When you open attachments from the email message before saving to the hard drive, Outlook places copies in the SecureTemp folder. This folder is a hidden folder under Temporary Internet files.
Background: When you open attachments on email directly from Outlook, a copy is written to a temporary folder on your hard drive so your the virus scanner can check it before it is opened. The folder Outlook writes this temp file to is under the Temporary Internet Files folder where IE writes pages to when you surf the internet. This offers more security as only your user account and the computer administrator account can view the files under this folder. The only way to avoid "losing" attachments in this well hidden folder is to save them to your hard drive, before opening. Few people do this (myself included).
These files are supposed to be deleted when you close the opened attachment, however this only happens if the email message the attachment arrived on remains open - this is either an opened message in a new window or in the reading pane. When the message is closed (or you wait to preview another message) after the attachment is closed, the temporary file is deleted from the SecureTemp folder. If you close the open message or display another Outlook item in the reading pane but leave the attachment open, the temp file is not deleted when you close the attachment.
When this folder gets "full" you may have problems opening email attachments or embedded images won't display. If you open image attachments in Windows Photo or Image viewer and click next, you may see old images you thought you deleted. Delete the files in the folder to fix. See clean the SecureTempFolder automatically for VBA code to clear the folder, either every time you close Outlook or only when you want to make sure the folder is empty.
Outlook 2016
The user-hive registry keys do not work with Outlook 2016 (Outlook overrides it with the default location), however adding it to the Policies path will work. However, because Outlook 2016 does a better job of cleaning up the SecureTemp folder, attachments you open may be deleted from the folder except when messages are closed while their attachments are open.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0\outlook\Security String (REG_SZ): OutlookSecureTempFolder Value: path to folder
To open the folder where the SecureTemp folder Outlook is using is stored, type or paste the following into the address bar of File Explorer and press Enter.
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook
You can use this shorter version instead:
%localappdata%\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook
SecureTemp Location for Outlook 2010 & 2013
Beginning with Outlook 2010, Outlook does a better job at cleaning up the secure temp files and it's possible you will not find the secure temp folder or files in the secure temp folder.
To quickly jump to the Temporary Internet Folder (TIF) in Windows 7 and above, type shell:cache in the Start menu's Search field and press Enter. This will open Windows Explorer to the TIF file. Outlook's SecureTemp folder should be visible (Content.Outlook or OLK*). If not, go to Windows Explorer's Organize, Folder and Search Options menu. On the View tab, enable the option to show Hidden Files and Folders.
In Vista, Windows 7/8/10 and newer, Outlook's secure temp folder is at C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\8A0VMD3A, where 8A0VMD3A can be any random characters.
Type or paste this shortcut into the address bar of File Explorer to open the location:
%localappdata%\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook
You can copy and paste the command found in the correct textbox (above) into the address bar of Windows Explorer then press Enter to jump to the SecureTemp folder, where you'll see the subfolder with the random character name. Using this method does not require you to change the hidden files and folder setting.
Outlook 2007
Outlook 2007 uses C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\8A0VMD3A, where 8A0VMD3A can be any random characters.
To jump to this folder, type shell:cache in the address bar of File Explorer. If you have the option set to Show hidden files and folders, you'll see the Content.Outlook folder, if not, type Content.Outlook at the end of the path.
In Vista and newer, the Temp Internet folder is at:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook
%localappdata%\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook
The shortcut for Outlook 2007 files on Windows XP is:
%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook
You can copy and paste the command found in the correct textbox (above) into the address bar of Windows Explorer then press Enter to jump to the SecureTemp folder, where you'll see the subfolder with the random character name. Using this method does not require you to change the hidden files and folder setting.
Find or move SecureTemp using the registry
The location of the Securetemp is stored in the registry and you can change the path to point to a new location (which is easier to access and clear), but be sure the new folder exists before changing it in the registry. The OutlookSecureTempFolder string value is stored in the following key for your version of Outlook. If the path in the path in the registry is not valid, you will have red x's for images.
Outlook 2013
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Security
Outlook 2010
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security
Outlook 2007
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security
Note: If the folder does not exist, the key will be reset to a new OLK* or Content.Outlook folder under Temporary Internet Files.
