Overview: There is an issue that many users complain that the attachments disappear when forwarding in Outlook. Outlook does not properly attach the text file into an email for you or it simply removes the attachment completely.

This is a more common problem than most users realize, and it can be experienced on Microsoft 365 Outlook, as well as in Outlook 2021, 2019 or 2016 versions. Attachments are often vitally important documents, invoices, pictures or reports and losing them during the forwarding process can interfere with your communications and workflow.  This guide discusses the reasons attachments become lost, how to fix the problem manually and when it’s best to avoid repeated attachment issues with a professional method.

Also Read: Save Outlook Attachment to Desktop Automatically

Why Attachments Usually Disappear While Forwarding?

Before we apply the corrective steps, let’s understand what causes this problem. There are some possible reasons due to which attachments disappear when forwarding in Outlook. Here are some typical causes:

• Attachments are embedded in the body of the message if it can RTF-formatted email.
  When forwarding, those inline things are not treated as file attachments and simply disappear.
• Some extensions may be blocked for safety. When forwarding these emails the attachments are lost.
• With Cached Exchange Mode or IMAP accounts, the local copy of an email message can have differing labels than the server copy.
• As a consequence, there are times when the attachments showed up in one place but vanished after replying.
• Antivirus software, encryption utilities and add-ins that scan email can all remove attachments from outgoing messages if a threat is detected.

How to Fix Attachments Disappear When Forwarding in Outlook? Manual Section

Below are a few successful and relatively simple workarounds for getting your attachments back when forwarding an email.

#1. Switch Outlook to HTML Format

Any kind of attachment works from html format, while most often RTF makes them winmail.dat or disappear.

1. Open Outlook > File/Options.
2. Select Mail
3. On Compose messages in this format, click on the arrow HTML Select.
4. Save the settings
5. Try forwarding the email again.

#2. Use the “Forward as Attachment” Feature

Instead of doing a normal forward, as an attachment the whole email to be sent .eml file.

• Select the email
• Click on Home > More > Forward as Attachment.
• Outlook will include the entire message along with all attachments.
• This is the most consistent built-in way.

#3. Download the Attachment Before Forwarding

In some cases, IMAP/Exchange actually stores attachments on the server and only downloads them when you try to open them.

• Open the email
• Select each attachment > select Save All Attachments or Download
• Then forward the email
• They will tell Outlook to send the fully downloaded version.

By, these attachments disappear when forwarding in Outlook errors could be solved.

#4. Delete or Disable Problematic Add-ins

And pretty much all Outlook add-ons delete attachments without your notice.

• Choose File > Options > Add-ins.
• At the bottom, select COM Add-ins > click Go
• Uncheck add-ins like:
• Antivirus add-ins
• Document security tools
• Cloud sharing add-ins
• Restart Outlook
• Forward the mail again.

#5. Fix PST/OST File Error

PST/OST file corruption is one of the main reasons for missing attachments.

• Close Outlook
• Locate SCANPST. EXE according to your version of Outlook
• Launch the tool
• Select your PST/OST file
• Click Start Repair
• Sending of attachments should work as expected after attaching fixes.

#6. Reset Attachment Blocking Settings

Some types of files may be treated as unsafe by Outlook.

• Go to File > Options > Trust Center.
• Open Trust Center Settings
• Click Attachment Handling
• Make sure you don’t have any restrictions applied.
• Restart Outlook

#7. Create a New Outlook Profile

Outlook may not send attachments when your profile is corrupted.

• Control Panel > Mail
• Click Show Profiles
• Create a new one
• Add your account again
• Many forwarding problems go away with a brand new profile.

Prevent Missing Attachments By Extracting Safely – Professional Way

Manual solutions may fall short when managing enormous numbers of emails or overloaded mailboxes. And getting constantly, attachments disappear when forwarding in Outlook error. This is when an efficient attachment management solution is a must. SysTools Outlook Attachment Extractor Software is a secure, intelligent & automated approach. It pulls all your attachments out of Outlook and stores them on your computer. Never accidentally lose files when forwarding, replying, or moving emails.

Benefits:

• They scan folders and display found attachments.
• Strip attachments from emails, leaving the message unlimited.
• Bulk-download attachments from multiple folders
• Use filters like the size, file type, date range, sender/receiver.
• Control the size of large mailboxes by moving large attachments to a share drive
• Prevent forwarding emails with missing or lost attachments
• Maintain original email folder structure
• Functions smoothly with corrupted or oversized PST.

Conclusion

When you see that your attachments disappear when forwarding in Outlook, the cause can have one of several factors like formatting limitations, blocked file types, mailbox corruption or even add-ins that interfere with message transfer from your app. The following old techniques can be used to recover them in normal condition. If you process a large number forwarded emails with attachments, work with big PST/OST files or encounter attached files often, further manual solving of the issue may not be so reliable.

With a specialized tool your attachments are saved to your computer, extracted and neatly organized in seconds. Ensure that it never loses again, even when things go wrong with Outlook forwarding the attachment.