WD97: E-Mail File Attachments Display as Empty Outlined Box (170954)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Outlook 97
This article was previously published under Q170954

SYMPTOMS

When you view an e-mail message containing a file attachment, the attachment displays as an empty black outlined box instead of displaying the attachment icon and file name of the attachment.

CAUSE

The above behavior may occur if all of the following are true:

  • You are using Microsoft Word as your email editor.

    -and-
  • You have the Word Picture Placeholders option turned on.

RESOLUTION

To display the attachment icon and file name, turn off the picture placeholders option by following these steps:

Creating and sending e-mail from Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Exchange

  1. In Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Exchange, create or open an e-mail message.
  2. Click in the body of the e-mail message or press the Tab key three times to move the insertion point into the body of the message.
  3. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  4. On the View Tab, click to clear (uncheck) the Picture Placeholders checkbox.
  5. Click OK.
The attachment icon and file name should now appear normally.

Sending a document as an attachment from Microsoft Word

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  2. On the View Tab, click to clear (uncheck) the Picture Placeholders checkbox.
  3. Click OK.
When you send a document as an attachment from Microsoft Word(On the File menu click Send To), the icon and file name should now appear normally.

To send a document as an attachment from Word:

  1. On the Tools menu click Options.
  2. On the General tab click to check the "Mail as attachment" checkbox.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange give you the option to use Word as your email editor.

With Word as your email editor, most of the editing features available in Word are available when working with e-mail messages. The Picture Placeholder option in Word can be used to display an empty outlined box in place of each graphic in your document to increase the speed at which you can scroll through and display a document containing many graphics.

REFERENCES

For additional information, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

166344 OL97: File Attachments Will not Open When Using Wordmail

159476 WD97: How to Enable, Disable Microsoft Word as the E-Mail Editor

For more information about "picture placeholders," click the Office Assistant, type "picture placeholders," click Search, and then click "Speed up scrolling by hiding graphics."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Microsoft Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

120802 Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office Program or Component

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/14/2000
Keywords:kbemail kbinterop kbprb kbusage KB170954
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.