More Information
Red X's in Email
Attachments remain in the Outlook Secure Temporary File folder when you exit Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007 (Microsoft KB)
More Shell shortcuts: Easy Access to System Folders in Windows 7 and Vista
Kobe says
Thanks! This got me in the right direction, but the specific folders are nowhere to be found in my case, perhaps due to the newest windows outlook version currently.
I was able to find it by searching the Microsoft folder for most recent changes. The location of the excel file I was looking for was in a folder in this location:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Olk\Attachments
There may be a big folder structure in here with random letters and numbers as name, but I was able to find the right one with the timestamps of last changes (when did you start working on the file, or when did you last save it).
kazim says
Thank you very much for this! it worked , was able to recover the file.
Heather says
If my file is not in this location, i assume it means it was deleted when i closed the attachment. Do I have any other options to recover it? I checked the recycle bin and didn't see it there. Is there any location where i can see deleted files from this temp storage?
David says
Thank you for this - you saved me a lot of time and effort!
Sunil says
Very nice and useful. Thank you
Betsy says
THANK YOU! You saved me from losing ~4 hours of work today that I saved unknowingly in a document that was opened from an attachment.
Tim says
Cannot begin to tell you how much this saved my life.
Monica says
This worked for me, and I was able to recover an important file by following the instruction to paste the below into File Explorer:
Thank you so, so much, this was a lifesaver!
Azure Helper says
best and easiest is to search for the document/s name on the C drive. This is the path i discovered the document on
C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Outlook\8klklk
ThanksAzuerHelper says
You are my savior...saved 5 hours of my work
Dan says
So i have an issue where my emails, if I have opened the attachment prior to sending it, arrive to recipient WITHOUT the attachment. However, this only happens if I close the attachment before clicking send. If i have it opened, and then send, the recipient will get the attachment. Any ideas?
Alex says
thanks, was abke to find an attachment i thought was deleted!!!
Sefton Hall says
Just thought I would mention that under Windows 8 the Temporary Internet Files link under C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\ is a shortcut rather than a folder, where does it go? Also in Windows 10 the temporary word files are kept in
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Outlook\
There are folders below like 8A0VMD3A which contain the temporary file.
This folder is available in Windows 8 and appears to be where the Word files are but as I am unable to open a Word file from an email I cannot confirm it.
I have only discovered this by trying to understand why under W8 and W10 Word behaves differently with the same email attachment. Under W10 the attachment opens in Word. Under W8 it will not open. The only suggested solutions I have seen are that the temporary file is being placed into an untrusted location and therefore you must add the location to Trusted locations in the Trust Centre. Sadly, W8 refuses to allow this location to be added to Trusted Locations. The Trust Centre tells me that this path is not a valid location or cannot be used as a Trusted Location for security reasons. Well apart from the fact that Windows 'know' perfectly well that this is a valid location (Explorer allows me to browse it) and it should remove that excuse from its message, which is the only valid reason, the other 'for security reasons' is not valid. I as administrator may wish to and can choose to override that, however that is not the point. Outlook offers to allow you to open the Word file but then places the temporary file in a location which is not trusted by Word. Why would it do that?
That is W8 behaviour. In W10, the file is placed in this location, but this location is not in the Trusted locations list. I cannot see any difference between the set up in W10 and W8, but Word complains when I try to open it from Outlook or to open the temporary file from this folder in this manner: Word experienced an error trying to open the file. Try these suggestions. Check permissions for the document or drive / Make sure there is sufficient free memory or disk space / open the file with Text Recovery converter.
The helpful item is Check permissions. Properties shows that the file is blocked in W8. But clearing this does not help. Word still will not open the file. No progress, but I hope this will help you update your article. Thank you for writing it.
Diane Poremsky says
What happens when you try to open the file? Are only word files affected?
It's not permissions or trust - i don't think its a corrupt TIF folder .
ian says
Thank you so much. I managed to recover a file following the instruction given.
MartinL says
Without reading all the comments, don't know if this has been suggested, but I couldn't find my file (editing a word doc direct from outlook, without saving and word then crashing ) in the SecureTemp the suggested locations. Nor was it showing from the auto recover option within word. Noting that I am working on a networked server client based environment, an advanced search of 'My Computer' for all files created/modified today [datemodified:today] eventually spat out an 'AutoRecovery save of [the originally named file].asd' from shortly before the crash which was located in the 'C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word' folder.
