Users who recently upgraded to Outlook 2010 are complaining about a change in behavior in Outlook 2010: When attachments are opened from a message, they are read-only. Users can no longer edit the attachment and save the changes in the back to the message, they need to save the attachment to the hard drive and reattach it.
It’s especially annoying to people who receive images that need rotated – read-only images can’t be rotated.
This “feature” (or design flaw, according to some administrators) was removed because of “reliability issues and data loss problems” with replacing an attachment received from someone with a version that you edited. I suspect most of the data loss came from user error, not Outlook reliability. Many users didn’t understand how this feature worked or what happened to attachments when they were opened. While users who knew how this feature worked were able to use it to their advantage, many more people lost data because they didn’t understand what happened to the document they “just spent all day editing” after they saved and closed it.
For it to work correctly, you had to work in a specific order and users often did Step 5 before Step 4 and saved the file to the hidden temp folder.
- Open message
- Open attachment
- Edit attachment
- Save and close attachment
- Save and close message
Users familiar with this feature don’t want to use Save as, they want it to work like it did before, with the changes to the attachment saving back to the message. This simple feature saves time when working with lots of email attachments and eliminates duplicate copies on the hard drive.
Fortunately, there are solutions to this problem which add just a step or two to the process.
Solution: Edit Message Method
Video Tutorial
If you put the email message into Edit mode you can edit the attachment and save changes back to the original attachment on the email message. You need to remember to save the attachment when closing AND save changes to the email message as the copy in the securetemp folder will be deleted when you close Outlook.
If you add the Edit Message button to the QAT or Ribbon on a message (NOT the main Outlook window), its very easy to get into Edit mode. To add the command to the QAT (or ribbon):
- Open a message
- Go to File, Options, then choose either Customize Ribbon or Quick Access Toolbar
- Select All Commands from the Choose command dropdown (#1 in the screenshot below)
- Click in the list of commands then press E on your keyboard to jump down to the Edit commands.
- Find Edit Message and double click on it or use the Add button to add it to the QAT or Ribbon. (#2 in the screenshot)
- Click OK to return to the message.
The next time you need to edit an attachment and save the changes back to the message, open the email message, click the Edit Message button then open the attachment.
Remember: you need to save and close the attachment then save and close the email message for the edits to be saved. If you don’t want changes saved (such as when rotating images), close without saving.
Solution: Forward, then Edit
If you need to edit the attachment then forward the message, you can hit Forward first, then edit the attachment. The edited copy of the attachment will only be in the Sent Items folder when you use this method, not also on the original message.
Solution: Disable Attachment Preview
You can make many attachments readable if you disable Attachment Preview. With this disabled you will lose the ability to view attachments in the Reading pane or open messages – you will need to double click to open them in their application.
Go to File tab, Options, Trust Center:
- Click the Trust Center Settings button
- Select Attachment Handling
- Add a check to the “Turn off attachment preview” option.
Note: this disables preview for all attachments. If you like the attachment preview feature, use the Edit message method.
Solution: Images viewed with Windows Photo Viewer
A workaround for those using Photo Viewer exists: in Photo viewer, click on File, Properties, General tab then clear the Read only check. Repeat for each image.
Using VBA in Word and Excel
This solution came from a user and in some situations (such as when you don’t want users editing original messages), it might be a better option that going into Edit mode.
AttachmentEditFix.bas is a drop-in module which restores this functionality, though not *quite* as seamlessly.
Get the VBA code at http://pastebin.ca/1951482
To install:
To setup Excel 2010:
Record a Dummy macro (start/stop immediately) to Personal Macro Workbook (View Ribbon, then select from dropdown box). Then hit Alt+F11 to open VBA editor. Right Click PERSONAL.XLSB, select Import file, import AttachmentEditFix.bas. Then go to Tools – references – and select Microsoft Outlook 14.0 Object Library. Hit save, then close VBA editor. In the main ribbon on Excel, right click and choose “Customize Quick Access Bar”. Under ‘Choose commands from’, select Macros, then add PERSONAL.XLSB.SaveExcelAttach to the quick access toolbar. You may modify the icon to something more appropriate than the default macro icon. Hit ok, and now Excel is setup.
To setup Word 2010:
Same procedure as Excel, only differences are save the dummy macro to Normal.dotm, and add Normal.AttachmentEditfix.SaveWordAttach to the quick access toolbar. Word is now setup.
To setup Outlook 2010:
Hit Alt+f11, right click project 1, import AttachmentEditfix.bas. Tools- references, add Microsoft Excel 14.0 Object Library and Microsoft Word 14 Object library. Hit save, close VBA editor. Right click Outlook’s Ribbon, customize Quick access toolbar, add Project1.OpenWordAttach and Project1.OpenExcelAttach to the toolbar.
Once these three applications are set this way, that procedure never has to be done again. In order to use this module, the user selects the email /w an attachment they want to modify in the main outlook window, then clicks the corresponding quick access button for either OpenWordAttach or Open ExcelAttach. After they are done editing the document/spreadsheet, they will click the new SaveExcelAttach or SaveWordAttach button in the quick access toolbars in the respective applications. Be aware that in Excel’s case, the spreadsheet will not save if the user has left a cell in ‘edit’ mode (has double clicked into a cell but not single clicked out). The document is then saved and re-attached to the original email, which can then be forwarded.
