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How to fix outlook error opening attachments

Cannot create file

Getting errors when trying to open an attachment from Outlook something like “cannot save the attachment.  Cannot create file: FileName.pdf. Right-click the folder you want to create the file in, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu to check your permissions for the folder.” This may be due to permission or a corrupted temp directory. Here is how to fix it, one thing you could try without doing anything is to restart the computer, if that does not fix try the following options.

Error message:

Option 1: rename temp folder

The temp folder of outlook is located at the following location: “YourUserName” which would be your own user name, anything after Content.Outlook\ would be randomly created folder name by an Outlook

Make sure your Outlook is closed, then rename to old or anything you want or simply delete it. Then re-open the outlook, it should recreate the temp folder and your attachment should be fixed

C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Outlook\T9U9A03U\

Option 2: Regedit

Please be very careful of changes in the registry, your computer could be non-functional if you make wrong changes, so do it at your own risk. Make sure the outlook is closed

First, open the registry by going to RUN>type regedit

then search for “OutlookSecureTempFolder”

Based on your version of outlook location will be slightly different

  • Office 365 Outlook:
  • Computer\HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1014573083-3332314220-1222384373-8206\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Security
  • Outlook 2013:
  • Computer\HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1014573083-3332314220-1222384373-8311\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Security
  • Outlook 2010:
  • Computer\HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1014573083-3332314220-1222384373-8311\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security

Then change the OutlookSecureTempFolder location to somewhere you have access. Remember this is the default location, if you do change the custom, and when an update applies it may revert. When you open the outlook it should work now, you should see new random folder after your default location.

That’s it, hope this helps others out there


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How to change the view on Outlook

There is a number of ways to change the view and options you can choose from. Most common is having to be able to view these headers so you can sort them, they are From, Subject, Received, Size and Attachments

Based on the size of the screen you might only see this, which means you can need to change size or decrease the Characters from default 125 to like 75 or whichever works for you.

Screenshots are from Outlook 365, but other versions have similar settings too

You can change by going into View>View Settings>Other Settings…>under Other Options

If you like you can add other columns which you like too, it’s all customizable, if you changed something and you don’t like you can Reset the view to default by going to View>Reset View

That’s it, hope this helped out