TLDR
If you are working on a server:client networked computer environment try also looking in 'C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word' folder
(I'm guessing the final folder would be representative of whatever program you were working with at the time).
Good luck!
Geo says
Thank you so much :)
shell:cache took my directly to my saved attachments for Outlook
Coco Line says
Slightly different path... I found my Content.Outlook inside "iNetCache":
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Outlook
I have Windows 10 64-bit.
J. Hull says
You're a genius! You saved my life at work today. :)
glnz says
Diane - your threads about Outlook are SUPERB.
But I'm writing with a problem I can't solve even following your advice.
I have Outlook 2003 on XP (which I have kept updated through the POS hack).
No matter what I do - and after following ALL your advice - I got a lot of red Xs instead of pictures in my Incoming emails.
The only clue I have is that there is no actual folder called "OutlookSecureTempFolder". The registry says it should exist at C:\Documents and Settings\[My User Name]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK5\ , but it's not there. OLK5 looks empty.
Yes, I am showing hidden files and folders, and Hide protected operating system files is UNchecked.
In addition to trying everything above, I have also "repaired" Office 2003 and run sfc /scanonce.
If I hover over a red X box in the email, sometimes - not always - my cursor changes from a white arrow to a white pointing hand with a circle-with-slash right next to it. Like Ø but with the slash going the other way. But maybe that's just because some - not all - blocked graphics are also hyperlinks and this is not so important.
Now, if I forward my emails with red Xs to my work email (Outlook 2016 on Win 7 Pro 64-bit), the graphics are there! So they are not being deleted by my Outlook 2003. Just blocked.
Ultimately this might be good news because, with the imminent end of the POS updates to XP, the time has come to say Bye to XP, and I will soon move all my emails (all my .pst) from Outlook 2003 on XP to Outlook in Office 365 on my Win 7 Pro 64-bit machine.
But is there any last clue to why Outlook 2003 just WON'T show pics in emails?
By the way, I did NOT have this problem in Outlook Express 6 through yesterday, when I Exported my dbx files to Outlook 2003 per your other threads.
Thanks!!!
Diane Poremsky says
The folder will be called something weird like 8A0VMD3A, not secure temp.. You can change the registry key to point it to a different location. It really sounds like a permissions issue with the temp internet cache.
Sorry I missed this question earlier.
Pravin Khuperkar says
Thank you Diane for this information. It saved my day.
devi says
You saved my day, copy pasting below path got the folder I was looking for.
I banged my head thinking where it is gone and wasted 1 hour time.
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook
Buracho says
Hi Diane, I'm an Outlook 2013 user, but there's no "Security" folder in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook in my registry.
Could I just add this folder manually?
Diane Poremsky says
Yes, if the key does not exist, create it.
Anuranjan Kumar Srivastav says
Thank you Diane Poremsky so..so much for tricks to recover the file.It really saved me.
Diane Elliott says
We created a folder ("opened_from_outlook") to protect users when they save documents opened from Outlook. But for the past month or so, our attachments are opening in Read-Only mode, thus frustrating users that got used to editing documents and simply clicking Save.
Seeing this on both Windows 7, Office 2010 and Windows 10, Office 2016. Is anyone else seeing this? I suspect a Windows update?
Diane Poremsky says
I saw someone else complain a couple of weeks ago, so it could be an update. I know they are tweaking 2016's security but i don't think they are backporting those changes - unless it's related to a windows update.
I assume you have attachment preview off and that setting didn't change? https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/edit-and-save-outlook-attachments/
Anu says
Thank you soooo much!!! I did the same - edited file from an outlook attachment without save-as. Would have had to redo everything. thanks much for the information on where to find it!!!
AgnesLP says
Hi, and thanks a lot fort the hints.
I am using a HTML signature with a banner image, pulled from a server, which I'd like to change from time to time. Unfortunately, outlook caches it. I have emptied all directories mentioned under Outlook 2010 (I am with W7), but I still have an old image in the signature. Any further hint?
