JIRA Office Connector - 'Unable to create an ActiveX object to open the document' error message when Editing in Office
Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.
Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Symptoms
When editing with the Office Connector, a message appears:
1
'Unable to create an ActiveX object to open the document. This is most likely because of the security settings for your browser.'
Cause
The security settings in the browser are preventing usage of the Office Connector.
Resolution
Enable ActiveX controls in the browser. The default security settings should be okay. You may see this error if you have changed them from the default settings.
If that doesn't work, there may be a configuration problem with the SharePoint client controls. The Office Connector uses these for the integration between IE and Office. Follow the steps outlined in Microsoft's knowledge base article to fix the problem. NOTE: Alternatively, disable ActiveX Filtering (Tools > Safety > ActiveX Filtering) and then refresh the browser. This works for some machines to eliminate the problem.
There's also a user who managed to fix the problem by using 32bit version of IE and repair MS Office.
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