What to Do If Attachments Vanish after Emails Are Sent Out

Sometimes we may find that the original email attachments are replaced by a winmail.dat file. In this article, we will explore why the issue happens and how to solve it.

I have ever received several messages with winmail.dat file. Then I called the friend and asked him why he always sent the file to me. But he expressed that he had no idea about it either. He disabled his antivirus software but it didn’t make any effects. Thus I suggested him to consider other factors. He finally found the following reason and relevant solutions.

Reason Why Email Attachments Vanish

Apart from chances of antivirus software, the email messages in Rich Text format will cause the disappearance of email attachments when sent out. At the same time, the messages aren’t allowed to automatically convert to other format, such as HTML or Plain Text. In this case, the emails in Rich Text format will carry winmail.dat file, not original attachments. In other words, the attachments have gone.

Never Compose Messages in Rich Text Format

With regard to this reason, the most working method is to stop composing emails in Rich Text. This can be achieved in Outlook Options.

1. Go to “File” menu and select “Options”
2. Then in the window of “Outlook Options”, switch to “Mail” tab.
3. Next under “Compose messages” label, click the down arrow, you can select HTML or Plain Text format from the dropdown list.
4. Finally click “OK” to return to Outlook. Thereafter, all messages will be in set format as default unless you specify the format in the individual message.

Change Email Properties for Specific Contacts

If the email properties for specific contacts are set to use Rich Text Format, the messages sent to the selected persons will be in Rich Text as well. In this situation, you need to change the email properties in Outlook Contacts.

1. Head to Outlook Contacts and open the specific contact card.
2. In the new window, place the cursor on the email address, and click the final icon in the visible address card. Then from the popup list, select “Outlook Properties”.
3. Next a new dialog of “Email Properties” will arise, in which you should make sure that “Send using Outlook Rich Text format” is not selected in Internet format. You should permit Outlook to select the best sending format.

Convert Rich Text Format to HTML or Plain Text

1. In “File” menu, choose “Options”.
2. Then in “Outlook Options”, locate “Mail” tab.
3. Next find “Message format” label, under which you can select “HTML” or “Plain Text” format to converted from Rich Text Messages for Internet Recipients.

Protect Outlook from Getting Corrupted

It is known that Outlook is prone to corruption. Therefore, we should understand how to protect Outlook form corruption. Due to the fact that viruses and malware have become extremely complex, Outlook is often attacked. Thus it’s essential to install antivirus software and disable automatic downloading of external files. In addition, we are better off getting hold of a potent repair tool, like DataNumen Outlook Repair, which can offer most effective remedy in the event of Outlook corruption.

Author Introduction:

Shirley Zhang is a data recovery expert in DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including sql recovery and outlook repair software products. For more information visit www.datanumen.com