Find Out Why Mac Outlook Cannot Open Attachments?

Approved By Anuraag Singh

Published On November 21st, 2023

Reading Time 6 Minutes Reading

User Query-“Hi, I have an issue regarding Outlook for Mac, recently I noticed that my Mac Outlook cannot open attachments whenever I receive any files like PDF, JPG, DOCX, etc. Unfortunately, I don’t have any other Mac machine to test further and downgrade my OS. So anyone knows the solution, then please help me.”

Outlook not downloading attachments Mac is one of the recurring queries by most Mac Outlook users. All of the users want to know how it can be resolved effectively without losing any data.

So, if you are one of those users who face this issue and want to get rid of this serious problem of attachment opening, then read this article, to know why Mac Outlook cannot open attachments and how to fix it.

Table of Content

Why Gmail Account Not Working?

Most of the users reported this issue after upgrading the version of Mac Outlook. Moreover, some of the common issues are listed below:

1. - If users have some synchronization issues in the Mac Outlook, then they will be unable to open or save attachment issues.
  - Sometimes it occurs due to the file compatibility issue in Mac Outlook.

How to Resolve the Issue Mac Outlook Cannot Open Attachments?

Email attachments are very important data for any email user. However, if they are not able to access the email attachment, then it is a very crucial situation for them.

Therefore, it is important to fix this issue immediately so users can access their email attachments. So in this section, we are going to discuss some manual techniques that will resolve the issue of Mac Outlook cannot open attachments.

#Tip 1: Update Mac Outlook to Latest Version

When you get this unable to open attachments in Outlook Mac the first thing that a user has to do is check for the new update of Mac Outlook. Because, if you are using the older version of Mac Outlook, then you will probably face this type of issue.

#Tip 2: Clear Your Cache Memory

Cache memory is a storage place where Microsoft Outlook stores file that you have used previously so that you can easily re-access them. And, if there is an issue in your cache memory, then you may face an attachment opening issue. So, it is important to clear your cache to resolve Mac Outlook cannot open attachments problem.

Follow the troubleshooting steps to clear the cache memory in Mac Outlook:

1. - Open Mac Outlook and go to the navigation panel. Then right-click on the account.
  - Select the Properties option
  - Now click on the Empty Cache option.
  - Once it is done, right-click on the folder containing email attachment that is not downloaded.
  - After all the settings, click on the synchronize now option to reset all the settings.

#Tip 3: Reset Your Email Account to Unable to Open Attachments in Outlook Mac

If you are still getting the issue of Mac Outlook cannot open attachments, then you can try to reset your email account. So, to do this you need to fast delete your account from Mac Outlook and later you have to add the same account again.

Here are the steps to reset your email account

1. - Open Mac Outlook and go to the Tools option.
  - Select an Account from the tools option.
  - Now, select the account which you want to reset.
  - After that click on the Delete button and confirm your choice to remove the account.
  - Once your account is deleted. Open Outlook again and at the same account details to reset it once again.

#Tip 4: Safe Mode Option

Sometimes antivirus or firewalls may scan your emails while opening the attachment. So, due to the scanning process, you may encounter this issue. So to check this firewall problem try to open Mac Outlook in Safe Mode and the guidelines are listed below for Mac Outlook cannot open Attachments-

1. - First, restart your Mac machine.
  - Now, hold the shift key for a few seconds and release it once Mac boots in the safe mode.
  - After that login to your respective user account and launch Outlook in safe mode.

Smart Solution for Mac Outlook Cannot Open Attachments

If you still encountering opening email attachment issues in Mac Outlook, then the best solution is to download all the attachments on your system. But, you cannot download multiple attachments from multiple emails in Outlook manually. So, to do this, you can try a trusted third-party application that easily extracts attachments from Mac Outlook emails.

Download Now Purchase Now

SysTools Outlook Attachment Extractor is one such tool that easily extracts attachment from the OLM, OLK, PST, and from configured Outlook accounts. The tool gives you the right alternative solution if you are not able to Mac Outlook cannot open attachments.

Let’s See the Working of the Tool for Outlook not downloading attachments Mac.

1. First, download the tool on your Mac system.

2. Install the tool and open it to choose the Auto Locate Mac Outlook 2019/2016/ Profile option.

Auto Locate Mac Outlook 2019/2016/ Profile option

3. Choose the Folder Option as per your requirement.

Choose the Folder Option

4. Select the Advance Filter option to select more settings.

Select Advance Filter

5. Choose Categories like Mail, Calendar, and Contacts.

Choose Categories

6. Select the Destination Location to save all the attachments.

Destination Location

7. At last click on the Export button to complete the task.

Export export option

Conclusion

All the described techniques in the above article are the basic troubleshooting solution that a user can try to fix the issue when Mac Outlook cannot open attachments. But if you do not have that much time and want your attachments as soon as possible, then you can try the automated solution to extract the attachments. This above mention tool have its additional features as well. That will help to Outlook not downloading attachments Mac issue.