"Cannot open file template" or "Cannot be found 404" error when a user clicks an Office document link in the Office 365 portal

Article ID: 2540236 - View products that this article applies to.

Not sure what release of Office 365 you're using? Go to the following Microsoft website:
Am I using Office 365 after the service upgrade?
(http://office.microsoft.com/redir/HA103982331.aspx)
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PROBLEM

Consider the following scenario. A user signs in to the Microsoft Office 365 portal in Microsoft Office 365 for professionals and small businesses pre-upgrade. Then, the user clicks one of the Office document links in the Office 365 portal to create a new document on the Microsoft SharePoint Online team site. The user receives an error message that resembles one of the following messages:

Cannot open file template
Cannot be found 404
For example, a user experiences these symptoms when the user clicks Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote on the home page of the Office 365 portal.
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SOLUTION

To resolve this issue, download the document templates for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft OneNote, and then import the templates into the SharePoint Online team site in Office 365 for professionals and small businesses pre-upgrade. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Download the document templates from the following Microsoft website:
    http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/E/C/3EC6B0DE-42EF-4C84-A5FB-B74E9EF7EB95/Office 365 for small businesses document templates for KB 2540236.zip
    (http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/E/C/3EC6B0DE-42EF-4C84-A5FB-B74E9EF7EB95/Office%20365%20for%20small%20businesses%20document%20templates%20for%20KB%202540236.zip)
  2. Open the site in Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010.

    Note To download and install SharePoint Designer 2010, go to the following Microsoft website: 
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=d88a1505-849b-4587-b854-a7054ee28d66&displaylang=en
    (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=d88a1505-849b-4587-b854-a7054ee28d66&displaylang=en)
    Follow these steps:
    1. Start SharePoint Designer 2010.
    2. Click the File tab, click Sites, and then click Open Site.
    3. Type the web address of your company's SharePoint team site, and then click Open.
    4. When you're prompted, enter your credentials to sign in to the site. The site opens in SharePoint Designer 2010.
  4. In the left navigation pane, click All Files.
  5. In the ribbon, click Import Files.
  6. In the Import dialog box, click Add File, add one of the templates that you downloaded in step 1, and then click Open.
  7. Repeat step 6 for each template, and then click OK.

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MORE INFORMATION

This issue can occur if your company participated in Office 365 before the general availability release of Office 365 on June 28, 2011.

Note This applies only to Office 365 for professionals and small businesses pre-upgrade.

The document templates are as follows:
  • Word template: Template.dotx
  • Excel template: Template.xlsx
  • PowerPoint template: Template.pptx
  • OneNote template: Template.one
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Still need help? Go to the Office 365 Community
(http://community.office365.com/)
website.
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Properties

Article ID: 2540236 - Last Review: February 27, 2013 - Revision: 14.0
Applies to
  • Microsoft Office 365 for small businesses  (pre-upgrade)
  • Microsoft SharePoint Online
Keywords: 
o365 o365p o365m o365062011 pre-upgrade KB2540236
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