Email attachments can be an excellent and efficient way to share documents and images with others, but they can also pose a security risk.
If you’re not careful, an attachment can contain a virus that can infect your computer. For this reason, many email providers block certain types of attachments by default.
Are you experiencing this exact problem? If you do, don’t panic. This guide will cover all the necessary steps for you to unblock an attachment in email (depending on your email provider and the type of attachment).
Gmail Blocked Me from Sending an Email with an Attachment – How Do I Resolve It?
Gmail it’s one of the most frequently used email providers worldwide. However, you might not know that Gmail has built-in protection, i.e., it doesn’t permit the attachment of specific file types.
Like the following:
- .ade, .adp, .apk, .appx, .appxbundle,
- .bat, .cab, .chm, .cmd, .com, .cpl,
- .dll, .dmg, .ex, .ex_, .exe, .hta, .ins, .isp, .iso,
- .jar, .js, .jse, .lib, .lnk, .mde, .msc, .msi, .msix, .msixbundle, .msp, .mst,
- .nsh, .pif, .ps1, .scr, .sct, .shb, .sys,
- .vb, .vbe, .vbs, .vxd,
- .wsc, .wsf, .wsh, .zip.
So, Gmail users, if you’ve been blocked from sending an email with an attachment, there’s something you can do to resolve the issue.
- First, check the attachment file type (and compare it with the file types we just mentioned).
- Next, if the file type is allowed, check the file size. The maximum file size for attachments in Gmail is 25 MB.
- Try zipping the file before attaching it. This can sometimes bypass the attachment block.
- Open Gmail > Compose > Click the attachment icon (at the bottom of the email compose box).
- From the window that opens, select the zipped folder you want to attach/ upload > Send.
Your attachment is sent with no problem and within Gmail’s size limit.
How To Download Gmail Blocked Files or Attachments?
Did you ever experience not being able to download a Gmail attachment because it’s been blocked for security reasons? It means that Gmail has detected a potential security threat. And, of course, to protect your computer, Gmail doesn’t allow you to download attachments that could put your device at risk.
In most cases, you can fix this issue by updating your browser or changing a few security settings. Whereas, in different cases, you can try any of the following:
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Use a Compression Software
WinZip has shown as efficient when trying to resolve issues related to blocked RAR email attachments. Just go back to our previous section, ‘how to send compressed files via Gmail.’
Interesting, right? What a simple zip and unzip of files can achieve.
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Modify the file extensions located inside the RAR archive.
Let’s imagine that you have Windows 10.
- On its taskbar, click the File Explorer > next, press the View tab > and select File name extensions.
- As soon as you do this, look for the folder where the file/s you want to compress/ RAR archive is – open it.
- Right-click on it to change the format > click Rename.
- From here, you can change the file’s extension to an optional format (for example, change an EXE to a JPEG). Afterward, click Enter.
- A Rename dialog box will appear when you click the Return key. Click on the Yes button to confirm the change.
Note: Rename/ change the formats of every file in the RAR archive.
- At last – set up a RAR archive that includes all the files you renamed.
Now, give it another try, and attach this RAR archive to the email, and send it — it should work fine.
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Try to send the RAR archive as a Google Drive link.
To this, follow these steps:
- Open your Google Drive (via a browser) > press My Drive.
- From the drop-down menu, choose File Upload. Afterward, in the next window, find your RAR file and click on the Open button.
- To share this RAR file, right-click on it and press Share.
- Find the Get shareable link option (in the right-top corner). A link will be automatically created.
- Use a shortcut to copy it CTRL + C and easily include it in your email.
- Press the Done button > Go back to your Gmail > hit Compose.
- Find the Insert files using the Drive option at the bottom bar in the compose box > select the RAR file > Send.
- Find the Drive link option (the one you copied) > now, click on the Insert button.
And, you’re all done! The one receiving the mail would be able to download the file using the URL you’ve provided them.
How To Unblock Outlook/ Hotmail Attachments?
We’re not sure how many of you know that Outlook, back in 2000, introduced a new security-related update. This particular update blocks any “fishy” attachment emails (viruses, malware, etc.).
And this update is ‘guilty’ because you’ve probably seen this message: Outlook blocked access to the following potentially unsafe attachments (like in the picture below).
But, despite this security measure, there are still ways to get around it and unblock an attachment email.
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To access the attachment – use a File Share.
