whitelist files opened from Asana or whatever the solution is?” Steps to reproduce: Browser version: Chrome Upload screenshots below: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/e/9/e9c18dc407fcf22212bf17da7eadf756ccc50f25.png) – Do you have any idea how we can fix this? ---
**Author:** ![Marie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/marie/32/42208_2.png) [@Marie](https://forum.asana.com/u/Marie)\ **Post date:** [21 March 2023 08:53 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/2 "2023-03-21T08:53:51Z")
Hello @Nicklas_Andersen, From the error message, I assume you’re attaching your file from a third-party provider like Google Drive or Dropbox. If that’s the case, note that Asana doesn’t actually attach the file but attaches a link to the file. When the file has been removed, or its permissions were updated in Google Drive/Dropbox, Asana may not be able to open the link anymore. I would suggest removing the attachment and attaching it again. This will update the link to your attachment and should allow you to open your attachment in Asana. If this doesn’t solve your issue, please reach out to our support team with a screencast, so we can take a closer look into this for you 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nicklas\_Andersen](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@Nicklas\_Andersen](https://forum.asana.com/u/Nicklas_Andersen)\ **Post date:** [21 March 2023 10:01 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/3 "2023-03-21T10:01:35Z")
Thanks Marie for your quick reply! Will check with user and get back to you. ---
**Author:** ![Nicklas\_Andersen](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@Nicklas\_Andersen](https://forum.asana.com/u/Nicklas_Andersen)\ **Post date:** [27 March 2023 12:26 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/4 "2023-03-27T12:26:54Z")
HI Marie, It seems to resolve the issue 🙂 Thanks for your reponse! I will get back if for some reason it appears again. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/system/32/276370_2.png) [@system](https://forum.asana.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [13 April 2023 04:27 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/5 "2023-04-13T04:27:27Z")
This topic was automatically closed 16 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed. ---
**Author:** ![anon20416769](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@anon20416769](https://forum.asana.com/u/anon20416769)\ **Post date:** [21 September 2023 04:26 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/6 "2023-09-21T04:26:58Z")
Hi, When my team members or I try to view an attached a file in our project management system, Asana, we get this screenshot below. If we click download, we can download it, but it’s not always necessary to download and save the file on our local pc’s (actually it’s rare to have the need for that). It seems like there is a firewall or limit to what we can open from Asana, so can you please whitelist files opened from Asana or whatever the solution is? Also, all these documents were attached from our local pc’s. We were able to view it initially for about one week from the day we attached the files to the task. But after few days when we try again, error message pops up. Screenshot of the error page: ![Screenshot 2023-09-21 135229](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/3/f/3fce53b9c737e0a5aa4744224d2cb18c959f6209.png) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Sather](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/richard_sather/32/276096_2.png) [@Richard\_Sather](https://forum.asana.com/u/Richard_Sather)\ **Post date:** [21 September 2023 06:51 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/7 "2023-09-21T06:51:54Z")
Hi @anon20416769 , welcome to the forum 👋 I’ve merged your post into this similar thread. Note @Marie 's response [above](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/2). ---
**Author:** ![Bastien\_Siebman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/bastien_siebman/32/172354_2.png) [@Bastien\_Siebman](https://forum.asana.com/u/Bastien_Siebman)\ **Post date:** [21 September 2023 09:33 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/8 "2023-09-21T09:33:54Z")
In your case I believe the error is not in Asana but instead your file was moved or removed… ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Sather](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/richard_sather/32/276096_2.png) [@Richard\_Sather](https://forum.asana.com/u/Richard_Sather)\ **Post date:** [21 September 2023 12:56 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/9 "2023-09-21T12:56:40Z")
---
**Author:** ![Julie\_Craig](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@Julie\_Craig](https://forum.asana.com/u/Julie_Craig)\ **Post date:** [20 October 2023 19:58 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/10 "2023-10-20T19:58:14Z")
I am having similar issues. I’m sharing the document from our shared drive with no permission restrictions and still getting the 404 message. We can download it, but not view it. ---
