Solution to Microsoft Outlook 2007 or 2010 not opening Word or Excel Attachments

Rick
1 min read

This particular problem has come a few times lately, so I thought I better write out the solution for the website for both my memory and for others who might have the problem.

Here’s what the problem looks like: Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2010 users try to open a Microsoft Word or Excel document and cannot do so. Usually this occurs with Word/Excel 2007 or 2010 only. To solve the problem of opening Word (and Excel) documents in Microsoft Outlook, try this:

Close Microsoft Outlook
Open Microsoft Word
Click File (or little Office orb for 2007 version) in the upper left hand corner of screen
Click Options
Click Trust Center
Click Trust Center Settings
Click Protected View
Uncheck the following boxes:
- Enable protected view for files originating from the internet
- Enable protected view for files located in potentially unsafe locations
- Enable protected view for outlook attachments
Click OK
Click OK again
Close Word
Open Microsoft Outlook and try your attachments again

I hope this helps you! Good luck.

Tags:attachment email Excel Microsoft Outlook solution Word

59 thoughts on “Solution to Microsoft Outlook 2007 or 2010 not opening Word or Excel Attachments”

Mongo March 2, 2011 at 10:51 am

Thanks for the info, but when I go to Trust Center Settings, there is no option for Protected View. Are you missing a step?

This issue is really bothering me, could not fix it yet!

thanks!
1. Rick March 3, 2011 at 12:58 am
  
  Thanks for stopping by…one other thing you could try is to browse to the Microsoft Word executable file (usually at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12). The file is listed as winword. RIGHT click it, click the compatibility tab, then towards the bottom under “Privilege Level”, click the check box for Run the program as administrator. Click Apply, then OK.
  
  If this works for you, let me know, and I will add it to the tip.
2. 1. amitabh misra May 20, 2011 at 12:40 am
    
    Same problem being faced by me.
    No option for PROTECTIVE VIEW found in the first solution scheme provided.
    In the second solution,there is no PRIVILEGE LEVEL option.
    In my case WORD and EXCEL do not open immediately and take very long time. Sometimes do not open at all and OUTLOOK gets hung.
    Please help with solutions.
    Thanks.
  2. Jon January 19, 2012 at 7:10 pm
    
    Rick (and anyone else),
    I tried to follow your suggestions of 3//11(thanks, by the way) and found my way to the Winword Properties screen but the Checkbox and text for “Run this program as an administrator” is grayed out and not selectable.
    HELLPPP!
  3. suresh dongol August 28, 2012 at 4:32 am
    
    thank it works
  4. shawn Hugh October 12, 2012 at 10:41 pm
    
    Rick I went down to properties afterthe right click but that still doesn’t seem to help any other suggestions…
    thanks for being so knowledgeabe about this kind of stuff.
  5. shawn Hugh October 12, 2012 at 10:44 pm
    
    mine was actually in the “Office 14” folder, I had to do a search in the (x86) folder… and it still didn’t work after I check the “privilage level”
  6. 1. Rick October 13, 2012 at 6:53 pm
      
      It seems that some folks have had similar problems, and the only solution is to completely uninstall MS Office (backup your Outlook data first), then reinstall from scratch.
Phil March 28, 2011 at 10:48 am

worked! thanks!
Karen Brown June 27, 2011 at 9:41 pm

When i go to file there is no option so i dont know what to do. some attachment cannot be open what can i do
Kasun July 28, 2011 at 10:52 am

This worked perfectly.. Thanks…
Shirley August 25, 2011 at 10:31 am

All of the solutions proposed have not worked for me using 2007 and excel. I have to save the attached file and then open the file using excel. I can’t open the document by clicking on the file in the control panel either.
Sanjith September 5, 2011 at 1:22 am

None of the above mentioned methods worked for me either.. then I went for the ultimate troubleshooting… REBOOT. and it is working now!
Rajesh October 19, 2011 at 7:03 am

Thank you, that fixed my problem.
Gopal Padin October 30, 2011 at 8:03 am

Excel is set to ignore other applications
The most common cause is that Excel has been configured to ignore other applications. This is an option that is disabled by default but can be enabled to isolate the Excel working environment. When the option is enabled, you can only open Excel attachments from within Excel itself.