Thanks, Agnes
Diane Poremsky says
could it be cached on the server? did you verify in the source code that it is linked to the src, not using an attached image?
Delyan Bastrev says
I noticed that the registry key is set up in “HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice16.0OutlookSecurity”.
The key there can be overwritten by Outlook, as it is not enforced. But if we add a registry key in "Policies", it cannot be overwritten by Outlook.
That’s why I was wondering if you could set up the GPO in the following path:
HKCUSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftOffice16.0OutlookSecurity
Value Name: OutlookSecureTempFolder
Data Type: REG_SZ
Diane Poremsky says
You can add it using a logon script or add it to the GPO (I don't have the instructions published). Not all policies work with Home or Business subscriptions of Outlook 2016 though, so you need to test it to verify it works.
Junia says
Diane; as you can see, I have not given this up, and keep coming back to this forum to see if there are any new solutions. In reply to Delyan's suggestion, you wrote: "You can add it using a logon script or add it to the GPO (I don't have the instructions published). Can you please let me know how to do this? I would like to try it on my PC. Thanks."
Diane Poremsky says
if its just for your computer, set the registry key that is under policies and restart outlook. Log on scripts would run the reg key automatically when you log on, but they only work with computers that log into a corp network.
Mimi says
Hi Diane - so, I saved a Word attachment several times in Outlook and did not save it in Word. Is there any way to access my saved file? Thank you.
Diane Poremsky says
you need to find the secure temp folder and see if its in there. This: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook will open File Explorer to the correct location for the folders outlook is using. (Paste it in the address bar of file explorer)
anD says
Thank you. Worked fine for windows 10
%localappdata%Temporary Internet FilesContent.Outlook
Junia says
Hi Diane; I sent you a message with an enquiry on this on the 15th Oct. but cannot see it here. Is that because it only appears when it has been 'moderated' by you?
Diane Poremsky says
it's here, i'm just way behind in answering comments. I need to clone myself. :) (I leave everything in the moderation queue that needs a reply so i can find them easier.)
Junia says
Hi Diane;
You have been of great help in the past regarding VBA codes for Macros to delete attachments and leave behind a note regarding the name of the attachment that was deleted. It is working like a dream, and I always thank you when I go through a batch of such deletions before archiving my messages.
Now, I am trying to change the location of my OLK SecureTemp Files Folder, on a PC running Windows 7 Pro and Outlook 2016. The current (default) location is, as expected:
C:\Users\[my username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\LUOP2EED\
I have tried to modify this key as recommended by you, i.e. pointed it to open in my (internal) D:\ drive, on a folder I created specially for this, i.e., D:\Z-OLK. I tried also to point it to the root D:\ directory. It simply does not work. As soon as I open a message and open the attachment (PDF, or JPEG, etc.), and then click, within the program, 'Save As', it offers me that C:\Users\ etc., etc., with a newly created alpha-numeric folder.
Any idea why this is happening and how to solve it?
Diane Poremsky says
As far as I know, you cannot move the secure temp folder if you use Outlook 2016: "The registry keys do not work with Outlook 2016." Outlook changes the registry path in the registry to one under the temp folders.
Betsy Horn says
In July 2016 an attachment content switching problem cropped up again with Outlook 2010. All patches had been applied. I searched high and low and ran across your TID. The solution for us was to delete the content.Outlook folder (deleting the contents did not help). Thanks very much for your post.
Ashwin Singh says
Thank you very much for your instructions on retrieving files in the Outlook Securetemp file folder. Just saved me hours of work.
Kevin says
This folder has made me look like a genius at work. In the past I have saved executives and meetings using this folder. I explain to people only so much space is allocated for this folder before it starts to be too large but... My theory was blown out of the water when a customer had over 6 gb of files in this folder.
I do have a question though, how big is too big?
Diane Poremsky says
I know we like to say "it's too big" but there is no hard and fast rule about what is too big. It's size limited by the Temp internet limit (whose default is 10% of the drive), so a large drive will have more in the secure temp folder than a smaller drive. # of files is also important - there is a limit of 99 per file name. Each time you open a file it increments it up. Also note that Outlook 2013 and 2016 are much better at deleting the folder so you can't count on recovering a file from it when you use these versions.
