WD2000: Web Page Opens in Different Microsoft Office Program (224689)

SYMPTOMS

In the Open dialog box (on the File menu, click Open), when you select a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) file (a Web page) and click Open, the file opens in the program that the file was created in.

For example, if you attempt to open an HTML file that was created in Microsoft FrontPage, the file opens in FrontPage instead of Word.

WORKAROUND

To use Word to open a Web page created in a different Microsoft Office program, use one of the following methods appropriate for your situation.

Method 1: Use "Open With Microsoft Word"

Use the following steps to force Word to open a Web page created in a different Microsoft Office program:

On the File menu, click Open.
Do one of the following:
- Right-click the HTML file that you want to open in Word.
  
  -or-
- Click the Open box to view the Open list.
On the shortcut menu or the list, click Open with Microsoft Word.

NOTE: If Open with Microsoft Word does not appear on the shortcut menu or list, or if a different Office program is listed instead, please see "Set Microsoft Word as Your Default HTML Editor" in the "More Information" section of this article. After this option is set, Open with Microsoft Word appears on the shortcut menu.

Method 2: Remove the Application-Specific Tags

If you know that the Web page will be edited in a different application (for example, Microsoft Word), you may want to remove the application-specific tags from the HTML code of your Web page, using the following steps:

In the application you created the Web page in (for example, Microsoft FrontPage), view the HTML source.

NOTE: In Microsoft FrontPage, to view the HTML source code, click the HTML tab.
Select and delete the two lines that are similar to the following example for Microsoft FrontPage:
<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 4.0">
<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
NOTE: The "content=" portion of the tags is specific to the program that created the Web page.

MORE INFORMATION

Set Microsoft Word as Your Default HTML Editor

To set Word as your default HTML editor, do the following steps in Word:

On the Tools menu, click Options.
On the General tab, click Web Options.
On the Files tab, click to select the Check if Word is the default editor for all other Web pages option, and then click OK.

NOTE: The following message appears when you click OK:
Microsoft Word is not your default Web page editor. Would you like to make Word your default editor?

Note: Web pages created in Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and FrontPage will continue to open in the original application.
Click Yes to close the message.
Click OK to close the Options dialog box.