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Find Why Outlook Web App Can’t Download Attachments?

  author
Jamie Kaler   Contribution
Rollins Duke
Rollins Duke  Approved By
Published On March 28th, 2025 • 6 min read

Outlook Web App is commonly referred to as Outlook in the Web. It is a powerful tool for accessing emails, calendar, contacts, and attachments via web browser. At times, users occasionally encounter issues where attachments fail to download. It becomes frustrating and hinders the task you want to complete, especially when dealing with important documents. Below, we will provide some implemented solutions to resolve the problem of Outlook Web App Not Downloading Attachments.

First, we will discuss the cause of this issue and then further concerning the issues we can try to fix. All the possible reasons are explained here for the user to learn and resolve with ease.

Why Can’t I Download Attachments from OWA?

  • The common cause of “Outlook Web App can’t download attachments” is a browser issue. The browser might not be compatible with the OWA, or any settings might be interfering with the task.
  • A stable internet connection is required to run the email client smoothly, which includes the downloading of attachments. Any network issue might interrupt the downloading process or cause it to fail.
  • Outlook Web App imposes attachment size limitations for both sending and receiving emails. If the attachments exceed the size limit, you will get certain warnings.
  • Antivirus or firewalls can sometimes halt the download process by mistake, as it identifies the attached document as a threat.
  • If the issues lie with the server, then it’s beyond the user’s control and requires support from an expert.
  • During the process of email transmission, the attachments could become corrupt, making it impossible to download or open
  • If the account does not have the necessary permission, such as restriction to certain attachment type.

How to Fix the Issue with Outlook Web App Can’t Download Attachments?

Now, let’s find out how we can fix the attachment not working issue in the Outlook Web account. Starting from the common causes to advanced, you can find this right now.
Now, Solve Related Issues 

Run Outlook Web on a Different Browser

At times, the issues might be with the browser, as we discussed before. Therefore, try accessing the account using another browser and check if you can download the attached documents. If yes, then the subject of this problem is the browser.

Note: Operating system conflicts can sometimes prevent attachments from downloading. If you are experiencing this issue on the Mac desktop application, then see the guide: Download Outlook Mac attachments from the server.

Check Attachment Size Limitation

Once check the size of the attachments, if it exceeds the limit, ask the sender to compress the file. Use another file-sharing service like OneDrive, Google Drive, etc. Also, verify the attachment size limits set by the email provider.

Run Outlook on Web light Version to Fix Outlook Web App Can’t Download Attachments

Outlook’s light version runs the application in low bandwidth, low accessibility. It is best for the old web browsers. Try switching to the light version, and then try downloading the attachments. Follow the steps to run the Outlook web app in light version.

  • Log in to Outlook on the Web account. Go to the settings. Click Mail.
  • Then, click on the General option and select Light Version. Then select the Use the light version of Outlook checkbox.
  • Sign out and log in to the OWA account. Now, you are using the light version of Outlook
  • Now go to the email with attachments and try downloading the attached documents.
If you are having other issues like not getting emails, then refer to the guide on How to Fix Outlook Not Receiving Emails

Check Browser Related Issues

1) Ensure you update the browser to the latest version. Follow these steps:

Microsoft Edge

  • Open Microsoft Edge.
  • Click on the menu(three horizontal dots).
  • Scroll down and select Help and feedback, then click About Microsoft Edge.
  • Thus, Edge will check for updates, then if an update is available, it will download and install.
  • After completing the update, restart the browser.

Google Chrome

  • Start Google Chrome.
  • Click on the three vertical dots.
  • go to Help > About Google Chrome.
  • Chrome will check for updates and start downloading if there are any.
  • After the update is downloaded, click Relaunch to restart the Chrom.

Mozillaa Firefox

  • Open Firfox.
  • Click on the three horizontal lines.
  • Select Help and then click About Firefox.
  • Thus, any updates will be automatically checked. If available, it will start downloading.
  • Finally, restart to update Firefox.

2) Clear the browser’s cache and cookies

If any corrupted cache or cookies are enabled, it could interfere with the attachment download process. Follow the steps for each top browser to clear the cache and cookies data.

Microsoft Edge: 

  • Click the menu (3 dots).
  • Select Settings > Privacy,Search, and Service > Clearn Browsing Data

Mozilla Firefor:

  • Navigate to the menu.
  • Select Settings>Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data > Clear Data

Google Chrome

  • Click on the top-right three-dot menu.
  • Navigate to Settings and then Privacy and Security > Clear Browsing Data.
  • Select Caches Image and File and Cookies and Other Site Data. Then Click Clear Data

If the issue is with the synching issue between Outlook and the Exchange server, then refer to Fix Outlook Keeps Disconnecting from Exchange Server

Prevention Method for the Issue “Unable to Download Attachments from Outlook App”

Rather than the fixes, let’s find out how to download attachments from an Outlook Web Account. With the Email Attachment Extractor, we can save the vital attached documents from the web account to the system with ease. The toolkit emphasises instant results with complete accuracy. Try the demo version to know about the working procedure and then get the Pro edition.

Conclusion

Issues like “Outlook Web App can’t download attachments”, Outlook Rule not working, etc., can be the outcome of various causes, such as browser-related to server-side issues. With the outlined troubleshooting approach, the user can resolve this issue in no time. Consider using the software, as it is the best approach to prevent any data loss.