I'm not sure what the url stuff has to do with the Explorer shell to the downloads folder, as you don't need that to get the file. You can use the File System Object (or even a Dir command) to test for the file's presence and, when it's available, open it, without ever going near Shell. It seems to me that, by using Shell, you're just making extra work for yourself.

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Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]