**Author:** ![Che.Hookings](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@Che.Hookings](https://forum.asana.com/u/Che.Hookings)\ **Post date:** [31 January 2024 12:57 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/11 "2024-01-31T12:57:00Z")
I am having the same issue. ---
**Author:** ![Che.Hookings](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@Che.Hookings](https://forum.asana.com/u/Che.Hookings)\ **Post date:** [31 January 2024 12:58 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/12 "2024-01-31T12:58:33Z")
The files are being attached from company one drive. PDF’s open fine, but not MS docs. I get hte error: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/4/1/4175876880252443736b743e8eb18b77f1da376d.png) ---
**Author:** ![Che.Hookings](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@Che.Hookings](https://forum.asana.com/u/Che.Hookings)\ **Post date:** [31 January 2024 13:00 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/13 "2024-01-31T13:00:44Z")
I tried to open a word document and it was trying to open this link; [https://view.officeapps.live.com/](https://view.officeapps.live.com/) and gave this error: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/7/8/78fcbc472e87375edaba237e9b704eb9335625d2.png) ---
**Author:** ![Vojtech\_Piska](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/vojtech_piska/32/208431_2.png) [@Vojtech\_Piska](https://forum.asana.com/u/Vojtech_Piska)\ **Post date:** [21 February 2024 09:24 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/14 "2024-02-21T09:24:53Z")
We are suffering same issue? Could you raise a hand for this topic? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Sather](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/richard_sather/32/276096_2.png) [@Richard\_Sather](https://forum.asana.com/u/Richard_Sather)\ **Post date:** [21 February 2024 11:23 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/15 "2024-02-21T11:23:37Z")
Hi @Vojtech_Piska , in my experience, this error occurs when the attachment is the actual file, i.e. attached using the ‘Your computer’ option. In that case, you would have to download the file, open it using the MS desktop app, make changes and then upload the new version to Asana again - not good practice! Instead, when you attach a file (essentially a link) using the ‘Onedrive/SharePoint’ option, you should not have this issue - the file should open in your broswer and load in the relative MS 365 online app (Word, Excel etc). The other benefit with this is that you can also enable live previews within Asana. ---
**Author:** ![Vojtech\_Piska](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/vojtech_piska/32/208431_2.png) [@Vojtech\_Piska](https://forum.asana.com/u/Vojtech_Piska)\ **Post date:** [21 February 2024 11:41 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/16 "2024-02-21T11:41:07Z")
Hi, yes I agree best practise is use Onedrive/Sharepoint option and it is our preferred way of working. But I would say it should be working properly even if I choose a way of attaching file from computer. Because it seems to be little bit buggy, sometimes it is working and word/excel file is displayed in web browser tab, sometimes it throws 404. it’s not deterministic behaviour and that is something we can not rely on. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Sather](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/richard_sather/32/276096_2.png) [@Richard\_Sather](https://forum.asana.com/u/Richard_Sather)\ **Post date:** [21 February 2024 13:34 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/17 "2024-02-21T13:34:22Z")
OK interesting. Have you tried that using a different browser or in a private/incognito tab? ---
**Author:** ![hatim1](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@hatim1](https://forum.asana.com/u/hatim1)\ **Post date:** [8 March 2024 05:57 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/18 "2024-03-08T05:57:00Z")
MS office file word, excel when uploaded in asana from pc it gives error, ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/asana/original/3X/b/d/bd4e4f49c1ce04995ceb13acd4a9d30eb26ebc34.png) but pdf jpeg is working and add feed back option works. but same file when uploaded from SharePoint add feedback option does not work ---
**Author:** ![Laura\_Pu-Syska](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@Laura\_Pu-Syska](https://forum.asana.com/u/Laura_Pu-Syska)\ **Post date:** [24 May 2024 16:12 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/19 "2024-05-24T16:12:42Z")
Hello! I can’t seem to open any attachments my team puts into the tasks on my desktop. When I click to download, it says ‘forbidden’ on a separate screen, but I’m able to open the file on my phone. Is there something I could do to fix the issue I’m facing on my desktop? Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![David\_Mountford1](https://luna1.co/8d76cd.png) [@David\_Mountford1](https://forum.asana.com/u/David_Mountford1)\ **Post date:** [31 July 2024 10:52 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/trouble-opening-files-in-asana/373585/20 "2024-07-31T10:52:56Z")
I’m having the same problem - did you get a resolution?