The scenario:
Someone has uploaded an Office 2007 file (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, etc...) to a website. You connect to the website using Internet Explorer and find your file, then you click the link to begin downloading. Everything seems great until---- an unexpected window pops up asking you to open or save a "ZIP" file. How did this happen and how do you fix it?
Internet Explorer sometimes (depending on version and updates applied) will inspect the contents of a download and "guess" which program would be best to open that file. While this feature is sometimes helpful, it can also choose an incorrect program and fail to open your file properly. The solution is to force Internet Explorer to open downloaded files based on the file extension, (.docx -Word, .xlsx -Excel, etc.), and to not inspect the contents of the file.
Here are the steps to turn this feature off:
1. Click "Tools" at the top of the Internet Explorer window.
2. Select "Internet Options" at the bottom of the list.
3. Click the "Security" tab.
4. Select the "Internet Zone" (picture of the Earth)
5. Click the "Custom Level" button.
6. Search the list for the "Miscellaneaous" category and under this heading you will find an option to toggle "Open files based on content, not file extension".
This should be changed/set to "Disable".
7. You may also need to do this same process with the "Local Intranet Zone" under the security tab.
8. Done
You should now be able to download your files without issue and they should open with the expected program.