Original message is here: Do you edit and save attachment back to an email message?
More Information
Outlook SecureTemp Files Folder
Poll: Do you like the ability edit and save attachments back to an email message?
Click the Get Help Now link at the Outlook Solution Center and place a call support.
My recommendation: when a feature is removed, its important to contact Microsoft and open a support incident. They may not be able to fix the problem, but the issue gets entered into the system. If they get enough complaints, a hotfix is more likely. Click the Get Help Now link at the Outlook Solution Center and place a call support.
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Last reviewed on Dec 6, 2011
Thank you for the video tutorial but there is no “edit Message” command under “All commands” only Edit Series. But Edit Series command is grayed out when added to the ribbon. I have Outlook Version 14.0.6023.1000 (32-bit).
This is very frustrating.
Elimination of “Attachment Options” side bar when adding photos was even worse. There are so many terrible changes to all the Office programs, I can not believe any significant/valid user testing was done.
Edit series sounds like you are in Calendar or an appointment form – the commands in the list vary by the folder type so you”ll need to be in a mail folder (like the Inbox) to find the button.
In Outlook 2010, when you attach a picture there are resize options on the file menu. (It’s for attachments only, not embedded images.)
I found the “Edit Message” command “after opening a message” and following the steps. Thank you. My error for catching that point. But obviously, something is very wrong with how the new “features/improvements” are communicated to buyers. When the same complaint noted in Oct 2010 is still causing problems almost a year later.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-outlook/can-you-still-edit-attachments-in-office-2010/7c56e5e2-c0d8-4bf9-8e02-ca591183b38a?tm=1315966250624&page=1
We describe the Customer Value Corrective Action Chain at my company that goes something like this:
1 Define Customer Problem
2 Collect Data & Process into Information
3 Plan for Customer Satisfaction
4 Action
5 Repeat above until you achieve: Re-occurring Positive Impact on Customer/Permanent Corrective Action
If you don’t achieve a successful #5 you’ve accomplished nothing of value.
My complaint about all of the “Improvements” still stands. Any suggestions on the “attachment options” side bar would be appreciated.
FWIW, the change in editing attachments was the result of customer complaints – it caused problems for a lot of users and resulted in too many help desk calls. I was in a meeting with Administrators when Microsoft announced this change and the room erupted in cheers. I was the only one who didn’t cheer – i asked if there would be a workround but the presenter didn’t know.
Outlook 2010 does not have an attachment pane option at all – best you can do is the File, Info option to make smaller or keep original. It’s an extra step but CEIP data showed resizing was not a popular feature. Also, if you use Windows Explorer’s send to mail recipient command, windows will ofer to resize the image, giving you a choice of sizes.
Don’t even try to follow the video, if you do you’ll see only “edit series” in Outlook, not “edit message.”
Are you in an email or appointment form before you go into the Customize ribbon dialog? You need to open a message to see Edit Message.
You can not add this command to the main Outlook window – you need to add it to an opened message form.
I tried this and the change I made to the attachment wasn’t there once I reopened the email. Maybe I missed a step but I followed everything above. So I’d definitely test before getting any users to do this. I was just testing for myself, but I do think this is dangerous as you lose the original copy sent. For our users anyway I dont think i’d want to let them know
Short version: open attachment, edit it, save it, save message.
I would not recommend this for anyone except those who need to edit a document and return it – “normal” users don’t need it.
is there a way to apply this feature to ALL messages so you don’t have to click “edit message” for every single message?
If you disable attachment preview, all attachments should be editable as they were in older versions of Outlook. However, it’s a trade off over which costs more time – reading attachments in the preview pane or going into edit mode for the attachments that need edited.
People need to listen/read your instructions before commenting that it didn’t work. This was perfect, and exactly what was needed and after watching the video it was crystal clear.
I feel like so few people give praise and only negative when they can’t follow instructions and make it work, that I felt obligated to give thanks for this site.
So, thank you very much for this and I appreciate the walk-through, it was extremely helpful and not something I would have ever thought of on my own. Fixed it for my CEO and a happy CEO makes my life easier!
Hi,
This article was very helpful. Thank you. However, this does not seem to work for .xml files. It did previously in 2003. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated
Do you get an error message? “Access is denied. Error processing resource.” is probably the problem here – http://www.slipstick.com/emo/2010/up100624.htm#4
That is related to outlook writing files to secure temp, which is a subfolder of Temp Internet files, where security features block opening xml files. you need to move securetemp out of TIF.
Edit Message does not appear as an option.
Did you open the message and look at the open’s message’s Customize QAT commands?
This program is difficult for the non technical minded individual. I want to be able to sit down and use the program with out taking lessons in changing the program to make it do something as simple as SAVE a change to an e-mail attachment. I have wasted an hour trying to rotate a picture attachment and save it so I can see it in an upright position, and the stupid thing still don’t save. What a huge disappointment this program is and what a waste of my hard earned money..