To disable this option you can do the following;

Excel 2003 and previous
Tools-> Options…-> tab General-> option: Ignore other applications
Excel 2007
Office logo (left top)-> Excel Options-> section Advanced-> option group: General-> option: Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)
Excel 2010
File-> Options-> section Advanced-> option group: General-> option: Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)
After setting this option, close Excel. When you now double click on the attachment, it should open as expected.
1. Jason Harris April 4, 2012 at 11:48 am
  
  This step worked just fine for Excel thanks alot
2. Jayne May 23, 2012 at 5:31 am
  
  Perfect, Thank you.
3. Logan July 11, 2012 at 9:32 am
  
  I spent hours pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to make this work under 2007 and then I found this. Thank you SOOOOOOOO much
4. Derek Aitken August 24, 2012 at 2:14 am
  
  Thanks Gopal.
  That sorted Excel/Outlook attachment opening for me.
5. Aaron October 15, 2012 at 5:56 pm
  
  Thanks Gopal that worked perfectly disabling DDE!
Clive November 4, 2011 at 2:51 am

This works just fine on outlook 2010

Thanks
Pierre de Ridder November 14, 2011 at 2:38 am

I don’t know if this is the same problem as mine. My problem is that when opening a Word attachment from Outlook, Word opens up, but it is just a blank screen and all icons on the ribbon is greyed out. I have to save the attchment to my desktop(or anywhere else) and open it up from there.
janet November 17, 2011 at 3:09 am

i have tried everything above but still have a problem.WORD , EXCEL,POWER POINT cannot open. A virus guard keep on telling me that this is a virus.Psl help.I use Avira Antivirus
Edubebelo November 26, 2011 at 2:15 pm

I have exactely same problem as descrived by Pierre de Ridder. I’ve tried all the proposed solutions but I did’nt fix the problem yet
arvin December 14, 2011 at 9:47 am

dude my Microsoft word will not open at all, forget the attachments. I really need help on this, i have a project due and im screwed
1. Dave W December 15, 2011 at 5:15 am
  
  System restore or reinstall
J Waggoner March 12, 2012 at 3:12 pm

Try doing an office repair, don’t get impatient, if its a slow PC this can take an hour or longer, but usually if fixes most issues, also make sure you are on OFFICE SP2 for 2007 at least.
kuldeep June 19, 2012 at 3:50 am

Thanks its is working now.
Abhilash June 19, 2012 at 10:00 pm

Protected View / Run the program as administrator is not available with OFFICE 2007 Word.

Please help.
Kmjmw0 June 29, 2012 at 7:37 am

This solution worked for me on Excel 2007
…..
Excel 2007
Office logo (left top)-> Excel Options-> section Advanced-> option group: General-> option: Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)
Excel 2010
File-> Options-> section Advanced-> option group: General-> option: Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)
After setting this option, close Excel. When you now double click on the attachment, it should open as expected.
Cat August 2, 2012 at 10:12 pm

My Excel still cannot be opened from the outlook and i also can’t even save the attachment file.

Anyone please assist.
K Dog August 15, 2012 at 11:52 am

Your suggestion fixed my problem in Office 2010. Thanks!
Marshal August 22, 2012 at 4:45 am

Hi All,

Great Solution, I could successfully to resolve the error while opening word & Excel attachments in MS Outlook. It’s working.

Thanks
Marshal
Madhu August 24, 2012 at 1:40 am

I upgraded from office 2007 to trial version of office 2010. none of my excel files created earlier open on double clicking. but i can open through File-open option through excel. also i cannot open excel attachments from outlook mails. i dont have this issue with work or pdf files. please help
1. Rick August 24, 2012 at 4:05 pm
  
  You may need to recreate the association of your new version of Excel to those older files…just RIGHT click on one of them in your folders, then click Open With, select Excel 2010, then make sure the box is checked to always use that program, then click OK. Good luck.
Bev Miers September 8, 2012 at 4:02 pm

I’ve tried all of these suggestions with excel 2010 and it isn’t working….. any other ideas?
1. Rick September 8, 2012 at 9:02 pm
  
  If you have tried these, the Microsoft Office Repair install and still not working, I would suggest that you completely uninstall the product, restart your computer, and reinstall again.
Kwame September 21, 2012 at 9:16 am

Thanks a lot but my I still need some help. I have Outlook 2007 but Word 2010 installed. How do I get my outlook 2007 to preview Word 2010?
1. Rick September 21, 2012 at 9:48 pm
  
  I’m sorry, but without looking at your individual situation, this is the best I have without recommending that you uninstall all Office products and start over.
Vamsidhar October 5, 2012 at 11:12 am

Outlook is not opening…

Frequent Error for so many guys.

Microsoft Outlook 2007.

Steps to be followed:

1)-> Start

-> All Programmes

-> Accesories

-> Run

-> C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12

-> SCANPST

-> C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst

-> Phase 1 to 8 (will Scan…Will take 15 mins to 1 hour depends on data, Kindly be patient)

-> Repair (will Scan…Will take 15 mins to 1 hour depends on data, Kindly be patient)

-> Finish

-> Close and open your outlook

-> It will work.
1. Rick October 8, 2012 at 8:29 am
  
  Good comment. Thanks! Outlook itself also starts to choke when large volumes of email (especially with attachments) are saved. It is best to save only essential emails, save attachments in your documents then delete the email, and also use the compact database option 3-4 times a year…OR give up on desktop email which is sorely outdated and switch to web based email.
Jeff November 5, 2012 at 2:02 pm

Upgraded to office 2010 now I can’t open attachments from archived emails. I tried the word steps documented above but that did nothing. The attachments don’t look right, no MS icon just the name of the attachment.