How to manage attachments in outlook 2013

I want set my outlook to download attachments of Emails manually, not automatically.

How can I do that on Outlook 2013 in windows 7?

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How you do so depends on the type of mail account, which you haven’t mentioned.

For IMAP account, open Account, click on Advanced tab. Under Server uncheck “always download complete message bodies”

For POP accounts, open Account, click on Advanced tab. Check “Download headers only.”

For Exchange accounts, click on Advanced tab. . Under Server check Check “Download headers only

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Thanks for your fast and complete reply.

unfortunately I could not find “always download complete message bodies” in mentioned address that you wrote for IMAP accounts.

after some searches I found this message in below link:

This option no longer exists in Outlook 2013. For IMAP accounts, Outlook 2013 will always download the full items and there is no option to set it back to “Download headers only”.

so if that is true it seems that I have no option to prevent auto download in Outlook 2013, but please let me know if there is any way to do that.

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It’s not unusual for people to attach files to messages. When you receive a message with an attachment, you can select the attachment to view, edit, or download it. Some attachment types will open in a window next to your reading pane, allowing you to read and (in some cases) edit them without leaving Outlook Web App.

This article is for Outlook Web App, which is used by organizations that manage email servers running Exchange Server 2013 or 2010. If you’re using Microsoft 365 or Exchange Server 2016, your email program is Outlook on the web. For help with Outlook on the web, see Get help with Outlook on the web.

When you select an attachment, what happens will vary depending on the attachment type. Many attachments will open in a preview window next to the message. If the attachment can’t be opened in the preview window, you’ll be prompted to download the attachment.

Attachment types that can be previewed include:

Most image files

Select at the top of the preview window to close it and return to the message view.

If your account includes OneDrive for work or school, you can edit Word and PowerPoint files in the preview pane, or you can open them using the desktop version of the application. Currently, Excel files can only be edited in the desktop version of the application.

If you don’t have OneDrive for work or school or want to edit an attachment that’s an unsupported file type, you’ll have to download and open the file to edit it.

When you edit a linked file, your changes are made on a single copy of the file that all recipients have access to. This saves space in everyone’s mailbox, and makes collaboration easier.

You can tell if a file has been sent as a link or as an attachment by the icon. The icon for a linked file has a small cloud in one corner.

Linked Word document:

Attached Word document:

Edit a linked Office file in the preview pane

Select Edit and reply at the top of the preview pane.

That will switch you to edit mode in the preview pane, and create a new message already addressed using Reply All. When you send your message, it will include a link to the file.

If you need a feature that’s not available in the online version of the application, use the Open in application button to switch to the desktop version.

Make the changes you want. If you’re working in the online application, your changes will be automatically saved as you work. If you’re working in the desktop version, select Save to save your changes, then close the file.

If you select while editing in the preview pane, the reply along with a link to the file will be saved in the Drafts folder in your mailbox. You can return to it at any time to finish your edits and send your message.

When you’re done editing the file, add your comments to the reply and select Send to send your message along with a link to the file.

Edit an attached Office file in the preview pane

Select Edit a copy at the top of the preview pane. That will create a copy of the file, and attach it to a new message already addressed using Reply All. The edited copy will be renamed by adding your name to the end of the file name.

Make the changes you want. Your changes will be automatically saved as you work. If you select , the reply along with the edited attachment will be saved in the Drafts folder in your mailbox. You can return to it at any time to finish your edits and send your message.

When you’re done editing the file, add your comments to the reply and select Send to send your message along with the edited copy of the attachment.

Download and edit an attached file

Select More , then select Download. If you save the file, note where you saved it to. By default, the file is saved to your Windows Downloads folder.

Find and open the downloaded file, and then make your changes.

Save your changes and close the file.

NOTE: When an .msg file is attached from the desktop version of Outlook, Outlook Web App downloads it with an .eml file extension. All the content of the .msg file remains intact.

Some attachments might be removed or blocked by antivirus software used by your organization or by the organization of the recipients of your email. If you have a question about support for attachments, contact your helpdesk.

If you reply to a message that has an attachment, but don’t select Edit and Reply, the attachment won’t automatically be included in the reply.

Don’t open an attachment sent in an email message unless you trust the content and the person who sent it to you. Attachments are a common method for spreading computer viruses. We recommend that you use the Preview option if it’s available.

Long file names of attachments might be shortened in Outlook Web App. This won’t affect the contents of the file.

Depending on the service that’s hosting your mailbox, the default size limit in Outlook Web App for an entire message, including all attachments, is 25 MB or 35 MB. Attachment and message size limits for your mailbox are set by your organization and might be different from the default limits.

For Microsoft Outlook 2013 (32 and 64-bit), 2010 (32 and 64-bit), 2007, 2003

Helpful tools to handle attachments. Get reminders to add promised attachments, save files from emails to disk and replace them with links to reduce PST size, set up rules to print incoming attachments automatically.

