Can’t Open Outlook Attachments? Here’s How to Fix It

Suppose you are having trouble opening or downloading Outlook attachments. This guide will help you. In this article, we will discuss why you can’t download the attachments and the solutions to solve it. In addition, we will also provide an expert technique to save your Outlook attachments.

Outlook, one of the popular email clients, offers many advanced functions and features to help users manage their emails. But despite being a good program, it also has many flaws. Every program, software, and platform has issues, but that doesn’t mean Outlook is a bad email client. The reason Outlook is so popular is because it is evolving with more technology. This makes the work of the users easier.

There are many issues of Outlook many users face. Some of them are difficult to resolve and some of them are easy to fix. The issue of “can’t open Outlook attachments” is not hard. You can easily solve it using several methods. But first, we have to understand why this problem happens.

Reasons to Unable to Open Email Attachments in Outlook

Whenever there are problems with Outlook emails or attachments there are several reasons behind this problem. So, below are the reasons.

• A common reason is that the file or email that contains the attachments is corrupted or unsupported.
• Some antivirus blocks the attachment due to security reasons.
• You have set your Outlook that prevents the attachments from opening. Settings like Trust Center may restrict certain file types.
• While you are opening the attachments, disturbance of internet and network connection can also be the cause of the problems.
• Using the old Outlook version can cause many problems including opening the attachments.
• Sometimes internal software conflicts can lead to “attachments in Outlook not opening”.

Therefore, there are many causes of the problem and its solutions too. Now the solutions we will provide in the upcoming section, we have found them from the internet. So follow the steps carefully to avoid any mistakes.

Review and Disable Antivirus Settings

Due to antivirus settings, you can’t open Outlook attachments. You have to disable the settings to do this.

• First, find the Antivirus program on your desktop. Right-click on the antivirus icon to open the settings.
• Go to the Section Labeled Settings, Preferences, Options, or Protections options.
• Search for modules or categories like Real-time protection, web shield, email shield, or file shield.
• Click on the “Off” switch or select “Disable” to turn off the specific protection temporarily.
• Some antivirus also ask the duration you wish to disable the feature, choose the short period to avoid the risk.
• At last, click on the “Apply” or “Save” button.

By disabling the antivirus the problem of unable to open attachments in outlook 365 mailbox can be fixed. But, if this is not working, follow the next method.

Change the Trust Center Settings of the Outlook

Trust center settings in Outlook protect the users from potentially harming emails, messages, and attachments. It works due to the collection of security and privacy controls. However, sometimes, it also blocks your attachments so that you are unable to open email attachments in Outlook.

• Run Outlook and then proceed to the “Menu” option at the top left corner.
• Click on the “Tools”, select the “Trust Center” from the drop down list.
  
• Press the “Trust Center Settings…” button. Then, click on the “Attachments Handling” option.
• Uncheck the box called Turn off Attachment Preview.
• Click on the “Attachment and Document Previewers” option.
• If available go to the Automatic Download section and uncheck options that may block the download of attachments.
• At last, click on the “OK” to save the changes and again press “OK” to close the Outlook Options window.

If the problem still exists, then your file must be corrupted. In the next section of the article, we will explain how you can repair the PST file.

Repair Corrupt PST File

If you think that your emails or files are corrupted, then to fix the issue you have to repair it using the Scanpst.exe. The ScanPST.exe is found in different locations depending on the version of Outlook and Windows you are using. So following is the location of the ScanPST.exe tool in various places.

For Office 2019, 2016, 2013:

• C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\OfficeXX\SCANPST.EXE
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office XX\SCANPST.EXE

In place of Office XX change XX to the version of the Office you are using.

For Office 2010:

• C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\SCANPST.EXE
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office 14\SCANPST.EXE
  For Office 2007:
• C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\SCANPST.EXE
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\SCANPST.EXE

Once you found the tool, then follow the steps below.

• Open your Scanpst.exe tool, then click on the “Browse” button.
• Locate and open your PST file in the software and select it on the program.
• Click on the “Start” button to begin the scanning process.
• Once the scanning process completes, backup your scanned file before repairing it.
• After that, click on the “Repair” option. Now, the tool corrects the error that causes the issues.
  

From these steps your Outlook file will be repaired. Now you can easily open them. With this method you can solve any corruption issue in your Outlook file. There is another way to fix the issue, if this one doesn’t work.

Update Microsoft Outlook

Outdated Outlook is also the reason you cannot open the attachments. So, it is advisable to regularly update your program so that you will not face any problems. To update your program, below are the steps you have to follow.

• Open Outlook program and click on the “File” option.
• Select the “Office Account” or “Account Information” button.
• Click on “Update” options and then “Update Now”.
  
• After upgrading the application, restart Outlook.

All these methods will solve your problem of being Unable to open email attachments in Outlook. However, if your issue is still not solved. Then, your only solution left is the professional one, which will quickly export your Outlook attachments.

Steps to Extract Outlook Attachments

• Install the software. Click on the “Open” option.
  
• Then, select “Email Accounts”. Click on the “Add Account” button.
  
• Enter your Outlook email details. Hit the “Add” button.
  
• After that, all your data will be shown in front of you. Preview your emails and attachments.
  
• Click on the “Extract” option, then select the “Attachments” button.
  
• Browse the files and press the “Save” button.
  

Thus, using this tool you will not have any issue regarding attachment in Outlook not opening. Also, if you want to download attachments from Outlook files, this software can easily do this.

Conclusion

Many users have the problem of being unable to open email attachments in Outlook. So, this article provided the solutions to fix the issue. Here, we explain various manual methods to resolve the problem. But using them there is no guarantee that it will fix the issue. However, a professional method is a great way to solve your problem by extracting them.