- Ask the sender to save the attachment to a cloud storage service, server, or FTP site (like Google Drive or Dropbox). And, they can resend the email to you, afterward.
- To view the file, you’ll need to open the URL. Go to the URL provided in the mail and download it (you already read in the previous section how to get to an URL from Google Drive).
- Next, save it to your PC.
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To change the file name extension – use Compression Utility.
Compression Utility comes in handy when you and the sender can’t get your hands on an FTP site.
Using this method, you’ll still be able to compress the desired files. Therefore, once you do this — compress a file using Compression Utility, you won’t experience trouble sending it. This is because Outlook won’t register file extensions, such as .rar, .zip, and others, as a threat.
After doing this, give it another try and send you an email attachment – this time, it’ll be a success.
Note: You’ll need a Winzip, 7 Zip archiver to open such a file.
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Give the File another name to get a Different File Extension.
Let’s imagine that you, or the sender, have no compression file tools or a chance to get one; you can still unblock an email attachment in Outlook.
How? We’re glad you asked!
Simply rename the file; you have a brand new (different) file extension.
To rename the file, follow the next steps:
- Open your Outlook > find the mail that contains the attachment.
- Now that you’ve found the mail, i.e., attachment, just right-click on it > Copy.
- Come to your desktop (or any location you want to put the compressed files to) and press Paste.
- Another right-click will let you Rename the file – do that.
Tip: Give the file another name, i.e., filename extension (.txt, .msi, etc.).
Open it/ extract the files with no whatsoever problem after doing this.
Kutools might not be familiar to many, but it can be of high assistance to you when unblocking email attachments.
To use this tool, you need to:
- Download it and install it.
- Once installed – when you open your Outlook, you’ll notice Kutools in the left-top corner of the screen.
- You’ll notice the Options icon on the far right end – click it.
- This click leads you to another window; here, choose Others (located next to Zoom). In the menu below, look for Safe Attachment Extensitions.
Step 3 (in the picture) points out that you should write the extensions you wish Outlook not to block further.
Note: To keep the names of the extensions apart, use semicolons (;).
Other Possible Fixes
Some of the most common fixes that don’t require much effort from your side are the following ones:
Try updating your browser. In most cases, you can fix the problem using the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.
Most of the time, this particular problem can be solved using a different browser like Safari.
How To Unblock Email Attachments in Yahoo Mail?
Are you a Yahoo Mail user? We bet you’ve experienced issues opening some email attachments at some point in time too.
It can happen to any email service provider, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a huge deal – but it does tend to be frustrating.
Before doing something more significant, here are some tips worth the read and avoid this frustration:
- The stability of your internet connection.
- Whether your current browser is up to date – if not, update it. And, even after a recent update, it doesn’t work; open your Yahoo Mail in a different browser.
- If a specific PDF file won’t open – check through your PC whether you have a PDF document reader (Adobe Reader software). If you don’t, you’ll have to download one to open the received PDF attachement.
- Go through your security settings and also the ones from your antivirus. It might sound weird, but these two tend to hold the solution to this kind of problem more frequently than you think.
- Last, but not least – see any add-ons might be causing trouble opening any attachments you’re receiving.
On the plus side, you can always restart your device and hope for the best – even a tiny glitch in the system can make things go south.
Or another alternative is to ask the sender to send the same attachment to another email of yours.
How To Unblock an Attachment on iCloud Mail?
Not being able to unblock a particular attachment via your iPhone or iPad (your iCloud Mail) – simply means that your service provider doesn’t support the specific file type.
For instance, if you try to attach a file to an email on your iPhone/iPad and see the message “This file type is not allowed,” it means that the file type is not supported by iCloud Mail. You’ll need to use a different email service to attach the file.
Therefore, your best bet would be to convert the file/s into a file type supported by your email service provider (iCloud Mail) to avoid this kind of unnecessary problem.
Conclusion
By now, you’ve realized that, more or less, the same ‘tricks’ and steps work for unblocking an attachment in email with various providers (Outlook, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, iCloud).
We’ve also enlisted other possible common fixes to save you from the unnecessary frustration that comes naturally when something like this occurs.
For example, in most cases, you can resolve the issue by updating your browser or changing a few security settings. And if that doesn’t work, you can try using a different browser or downloading the attachment from a different email account. Whereas, sometimes, you need to simply convert the file to a different format to open it.
We hope we helped you unblock some long-awaited attachments/files in your email.
