Picture placeholders are displaying in messages

Applies to: Microsoft Outlook 2010, Outlook 2007, Outlook 2003

There are three causes of pictures not displaying in Microsoft Outlook email messages:

You are blocking external content, your SecureTemp folder is "full", or you have Word's Picture placeholder setting enabled.

If you do not see a red x but have a blank box shaped/sized like the graphic or photo, you have Show picture placeholders enabled. (A great feature if your Internet connection is slow.)

Note that this dialog is accessible from a COMPOSE MESSAGE window, not the main Outlook window!

In Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2013 you need to follow these steps:

1. Click the New Email button or press Ctrl+N while viewing the Inbox.
2. Go to the new message's File, Options dialog.
3. Click Mail, then Editor Options
4. Select Advanced and look near the bottom of the dialog for the option to Show Picture Placeholders.

In Outlook 2007:

1. While in a New message window
2. Click the Office icon
3. Click the Editor options button on the lower right of the dialog
4. Select Advanced from the left menu of the Editor options dialog
5. Scroll down to Display email contents section (near the bottom)
6. Uncheck the box to Show picture placeholders
7. Then click OK to apply and close

In older versions, this is an Internet Options setting, accessible from either IE's Tools menu or Control Panel. In the Internet Options dialog, go to the Advanced tab. The Show pictures option is in the Multimedia group, about halfway down.

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