• Outlook User
  • Exchange Admin
  • Office 365
  • Outlook Developer
  • Outlook.com
  • Outlook Mac
  • Outlook & iCloud
    • Common Problems
    • Outlook BCM
    • Utilities & Addins

Edit and Save Outlook's Read-Only Attachments

Slipstick Systems

› Outlook › Edit and Save Outlook’s Read-Only Attachments

Last reviewed on August 5, 2019     121 Comments

Applies to: Outlook 2016 (Win), Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010

Users who recently upgraded to Outlook 2010 or newer are complaining about a change in behavior introduced in Outlook 2010: When attachments are opened from a message, they are read-only. Users cannot 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.

  1. Open message
  2. Open attachment
  3. Edit attachment
  4. Save and close attachment
  5. 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

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):

  1. Open a message
  2. Go to File, Options, then choose Quick Access Toolbar
  3. Select All Commands from the Choose command dropdown
  4. Click in the list of commands the scroll down to the E's to find the Edit commands. (Can press E on the keyboard to jump down faster.)
  5. Find Edit Message and double click on it or use the Add button to add it to the QAT.
  6. Click OK to return to the message.

Edit message button

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

Note: This does not work in Outlook 2016.

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.
Trust center settings for attachment preview
Go to File tab, Options, Trust Center:

  1. Click the Trust Center Settings button
  2. Select Attachment Handling
  3. 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.

More Information


Outlook SecureTemp Files Folder

Edit and Save Outlook's Read-Only Attachments was last modified: August 5th, 2019 by Diane Poremsky
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Print

Related Posts:

  • Disable Protected View for Outlook Attachments
  • We're getting quite a few complaints from Outlook users who used the c
    Opening Attachments using the Keyboard
  • Opening Outlook attachments in Windows 8
  • Outlook's Modern Attachments Feature

About Diane Poremsky

A Microsoft Outlook Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999, Diane is the author of several books, including Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginners Book. She also created video training CDs and online training classes for Microsoft Outlook. You can find her helping people online in Outlook Forums as well as in the Microsoft Answers and TechNet forums.

Subscribe
Notify of
121 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

peter (@guest_215296)
May 29, 2020 8:54 am
#215296

I'm using exchange 2013 and our users are sending documents (Word) to clients and the clients are complaining that they can't edit the documents. This also happens when sending the documents internally, unless we save the documents first or select edit mode.

We don't want this as a solution, as that would require advising all clients/recipients how to edit the documents we send. Instead I'd like to find a solution to change a setting on the exchange so that recipients, can open an attachment and immediately edit it.

Any ideas how to do this?

0
0
Reply
Andrew Michell (@guest_215024)
April 8, 2020 7:26 am
#215024

I have no problem using the method described where I forward a message with an attached Excel file, then edit the file and close it. The edits are saved in the attached file.
This method also works with an old version of Adobe Acrobat.
However it does not work with Word, nor with the latest version of Adobe reader which I have recently installed. There appears to be some feature of the editing program which enables it..... or not.
Does anyone know how to overcome this?

0
0
Reply
Abhishek More (@guest_212387)
December 9, 2018 1:47 pm
#212387

In Outlook, go to the Mail view, open the mail folder containing the email with the specified attachment, and then open the email with double clicking.

6. Now the email opens in Message window. Please click Message > Actions > Edit Message

0
0
Reply
Diana (@guest_211721)
August 16, 2018 8:24 am
#211721

I have made all the changes including the edit option, but when I open the attachment, it automatically sends it to my photo gallery before I can edit it. Is there a way to avoid this happening? I do not want to save everything to my computer.

0
0
Reply
Carmen (@guest_209980)
January 17, 2018 4:35 am
#209980

I'm using Outlook 2016, how come there is no "edit mail" in my selection only "edit group settings" and "edit series"

0
0
Reply
Diane Poremsky(@diane-poremsky)
Author
Reply to  Carmen
January 18, 2018 12:28 am
#209994

You are talking about adding Edit message to the Quick Access Toolbar?
You need to open the message and add it to the QAT used by the open message, not the mail outlook window.