Attachments Processor for Outlook

Extracts attachments from incoming and outgoing Outlook messages and saves them to the disc. Replaces the extracted attachment with a link or a text file with attachment description.

Print Tools for Outlook

Helps you automatically print incoming and outgoing Outlook messages with attachments without even opening them. Allows you to print messages, tasks, notes, etc. by one click.

Plugins for Microsoft Outlook by category

• Remove duplicated Outlook items
• Manage Outlook contacts
• Automate e-mailing tasks
• Work with attachments
• Collections of Outlook plug-ins

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How to show missing attachment bar/box in message header in Outlook?

Sometimes, the Attachment Bar/Box disappears and attachments go to the message body in Outlook. Some users may prefer to the standard layout and place the attachments in the Attachment Bar/Box as normal. But how? Below solutions will help you easily show missing Attachment Bar/Box in Outlook.

If the Attachment Bar/Box disappears when you are composing an email in Outlook, you can easily show the missing Attachment Bar/Box with clicking Format Text > HTML. See screenshot:

Quickly save/export all attachments from multiple emails in Outlook

Normally we can save attachments from one email with activating the Attachment Tools and applying the Save All Attachments feature in Outlook. But, what if saving attachments from multiple emails, or from the whole mail folder in Outlook? Try Kutools for Outlook’s Save All (Attachments) feature. Click for 60-day free trial without limitation!

If the Attachment Bar/Box disappears in received emails, you can show the missing Attachment Bar/Box with below steps:

1. In the Mail view, open the mail folder containing the email without Attachment Bar/Box, and then double click to open this email.

2. Now the email is opening in the Message window. Please click Message > Actions > Edit Message. See screenshot:

3. Now the message is editable. Please click Format Text > HTML. See screenshot:

Now the missing Attachment Box/Bar comes out, and attachments are moved from message body to the Attachment Box/Bar automatically.

4. Save the email and close it.

Learn more about opening email attachments and how to keep your computer secure.

Opening email attachments in Outlook Express

When you receive a message in Microsoft ® Outlook ® Express that contains an attachment, you’ll see a paperclip () to the left of the message.

You might see the attachment within the body of an email or near the bottom of the message window.

Attachments aren’t a threat to your computer if you don’t open or save them. We recommend you don’t open attachments or other files from anyone you don’t know and trust. We also recommend that you have an antivirus program on your system and the program’s virus list (.dat files) is up to date before opening any attachments.

Allow or disallow attachments to be opened and saved

1. Open Outlook Express.
2. On the Tools menu, select Options.
3. Select the Security tab.
4. Under Virus Protection, you’ll see the option Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus. Do one of the following:
   • To allow attachments to be opened and saved, uncheck the box next to the option.
   • To not allow attachments to be opened and saved, check the box next to the option.
5. Select OK.

Open an attachment

1. Open Outlook Express.
2. Open the email.
3. Double-click the attachment.

Save an attachment

1. Open Outlook Express.
2. Open the email.
3. On the File menu, Select Save Attachments.
4. In the Save To field, specify the folder you want to save the attachments to.
5. Select Save.

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Salient Features

A brief introduction of all the features of Outlook attachment management tool.

Restore Email Attachments Flawlessly The software has many useful features including the activities like deleting the attachment from the email and save it in various physical or network locations. You can create a link or a text description indicating the location of deleted attachment from an email. Its “Restore Attachment” option allows restoration of attachments at the previous location.

Customized Features for Compression It is also possible to modify the settings for compressing the Outlook PST email data items. The tool allows you to compress the attachments in zip format that drastically reduces the size and makes the zip file more shareable across the network. In addition to that, you can make zip files secure by applying the password on it.

Rename, Filter, and Transform Attachments The tool allows you to rename the attachments according to the pre-configured variables like Message Sender Name, Received Date, Subject, Subject without RE or FW. You may also filter your email attachments based on the alternatives of message subject, the recipient only, the sender only, and the size of the email present in the MS Outlook email agent.

Intelligent Outlook Attachment Processor You could also configure various Outlook attachment rules and settings to retrieve the attachments in the user-friendly format. The “Enable automatic processing” option lets you invoke the automatic processing of incoming email. You could also reduce the overall complexity of the resultant attachments, by creating the subfolder hierarchy listing the various items like Message Folder Name, File Name, Message Date, Sender Name, Message Subject, etc.

Wide Platform Compatibility The software supports all versions of MS Outlook – Office 365, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, 2000, 98 and 97. You can run the software and extract any attachment stored on whatsoever editions of MS Outlook. Also, it supports Outlook 32-bit all versions.

Log Management The software provides detailed info that which attachment is being processed at what time through these three types of log files – run now log, automatic mail process log and scheduled mail process log.

