Quick Solution to Fix Issue “Unable to Open Outlook Attachments”

What we see in the organization is that the Outlook email client has become the primary and crucial source of communication. Till now, this is a most successful application that gathered several users onboard and attracted other business professionals across the world with its smooth & advanced features. However, at times we observe quite a lot of queries saying that they are unable to open outlook attachments.

Hence, this post will briefly explain some reasons and several useful ways to resolve them.

Topics Covered In this Post

1. Reasons by which the error occurs.
2. List of Manual Approaches to solving the issue.
3. Fix the Error Using the Free Tool.

Attachments Not Opening in Outlook – Reasons For this Error

• Unknown file format/ Compatibility issues

Sometimes we receive attachments with a different file format that outlook does not support. Hence, on opening the files users cannot open email attachments in outlook. Apart from that due to compatibility issues, the same type of error could be noticed.

• Antivirus programs

The Outlook attachments must have been barred by your antivirus programme. To resolve this situation, a user will need to temporarily restrict the system’s antivirus software to open and access MS Outlook attachments.

• Outlook add-ins / Corrupted file

There can be a chance of corruption in the Outlook PST file due to which the user gets unable to open outlook attachments. Ans this corruption can occur due to

When a user notice the error “cannot open email attachments in outlook”, it means that the file has some issues or is corrupted. Hence, the sender should check and send the file again.

• Attachment Saving Limit Maxed-Out

Outlook creates a temporary file for that attachment in the system or on the server based on the type of setup. When the limit of 99 for the same name file reaches out, Outlook becomes stops saving that file and hence a user can experience that outlook email attachments not opening.

A few other reasons could be due to full Temporary Internet Files storage, using a non-Microsoft email address as a primary.

Solutions to Resolve The Issue “Unable to Open Outlook Attachments”

Below mentioned are some of the useful solutions which will aid to open and access to your Outlook email attachments.

1: Cleaning Temporary Files

Perform the steps to clean your temp files:

1. Click the Windows button on the top-left side.
2. In the search bar, type %temp% and hit Enter. A folder will appear.
3. Select all temporary files and hit Delete.
4. Now, empty the recycle bin.

2: Clean Outlook Temporary Files

Resolving the issue of being “unable to open outlook attachments” using this method requires complete attention, and users need to be careful. As we will be accessing and making some changes in the Windows registry. Any wrong step applied can lead to shocking results or can create another issue, which we believe no one wants.

Read the steps carefully and implement them to eliminate the “cannot open email attachments in outlook” problem.

1. Navigate to the Windows search button & type regedit and select the Registry Editor (Windows 10).
2. A window will appear, choose the Edit menu and use the Find
3. Now, enter OutlookSecureTempFolderand search.
4. The same name will display on the right top.
5. Next to this name, a path: C:\Users\AppData\Local\… will be there under the Data column. Note down and copy the path.
6. Go to the Windows button & paste the path in the search bar and press Enter. The related folder will be displayed.
7. Select all the folder files and delete/remove them. Then Restart Outlook and check.

Use the Automated Way to Fix the Issue “Unable to Open Outlook Attachments”

We must know that the error can be fixed using any of the discussed methods. However, we should also think that the same error could occur again in future. So, consider a professional tool like Outlook File Recovery Tool could be a one-stop solution to fix the error. With that, the same tool helps to recover or repair your PST files in easy steps with no point of confusion.

The user can Try the Free Demo Version to resolve the issue that occurs when opening the attachments. Later, based on satisfaction once can make a purchase of this tool and use to repair Outlook PST files and resolve the issue of Outlook email attachments not opening.

Following are the steps to use this tool and fix outlook email attachments, not opening issues.

1:Firstly, launch the utility and hit the Add File option to insert the PST files.

2: Next, select the type of Add file option, Search file, use the Scan Mode as Advanced and mention the storage folder path. And press Add.

3: After that scanning process will begin and all the files will appear on the screen. Now select the files with the attachments to open and read, then press Export selected. 

4: Now, select the type of export, fill in the destination path, and if needed use Adv. Settings and press the Export button.

Also Read: How to Migrate Outlook PST File to Office 365 Manually

Conclusion

Another major & unpleasant problem a user can experience is being unable to open outlook attachments. We have reviewed a few potential causes for the error and provided pertinent solutions, such as removing temporary files from Outlook and OS. Apart from this, we have also explained the most advanced & reliable software to quickly resolve the error.