Matthew H says
You are my hero! Worked for my windows 7, Outlook 2016. Thank you!!! I thought I lost 2 hours of work. :) I found it and it was perfect.
Hillary Jones says
Thank you so much! I downloaded a trial of one of the recovery tools (DataNumen) and it found over a thousand messages that were recoverable. Now I am just deciding whether they are worth $199 to get back. But at least now I have the option, Thank you SO much for your help!!!
-Hillary
Hillary Jones says
Hello,
I just started using Outlook to manage my work email account (through a little Wyoming internet company at http://www.vcn.com) The trouble with my vcn / work account (hjones@acrcrm.com) is that I have only a limited amount of space and have to delete old files in order to make room for new emails and attachments :( That is why I finally synced my work email with Outlook so that I would be able to store as many emails as I wanted to on my computer while deleting them on the vcn server. Well I should have tried a test first because tonight I deleted my entire Sent folder (and emptied the trash). Just before I did this I made sure the emails showed up in Outlook's Sent folder-they were all there. However, after I deleted them and went back to Outlook, they were all gone! Outlook had apparently synced with whatever my work email was doing rather than keeping the messages until I explicitly deleted them in Outlook. Is there any way to recover these files somewhere on my computer???
Thank you so much for any help you can give. I will have lost information from clear back in 2011 :( And p.s. my company would be no help with this issue. We are a bunch of archaeologists and don't have a "tech" person.
Best regards,
Hillary
Diane Poremsky says
It sounds like the account is configured as an IMAP account - those messages are synced, not stored locally on a pst. Your only hope is that the data file wasn't compacted yet and you are using Outlook 2010 and older. See https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/config/recover-deleted-messages-pst-files/ for possible solutions. There are 3 commercial products on that page that might work - they have trials and you can see if they find the lost messages before buying. Close outlook and make a copy of the data file ASAP so outlook doesn't start compacting it. You can try recovering copies of the copy.
If you configure it as a POP3, messages will be downloaded and stored in a pst on your computer, or keep the imap account but archive to a pst as your mailbox gets full.
Weal says
Bless you. This (shell:cache) worked like a charm.
I pasted the document in a meeting request and did not realise I was editing from it during the meeting until I saved and closed, then opened, only to see the original. I was livid, how do I remember all the inputs from each person!? I have been searching and surfing because I know the file must be saving somewhere since it was saving without asking me to save in a location (ie Save As). I was worried that since I had shut down my computer, it may not come again, but it did.
Thank you again!
Greg says
Thank you, spent hours try to resolve permission error when opening an attachment in outlook and your shell:cache pointer did the trick in no time flat. Just wish I found your webpage first!
Grant says
We are trying to modify the OLK location in the registry for Outlook 2013 but every time we open an attachment, this key gets set back to the default location.
We have made sure the folder location we are trying to set it to exists before changing the registry.
Any ideas?
Diane Poremsky says
Does the folder exist? Outlook 2013 is supposed to do a better job at cleaning up the temp files and when it does this, it deletes the folder and create a new one. I'm guessing this is what it is doing.
Kika Melo says
I have the same problem as Grant described on March last year:
I followed your instructions to modify the OLK location in the Registry for Outlook 2016, but every time I open an attachment, this key gets set back to the default location, on a new subfolder name (C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\XDV8LTXK\).
I have made sure the folder location I am trying to set it to exists before changing the registry. In fact, my first choice for this, was a folder I created on my D:\ drive ((D:\Temporary Attachments)). When it did not work, I then created a similar folder on the C:\ drive (C:\Temporary Attachments). I modify the key on the Registry, close it, close Outlook, open Outlook and when I click to open an attachment (.PDF, .DOC, .JPG, etc.), it opens again on the original location. I check the Registry, and my modification of that key is gone and has been replaced by a newly created 8-alpha-numeric named folder ! Very frustrating.
Any ideas?
Diane Poremsky says
The registry setting doesn't apply to Outlook 2016.
Bruno V B says
Diane, I just came here to say: THANK YOU. I was in mistake editing an email attachment and after 4 hours of work, I've deleted the attachment and replaced it by a local saved copy of the file, just to find out that I've lost 4 hours of work (which would take another 3-4 hours to redo).