0
0
Reply
Joe (@guest_206698)
May 23, 2017 2:46 pm
#206698

I am using Office 2016. Since the Disable attachment preview method does not work for my version, is there anyway to make "edit mail" the default setting

0
0
Reply
Diane Poremsky(@diane-poremsky)
Author
Reply to  Joe
May 23, 2017 3:03 pm
#206699

No there isn't a way to make it default but you can customize the ribbon or quick access toolbar and add the Edit message button to it so its easier to reach.

0
0
Reply
Meredith (@guest_206062)
April 26, 2017 10:53 am
#206062

Go into File - Options -- General -- Start up Options and uncheck: Open e-mail and other uneditable files in reading view

It will open right up without Read Only.

0
-2
Reply
Diane Poremsky(@diane-poremsky)
Author
Reply to  Meredith
May 23, 2017 3:08 pm
#206700

That doesn't work in Outlook 2016. :( (That is in Word's Options, not Outlook's.)

0
0
Reply
Ben (@guest_200801)
August 17, 2016 5:24 pm
#200801

Hi Diane,

I receive an e-mail daily that contains an Excel attachment which I have to open, apply a filter to one column, filter every occurrence of one name, then print it out. Is it possible to automate this process through Outlook similar to this tutorial?

0
0
Reply
Diane Poremsky(@diane-poremsky)
Author
Reply to  Ben
August 17, 2016 5:32 pm
#200803

You need to Save it, then open it, then run an excel macro. You can do this all from Outlook.
This shows how to save and open and attachment: https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/email/save-open-attachment/
then you'll use the Excel object model to control excel from outlook.

although not a good example for your needs, this shows how to use the excel object model
https://www.slipstick.com/developer/vba-copy-outlook-email-excel-workbook/

Record the macro in Excel doing what you need to do then massage it to work in outlook - mostly changing things like activesheet to the excel object (xlWB) so outlook can control it.

1
0
Reply

Visit Slipstick Forums.
What's New at Slipstick.com

Latest EMO: Vol. 28 Issue 22

Support Services

Do you need help setting up Outlook, moving your email to a new computer, migrating or configuring Office 365, or just need some one-on-one assistance?

Subscribe to Exchange Messaging Outlook






Our Sponsors

CompanionLink
ReliefJet
  • Popular
  • Latest
  • WeekMonthAll
  • How to Remove the Primary Account from Outlook
  • Adjusting Outlook's Zoom Setting in Email
  • Outlook: Web Bugs & Blocked HTML Images
  • Save Sent Items in Shared Mailbox Sent Items folder
  • Move an Outlook Personal Folders .pst File
  • Create rules that apply to an entire domain
  • Use PowerShell to get a list of Distribution Group members
  • View Shared Calendar Category Colors
  • How to Create a Pick-a-Meeting Request
  • Remove a password from an Outlook *.pst File
  • Send Individual Messages when Sending Bulk Email
  • Centrally managed signatures in Office 365?
  • Create a rule to delete spam with no sender address
  • Open Outlook Folders using PowerShell or VBScript
  • Cannot add Recipients in To, CC, BCC fields on MacOS
  • Change Appointment Reminder Sounds
  • Messages appear duplicated in message list
  • Reset the New Outlook Profile
  • Delete Old Calendar Events using VBA
  • Use PowerShell or VBA to get Outlook folder creation date
Ajax spinner

Newest Code Samples

Delete Old Calendar Events using VBA

Use PowerShell or VBA to get Outlook folder creation date

Rename Outlook Attachments

Format Images in Outlook Email

Set Outlook Online or Offline using VBScript or PowerShell

List snoozed reminders and snooze-times

Search your Contacts using PowerShell

Filter mail when you are not the only recipient

Add Contact Information to a Task

Process Mail that was Auto Forwarded by a Rule

Recent Bugs List

Microsoft keeps a running list of issues affecting recently released updates at Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Outlook for Windows.

