IE 7 & 8: Navigation to the webpage was cancelled, revisited

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If you get the error “Navigation to the webpage was cancelled” while browsing, chances are a security setting needs to be corrected. In a previous post, I suggested a “scorched earth” settings-reset procedure, but I’ve found that that isn’t always sufficient. Sometimes the settings need to be relaxed beyond factory defaults.

For instance, our Learning Management System (LMS) uses mixed https and http content, and Internet Explorer is often set to block mixed content entirely. Sometimes it will prompt the user but often it will simply give the error “Navigation to the webpage was cancelled.” In the case of our LMS, a large clue to what is going on is that the login page appears completely unstyled, because the style sheets and images are part of the blocked content. 

Adding the site to the user’s Trusted Sites and setting the Trusted Sites security settings correctly has proven to be a reliable way to fix the problem, however I have to make the following disclaimer:

IMPORTANT! Only add a site to your trusted sites if you are SURE it is OK. We use this method because the site is a known site, and protected behind a firewall.
Do not go any furtherunless you are certain the site is not a malicious site.

  1. In
     Internet Explorer (your web browser), select 
    Tools > Internet Options from the menu at the top. 


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  2. The 
    Internet Options window will appear. Select the
     Security tab. 

    Then click on the 
    Trusted sites icon.


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  3. Click the 
    Sites button.


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  4. The 
    Trusted sites window will open. Type the URL of the site in the website box as shown. Click 
    Add. Then add an ”
    s” after the
     http (i.e. make the address look like: ”


    https
    ://trusted.website.com    “). Click 
    Add again.


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  5. Be
     certain that you do NOT check the box for 
    Require server verification (https). Check it twice!


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  6. Click the 
    Close button.


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  7. With 
    Trusted sites still selected, click ”
    Custom Level“.


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  8. The
     Security Settings – Trusted Sites Zone window will open. Scroll down until you see ”
    Display mixed content“. Select 
    Enable.


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  9. For advanced users only: This fix may not be necessary – if you are pretty sure an iframe is involved and pages that should be opening within the same window are  opening in new windows or not opening at all. Scroll down to 
    Navigate sub-frames across different domains. Click ”
    Prompt.” Then click 
    OK to close the window.


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  10. Back on the
     Internet Options window, click 
    OK to save the changes. Try the site again to see if it works better with these settings.


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    11.