The Office JavaScript API provides several APIs you can use to manage an item’s attachments when the user is composing.

Attach a file or Outlook item

You can attach a file or Outlook item to a compose form by using the method that’s appropriate for the type of attachment.

• addFileAttachmentAsync: Attach a file
• addFileAttachmentFromBase64Async: Attach a file using its base64 string
• addItemAttachmentAsync: Attach an Outlook item

These are asynchronous methods, which means execution can go on without waiting for the action to complete. Depending on the original location and size of the attachment being added, the asynchronous call may take a while to complete.

If there are tasks that depend on the action to complete, you should carry out those tasks in a callback method. This callback method is optional and is invoked when the attachment upload has completed. The callback method takes an AsyncResult object as an output parameter that provides any status, error, and returned value from adding the attachment. If the callback requires any extra parameters, you can specify them in the optional options.asyncContext parameter. options.asyncContext can be of any type that your callback method expects.

For example, you can define options.asyncContext as a JSON object that contains one or more key-value pairs. You can find more examples about passing optional parameters to asynchronous methods in the Office Add-ins platform in Asynchronous programming in Office Add-ins. The following example shows how to use the asyncContext parameter to pass 2 arguments to a callback method:

You can check for success or error of an asynchronous method call in the callback method using the status and error properties of the AsyncResult object. If the attaching completes successfully, you can use the AsyncResult.value property to get the attachment ID. The attachment ID is an integer which you can subsequently use to remove the attachment.

As a best practice, you should use the attachment ID to remove an attachment only if the same add-in has added that attachment in the same session. In Outlook on the web and mobile devices, the attachment ID is valid only within the same session. A session is over when the user closes the add-in, or if the user starts composing in an inline form and subsequently pops out the inline form to continue in a separate window.

Attach a file

You can attach a file to a message or appointment in a compose form by using the addFileAttachmentAsync method and specifying the URI of the file. You can also use the addFileAttachmentFromBase64Async method but specify the base64 string as input. If the file is protected, you can include an appropriate identity or authentication token as a URI query string parameter. Exchange will make a call to the URI to get the attachment, and the web service which protects the file will need to use the token as a means of authentication.

The following JavaScript example is a compose add-in that attaches a file, picture.png, from a web server to the message or appointment being composed. The callback method takes asyncResult as a parameter, checks for the result status, and gets the attachment ID if the method succeeds.

Attach an Outlook item

You can attach an Outlook item (for example, email, calendar, or contact item) to a message or appointment in a compose form by specifying the Exchange Web Services (EWS) ID of the item and using the addItemAttachmentAsync method. You can get the EWS ID of an email, calendar, contact or task item in the user’s mailbox by using the mailbox.makeEwsRequestAsync method and accessing the EWS operation FindItem. The item.itemId property also provides the EWS ID of an existing item in a read form.

The following JavaScript function, addItemAttachment , extends the first example above, and adds an item as an attachment to the email or appointment that is being composed. The function takes as an argument the EWS ID of the item that is to be attached. If attaching succeeds, it gets the attachment ID for further processing, including removing that attachment in the same session.

You can use a compose add-in to attach an instance of a recurring appointment in Outlook on the web or mobile devices. However, in a supporting Outlook rich client, attempting to attach an instance would result in attaching the recurring series (the master appointment).

Get attachments

APIs to get attachments in compose mode are available from requirement set 1.8.

You can use the getAttachmentsAsync method to get the attachments of the message or appointment being composed.

To get an attachment’s content, you can use the getAttachmentContentAsync method. The supported formats are listed in the AttachmentContentFormat enum.

You should provide a callback method to check for the status and any error by using the AsyncResult output parameter object. You can also pass any additional parameters to the callback method by using the optional asyncContext parameter.

The following JavaScript example gets the attachments and allows you to set up distinct handling for each supported attachment format.

Remove an attachment

You can remove a file or item attachment from a message or appointment item in a compose form by specifying the corresponding attachment ID and using the removeAttachmentAsync method. You should only remove attachments that the same add-in has added in the same session. Similar to the addFileAttachmentAsync and addItemAttachmentAsync methods, removeAttachmentAsync is an asynchronous method. You should provide a callback method to check for the status and any error by using the AsyncResult output parameter object. You can also pass any additional parameters to the callback method by using the optional asyncContext parameter.

The following JavaScript function, removeAttachment , continues to extend the examples above, and removes the specified attachment from the email or appointment that is being composed. The function takes as an argument the ID of the attachment to be removed. You can obtain the ID of an attachment after a successful addFileAttachmentAsync , addFileAttachmentFromBase64Async , or addItemAttachmentAsync method call, and store it for a subsequent removeAttachmentAsync method call.

