Why do files not open in the expected Desktop App when using Firefox?

Issue

Files do not open in the expected Desktop App when using Firefox. For example, when opening an Excel spreadsheet from FYI, the file is not opened in the Excel desktop application.

Cause

Updates made by Firefox may cause the browser to not open Microsoft Office files that are located within FYI in the way you expect.

Solution

You can change the action that Firefox takes when opening files such as Excel, Word, etc. using the Firefox's download action settings. Any other websites you access with the browser that has media (such as videos or images) will not be affected. This will only affect the links in FYI such as the Edit link or button which open Office application such as Excel, Word, etc.

1. In Firefox, click the menu button
2. Select Options.
3. In the General panel, go to the Applications section.
4. Select the entry for the file type (Content Type) you want to change.
5. The Action column displays a drop-down menu with the action to take whenever you click that type of file.
   For example, when opening a Microsoft Excel file (ms-excel) you can select the action as Always ask or Use Excel (default).
   
   

   
   

   • Always ask: This will prompt you to select what action you want Firefox to take when you click on that type of file. This can be useful if Firefox is automatically saving a file type or is always opening it with a certain program and you want to be asked what to do.
   • Use Excel (default): This will always open the file using Microsoft Excel.
   • Use ... : Open the file with an application of your choosing. This allows you to choose a specific application to open the file with.
6. Close the Firefox Applications page and any changes you made will be saved automatically.