You saved my day! :)
Thank you!
rubicon202 says
Thank you so much for that shell:cache command! Awesome, awesome...
Judith says
There seem to be two identical Chrome HTML pages, both from about two years ago. The only other oddity is a compressed (zipped) folder of photographs (12,233 KB). Should I delete those, or leave them where they are? But the good news is that I've deleted small bundles to reduce the content to about 1/3, and I can now open iPad jpgs!!! Thank you so much.
Diane Poremsky says
I'd delete them, or if you don't have copies of the photos, move the zip to my documents.
Judith says
I can delete a bundle at a time, but if I select all, I get an IE message "This page has an unspecified security risk. Would you like to continue?" before I get as far as trying to delete. This makes me nervous!
Diane Poremsky says
Is there an HTML page in the folder? It shouldn't matter, since you are deleting, not opening, but I'm guessing that is what is triggering the message.
Judith says
Trying to delete everything, but it tells me "Cannot delete file: Cannot read from the source file or disk"
Diane Poremsky says
That usually either means the file is corrupt or it's in use. Do you get that message with every file or just some? You many need to open Windows Explorer using Run as administrator to delete them.
Judith says
Thank you Diane. And it's just the ones from apple which won't open.
Judith says
I am trying to resolve the problem that Outlook will not open jpg attachments sent from iPads or iPhones. I have navigated my way to OutlookSecureTempFolder and pasted the address into my Search where I find 429 items. Am I on the right track towards solving my problem? I have no idea which of these I should delete - I am technologically challenged I am afraid! Are they all unnecessary (as Temporary would suggest)? Sorry my enquiry is so basic, but I am trying!
Diane Poremsky says
You can delete everything in that folder - it's just a cache of attachments you've opened. Can you open other jpgs, just not the ones from apple?
Saara says
Dear Diane,
I have tried locating the Outlook temp folder on my Windows 7, and looked for the location from:
Outlook 2010
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security
There is a problem here, as that location in my Registry editor does not have the \Security -option on that line. I have not been able to find out why, or where that information is stored, if not there. (The IT support at my work did not know either.)
I also tried to access the temporary folder directly via:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook
... but there does not seem to be a folder called ... \Content.Outlook
What I do find is another hidden folder for temporary internet files:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
So I would be tempted to think that there is also a folder for Outlook, but can it be called something else than \Content.Outlook?
Thanks a million if you can help!
Diane Poremsky says
in 2010 it's content.outlook, but windows does a really good job of hiding the folder. Have you opened attachments? Outlook doesn't create some keys until the feature is used or needs to be set.
Vik says
Thanks, what a lifesaver.
Meghan says
I was hoping you help me out with something related to this. When I double-click a pdf in Outlook to view it, it opens Adobe Reader 11. When I go to save the document, it alway brings me to one of one these outlook temp folders, so then I have to navigate all the way back to the folder I want.
On my old version of Reader, it would bring me back to where the folder where I last saved the file. My best guess is that Reader is still going back to the last save point, but because of these temporary files, it keeps thinking I want to save it there permentatly.
Is there a way to stop Outlook from creating the temp files for pdf so it will stop asking me to save there?
Diane Poremsky says
Correct, reader is using the current file location. What version of Outlook do you use? I noticed the same behavior with some files recently - I'll pay more attention to it, I'm not sure if all attachments or just some are affected.
G-ZUS says
like aspirin, this advice, fix my headache!!!
Total thanks!!!!
Stefan says
I don't know how to thank you! I was certain I saved the file correctly (as I did it more than once over the past few days I spent editing it and putting comments) and was entirely baffled when I couldn't see my changes (I actually saved it on the desktop but apparently made changes to the temporary file, and it beats me how that happened). Anyhow, your article helped, I opened the location %localappdata%\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook and in the only folder that was there I found my file with all the comments and changes I made to it.
Devin says
Thank you so much Diane Poremsky,
I am a MSgt in the United States Air Force and this post helped recover some award package documents.
Manoj R says
Very very helpful...
Thank a lot..!!!
