How To Fix Attachments in Outlook Not Opening?

August 9, 2024 Techy Vishal 34 Views 0 Comments Outlook, PST 5 min read

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What are the Causes for Outlook Attachment Not Opening?

There are various reasons why you may not be able to open your Outlook attachments. A few of them are listed below.

Blocked file types: Microsoft Outlook has built-in security features that can block your PST file due to safety reasons. For example, if you have an EXE file or some other files that have harmful extensions may be blocked by Microsoft Outlook. You can adjust your security settings to allow the particular file.
Corrupted attachments: Sometimes the PST file attachment is itself corrupted. It may prevent Outlook from opening it. In that case, you may see an error message or may face an unexpected error when you try to open a PST file.
Large file sizes: Large size of a PST file may take too much time to open or sometimes cause performance issues in Outlook. Or there may be limitations on the maximum size of the attachments that can be opened.
Outdated software: The version of your Outlook may be very old or outdated. That can cause compatibility issues while opening an attachment.
Antivirus software: Antivirus software might block emails if it detects a threat. In that case, you should turn off the antivirus for a while and open the Outlook attachment.

How to Fix Attachments in Outlook Not Opening – Using Manual Methods

Method 1: Empty Temporary Internet Files Folder

Whenever you open an attachment in Outlook the file is first saved as a copy of the attachment to a subfolder in the temporary internet files. Sometimes this temporary folder reaches its storage limit and then Outlook throws an error “can’t open attachments in Outlook” You have to delete these temporary files and start Outlook again to solve the issue.

First, Launch the Run command by pressing the Windows + R key.
Now type regedit.exe and press the Enter button.
Then open the Edit menu and choose the Find button.
Type OutlookSecureTempFolder and select the Find Next button.
Browse the registry key that has the folder’s location. Now copy the folder’s path.
Now open the Run command paste the PST folder’s location and click the enter button. Doing this will open the folder.
Delete all the files stored in the folder.
Last, close Outlook and restart Outlook to open the attachments.

Read more: To clear recent files in Windows.

Method 2: Make Microsoft Email Address as the Primary Email Address

If you are unable to open Microsoft Outlook attachments and receive an “access is denied” error, then it’s possible that you have set a non-Microsoft email address as the primary email address. To change the primary email in Outlook follow the steps given below.

First, open and login to your Microsoft Account
Now go to Your info section and click on Manage your sign-in email or phone number.
Provide an Outlook email address in the primary section to make Outlook primary. A Microsoft email address ends with @outlook.com, @live.com, or @hotmail.com.

Method 3: Disable Antivirus

Sometimes antivirus wrongly view your genuine emails as a threat or malicious. To deal with such issues, temporarily disable your antivirus so that it can not block you from opening a PST file that is genuine and safe.

Read more: how to add multiple PST files in MS Outlook.

Method 4: Clear Outlook Cache

The next method to solve the error “Attachments in Outlook Not Opening” is to clear the cache memory of your Outlook. This is because sometimes the cache may also get corrupted and stop Outlook from opening attachments.

Method 5: Install Outlook Updates

If the error is still not resolved it means you are using an old version of Outlook. Sometimes some bugs and security updates are not properly up to date and Outlook stops you from opening an attachment in Outlook.

How to update your Outlook Application

First, open Outlook and then click on the file tab.
Then open the office account tab and select the update option.
A new menu will be displayed and you just have to click on the Update Now button to update the Outlook Application.

Method 6. Fix the Outdated or Corrupted Add-ins in Outlook

Add-ins also create an impact on your Outlook data files. Disable the unused and interfering add-ins to open an attachment of Outlook. To disable add-ins go to file> Add-ins and now disable the unnecessary add-ins.

Now restart your Outlook in a safe mode by holding the Down control key and trying to open the attachment.

Note: If you are still not able to open an attachment in Outlook you can go for an expert-suggested method to fix your PST file.

Fix Attachments in Outlook Not Opening by Repairing your PST File

If you are unable to open attachments in Outlook even after applying the above solutions, use the SysTools PST Repair Tool If your Outlook data file (PST) is corrupt or damaged, it could be the reason why you can’t open the Outlook attachments.

Steps to Open your PST file Attachments Using a Professional Tool

First, download and run the software Windows system.
Now add the corrupted or damaged PST file by clicking on the add file button and preview emails with attachments.
fix damaged PST file issues and restore healthy PST files.
save healthy PST files in the desired export option.

Conclusion:

In this article, we have discussed how to fix attachments in Outlook not opening for this. We have mentioned various manual methods to deal with this error. after that, we have mentioned the drawbacks of using the manual methods. if you want to open attachments in Outlook hassle-free try the professional method