Outlook for Mac Recent issues: Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Outlook for Mac

Office Update History

Update history for supported Office versions is at Update history for Office

Outlook Suggestions and Feedback

Outlook Feedback covers Outlook as an email client, including Outlook Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows clients, as well as the browser extension (PWA) and Outlook on the web.

Use Outlook.com Feedback for suggestions or feedback about Outlook.com accounts.

Other Microsoft 365 applications and services




Windows 10 Issues

  • iCloud, Outlook 2016, and Windows 10
  • Outlook Links Won’t Open In Windows 10
  • Outlook can’t send mail in Windows 10: error Ox800CCC13
  • Missing Outlook data files after upgrading Windows?

Outlook Top Issues

  • The Windows Store Outlook App
  • The Signature or Stationery and Fonts button doesn’t work
  • Outlook’s New Account Setup Wizard
  • Outlook 2016: No BCM
  • Exchange Account Set-up Missing in Outlook 2016

VBA Basics

How to use the VBA Editor

Work with open item or selected item

Working with All Items in a Folder or Selected Items

VBA and non-default Outlook Folders

Backup and save your Outlook VBA macros

Get text using Left, Right, Mid, Len, InStr

Using Arrays in Outlook macros

Use RegEx to extract message text

Paste clipboard contents

Windows Folder Picker

Custom Forms

Designing Microsoft Outlook Forms

Set a custom form as default

Developer Resources

Developer Resources

Developer Tools

VBOffice.net samples

SlovakTech.com

Outlook MVP David Lee

Repair PST

Convert an OST to PST

Repair damaged PST file

Repair large PST File

Remove password from PST

Merge Two Data Files

Sync & Share Outlook Data

  • Share Calendar & Contacts
  • Synchronize two computers
  • Sync Calendar and Contacts Using Outlook.com
  • Sync Outlook & Android Devices
  • Sync Google Calendar with Outlook
  • Access Folders in Other Users Mailboxes

Contact Tools

Data Entry and Updating

Duplicate Checkers

Phone Number Updates

Contact Management Tools

Diane Poremsky [Outlook MVP]

Make a donation

Calendar Tools

Schedule Management

Calendar Printing Tools

Calendar Reminder Tools

Calendar Dates & Data

Time and Billing Tools

Meeting Productivity Tools

Duplicate Remover Tools

Mail Tools

Sending and Retrieval Tools

Mass Mail Tools

Compose Tools

Duplicate Remover Tools

Mail Tools for Outlook

Online Services

Productivity

Productivity Tools

Automatic Message Processing Tools

Special Function Automatic Processing Tools

Housekeeping and Message Management

Task Tools

Project and Business Management Tools

Choosing the Folder to Save a Sent Message In

Run Rules on messages after reading

Help & Suggestions

Submit Outlook Feature Requests

Slipstick Support Services

Home | Outlook User | Exchange Administrator | Office 365 | Outlook.com | Outlook Developer
Outlook for Mac | Common Problems | Utilities & Addins | Tutorials
Outlook & iCloud Issues | Outlook Apps
EMO Archives | About Slipstick | Advertise | Slipstick Forums
Submit New or Updated Outlook and Exchange Server Utilities

Send comments using our Feedback page
Copyright © 2023 Slipstick Systems. All rights reserved.
Slipstick Systems is not affiliated with Microsoft Corporation.

wpDiscuz

Sign up for Exchange Messaging Outlook

Our weekly Outlook & Exchange newsletter (bi-weekly during the summer)






Please note: If you subscribed to Exchange Messaging Outlook before August 2019, please re-subscribe.

Never see this message again.

You are going to send email to

Move Comment