Vijay says
Hi, I was using webmail server to communicate for one month then i downloaded all the mails from server to my outlook account. But now by mistake i replaced the new outlook backup file with the old one. Now the problem is the new mails which have downloaded from server is not in the outlook mail inbox and also i checked in webmail server. There also mails are not present. So is there any way i can get back those mails downloaded from server. Because it contains more mails on projects. Please help me out!
Thanks!
Diane Poremsky says
The the messages were deleted from the web server and you do not have a copy the pst you replaced, the only hope of recovering the email is with file recovery software, such as from https://www.stellarinfo.com/
If you have shadow copies enabled (Win7), you can try this: right click on the pst file and choose properties? Is there a tab for with information about older copies? If not, you'll need file recovery software. You need to attempt the recovery ASAP, before other files overwrite the space the old pst used on the hard drive.
Ibtissam says
Thanks for this hint, it saves me a lot of time......
Vishwa says
Thanks a ton!!.. This is very helpful
Stuart Arnold says
THANK YOU!!!! Finally...someone and something I could understand...and that worked! Please take the rest of the day off :-D
jon says
thank you - this saved me pulling my hair out :)
asiri Edirisinghe says
THANK you so much !!!!!! it worked
Luis Mendez says
Thank you big time for this helpful information. I've been looking for an easy way to explain to my Boss how to find the Content.Outlook folder without the Registry search.
With the shell:cache search has been pretty easy to explain, in order to find the files that should be erased, and get Outlook going with the previews of images and such.
And the Batch file will be installed as soon as possible!
Thanks again for your help!
Diane Poremsky says
I like shell:cache because its easy to remember and type. :)
Glad to have helped!
Haide says
i forgot to mention that I have Microsoft Word 2010
Haide says
Hello,
Okay so I opened my file through Yahoo email and accidently did not save it. I then, could not open the file i did not know that if i opened the file i would loose all the information. Is there any way I can still retrieve it or it is all gone? Please someone help me it is a Term paper that is due tomorrow and there is no way I could finish it in time.
Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
Are you using Outlook to read yahoo mail or did you use the browser to read it?
It sounds like the file is corrupt, but I don't know if its corrupt on the computer side only. What anti virus software are you using? If you save the file to your desktop, how big is it? If it's large enough to contain data and is a docx file, you can at least get the text out of it. (It's harder to get text out of doc files.)
Miketraxs says
If you want to clear the files everyday. You can setup a batch file with the following commands. Then set it in the all user startup so it runs for every user that logs into the pc. It will clear the folder everytime they login.
ATTRIB "C:Users%username%AppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsTemporary Internet FilesContent.Outlook*.*" -R /s
del "C:Users%username%AppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsTemporary Internet FilesContent.Outlook" /s /q
The files in the folder below this are set with the read only attribute. You need to clear that attribute with the first command. Then you can delete everything in it with the second command.
kristine kim says
hello - question: is the SecureTemp folder also used for attachment being sent? we're a windows 7/office 2010 32bit environment. i have a few users that are seeing the incorrect attachment being sent ... sometimes when that attachment is being copied from one email to the outgoing one, and sometimes when the file is being attached from a local location.
i have one tech that believes it's a cache overflow issue
i think part of this stems from people switching to rtf formatted emails and overflowing the clipboard.
i've called MS and got the following info.
Issue: Users are occasionally seening an attachment they placed in an email randomly switch when sent.
My theory after I visited one user and had discussions with a number of others was that the problem had something to do with the clipboard, as at least one of the people copies and pastes attachments to and from emails all day, and the fact that they have changed their default message format to RTF from the HTML default.
I called Microsoft to verify. The report from Microsoft is that Word 2010 has changed how copy and paste works and how they handle OLE objects which in turn causes issues with copy and pasting attachments. Word has a fix in SP1 that rectifies some issues seen with the clipboard. Within Outlook they have found that when embedded messages are manipulated using normal editing techniques (cut and paste), the attachment object data becomes jumbled. Opening different attachments leads to the same attachment being launched and/or data added to attachments does not appear correctly. In addition in RTF mail, if you save and cut and paste attachments, it is more likely Outlook will become confused and if you open the Attachment, another Attachment may open. All this is similar to what has been reported, but is not exactly the same issue.
Microsoft has requested that we test installing SP1 on one of the affected users and monitor the results.
i'm interested to know your opinion if you have time. thanks tons. -kk