In GMail, Hotmail, and so many other (*free*) services, when you scroll back on an email thread you can view all attachments from past emails (and yor search results display email threads, not a million individual emails stacked on the same thread). In outlook, I can view and download attachments when I first receive them, but when the original email with the attachment becomes one message in a string of messages, I can no longer open the attachment.

I have to then search for that email and date and parse through past emails to find that specific email to view the attachment. That is absurd. Surely Microsoft has an option/setting to view attachments in historical email chains?

Replies (1) 

I am an independent advisor, and I am trying to help other users in Community with my experience in Microsoft products.

I would suggest you to turn on the conversation view first.

In order to turn Conversation view on or off:
1. At the top of the page, select Settings to open Quick settings.
2. Under Conversation view, choose one of the following:
– To sort messages by conversation, select Newest messages on top or Newest messages on bottom.
– To show email as individual messages, select Off.

If you have the converstaion view on, than you can easily find all messages and attachments. As for the email chain – you will see the attachment only in the original message and it will not appear in others, unless you will add the attachment again This is how it works.

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You can attach photos and documents from your computer or OneDrive to email messages and calendar events. Attachments always appear at the top of the email.

You can also insert pictures anywhere in your messages, so that recipients see the image where you want, and as soon as they open the email. They don’t need to be opened to be viewed.

Attachments in Outlook.com

Inserted images in Outlook.com

Attach a file or picture from your computer in Outlook.com

Reply, Forward or create a new email message or calendar event.

Select Attach then Browse this computer.

Choose the file you want to attach and select Open. To attach more than one file, hold CTRL (or Command in Mac) while selecting multiple files.

When you attach a file from your computer, you’re attaching a copy of the file. Each recipient will get their own copy of the file.

You can also drag and drop files from your computer into your message. As you drag them over a new message, a Drop files here hint will appear:

Attach a link to a picture, file or folder from your OneDrive

Reply, Forward or create a new email message or calendar event.

Select Attach then Browse cloud locations.

Choose the file from your OneDrive or other cloud storage you want to link to and select Next. To attach more than one file, hold CTRL (or Command in Mac) while selecting multiple files.

You can also use Copy link of a OneDrive attachment and paste it elsewhere.

When you attach a OneDrive link, all recipients can view or edit the same file.

If you want to restrict editing, select More actions in the attachment, then Manage access.

To add a cloud location such as Box, Dropbox or Google Drive, open your Storage account settings.

Add or insert pictures to an email in Outlook.com

Attachments always appear above the body of your message, but you can insert pictures inline anywhere in your message. Inserted images don’t need to be downloaded to be seen by the recipient.

Reply, Forward or create a new email message or calendar event and position the cursor to where you want to add your pictures

Select then choose the file you want to insert and select Open. To insert more than one file, hold CTRL (or Command in Mac) while selecting multiple files.

Drag the corner handles to resize the image or right-click the image to see formatting options.

Attach an email in Outlook.com

Reply, Forward or create a new email message or calendar event.

Move it to a new window by selecting at the top right corner.

Arrange the windows so you can see both the message list and your new message side by side.

Tip: Use the Windows key with > to arrange your windows.

Select the emails you want to attach to your new message.

Drag the selected messages from the message list to the body of your new message. As you drag them over the new message, a Drop messages here hint will appear:

Learn more

Still need help?

Note: You will need to sign in first to get support. If you can’t sign in, go to Account support.

Usually, when I add an attachment, it shows up in the “Attached” line directly under the “Subject” line.

However, sometimes it is being added between the text of the e-mail message instead.

Is there any way to toggle the location when the attachments show up?

The location is determined by the message format.

The Rich Text format supports in-line attachments and thus the attachments show up in the body of the message. Plain Text and HTML formatted emails do not support this and show the attachments in a separate line under the message header but above the message body.

Change the message format

You can change your default message format in the following way:

• Outlook 2007
  Tools-> Options-> tab Mail Format
• Outlook 2010 / 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / Office 365
  File-> Options-> Mail

As you will Reply and Forward messages in the message format that you received them in, you may still end up with a Rich Text formatted message. To change the message format while composing use:

• Outlook 2007
  Ribbon tab: Options
• Outlook 2010 / 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / Office 365 (Classic Ribbon)
  Ribbon tab: Format Text
• Office 365 (Single Line Ribbon)
  Ribbon tab: Format Text and then click on the 3 dots (…) on the right to see the Message Format command.

Rich Text compatibility concerns

Note that Outlook is the only mail client that can read Rich Text formatted messages.

When sending messages to the Internet or when received by another mail client, the message will get converted to HTML. Some mail servers or mail clients are not able to properly convert the message to HTML format and the receiver ends up with a winmail.dat attachment and the other attachments are lost.

In general, you only want to send in Rich Text format when you have a very specific need to do so and you know the receiver is using Outlook and the mail servers in between are able to maintain the Rich Text message format (like an Exchange server).