You are using Outlook 2010? You need to open the message and go to Actions, Edit message then open the attachment. In all versions: Rotate the image, save changes (the windows photo viewer or picture and fax viewer saves automatically) then you need to save and close the message.
I’m trying to help a non-technical friend with a new PC and Outlook2010 (which I recommended they buy) to receive e-mails from a friend who uses Apple products (iPhone, iPad) to send pictures. The pictures arrive upside-down. I can right click in the picture and get a tools menu which has the rotate feature – GREYED OUT… I can only ask why a product like this cannot allow the user to rotate the picture for viewing. I understand the arguments about allowing editing and mail modification before forwarding, etc…
But geeze, allow the user to rotate the picture for viewing. If Microsoft is smart enough to write a sophisticated e-mail program, it should be smart enough to allow the user to actually do something useful with it that Microsoft didn’t think about.
You need to open the message and set it to edit mode (if you want to save the rotated photos back to the message) – yesterday’s Outlook Tip shows how to do this and includes video tutorials. How to Rotate Photos Attached to an Outlook Email Message and Save the Changes
Diane, The problem here is that for most, if not all, non-technical users with an Outlook 2010 equipped PC that is used for reading mail, it is essentially an appliance, a toaster oven to them. Most have no clue of how to perform, or even the inclination to perform, the multiple steps needed to do what you suggest. They want to read mail, and if a picture is upside down, click a button to rotate it to the correct orientation. These are friends sharing pictures that are not usually removed from the e-mail, so they have no interest in saving the changes or going through some complex procedure. If I view that same e-mail in Yahoo!’s browser e-mail function, that’s all it takes to render the picture to the correct orientation using that reader. So why does Microsoft insist on making this operation technically complex? And here’s the thing – the MAC user can do this easily on their machine. So the next time I’m asked what is a good choice for a system to browse the internet and read e-mail for a non-technically inclined user – my recommendation will be to buy a MAC. If Microsoft insists on being less accommodating about fixing a useability issue, then I’m not willing to promote their products – especially Outlook. And this is a useability issue IMHO…
The problem isn’t Outlook, it’s how the sender held the camera (or scanned the image and didn’t fix it before sending – BTDT, to an ipad user. I thought ‘they can turn the ipad upside down’ but they didn’t know how to lock the screen orientation. )
There are many reasons why Outlook opens mail and attachments in read-only mode, two main reasons are for security and to maintain integrity of the message and attachment. There are two choices open to you to avoid read-only mode: use Edit message command or disable the attachment preview feature to skip the Edit message command – you still need to open the message and the attachment – note that you only need to do this once per message if you save the changes – the next time you view the message, the picture will be correctly oriented. Or use an add-in that displays thumbnail images. (Other mail clients will display images inline automatically, although they will still be upside down for your friend.)
You need to use the system that best meets *your* needs – if its live mail, t-bird or a Mac, use it without guilt. Outlook is a complicated, business oriented PIM client. It’s not for everyone and it’s not the best choice for a new computer user who just wants simple email and maybe a calendar. Don’t use Outlook because it “came with Office and I paid a lot of money for it” – look at it as you paid for the apps you use (usually word, excel, and power point) and Outlook was a freebie that came with the deal.
HI
My issue has to do with the inability to open attachments in a email and edit them. I understand the procedure. I have Office 2010 and Windows 2007. There is no “EDIT MESSAGE” in the selection of commands. More than one person in this string of emails has mentioned this fact. After a lot of trial and error, I found the right command months ago. However, my computer died and they gave me a new one. I have to redo all the commards I had previously and now I cannot find the command to add to my quick reference tool bar.
Can anyone help?
THANKS
Karen
Are you in an open a message? For whatever reason, I’ve noticed a lot of people either open a calendar item or look on the main Outlook window. You need to have a message open.
It’s very helpful actually, thanks!
This was a great piece of advice. Does anyone know how to make edit and save the read only documents work in Office 2010 for Mac computers??? I have talked with several Mac devotees and they were stumped.
Thank you,
TD
Thanks for the help — this is most a most annoying for people with even a fundamental understanding of how to use Outlook —
thanks!
Thank you for this – perfect and just the solution I was looking for :-)
I have been using Outlook for more than 15 years, I am not a light weight user, and I am not an idiot when it comes to opening suspicious mail. Also, I do not find the “Edit Message” in the list of All Commands.
What I have concluded over the 15 years is that Microsoft repeatedly modifies things to protect the idiots and thereby slow the rest of us down.
It has much less to do with suspicious mail and viruses and more with misplaced attachments and maintaining message integrity. Too many users either lost attachments they edited or saved them to the message and lost the original version of the attachment.
Did you open the email item and look at it’s All Commands? Also, you don’t need to do that – Edit message is on the Actions command of an opened message too. The advantage of adding it to the QAT is you can either use a shortcut or save one click.
The Edit Message button is a perfect solution. This has eliminated hours of future frustration.
You’re maazing, thank you so much for this. Settling down to the first day in a new job and you’ve helped greatly.
Thanks for the solution, just tried it now andit works.