I'm looking for some clarification on how attachments work in Outlook, especially when users open them and try to save. Our office is pretty strict about avoiding cloud solutions, so we mostly rely on traditional setups. Here's the situation: when someone opens a file attachment, say a Word document, it opens as expected. However, if you check the file info, it's buried in a hidden folder under the user's AppData/Local/Microsoft/Olk/Attachments.
After editing, when users save the document, it saves to that hidden directory and they have no clue how to find it later to send it back. It seems like these files should be read-only and prompt the user to select a saving location, like their documents folder or a shared drive. Am I missing something? This setup feels off, and I suspect a misconfiguration could be to blame.
Thanks for any insights!
4 Answers
If I remember correctly, you can enforce Protected View through your IT policy. This way, users are prompted to save to a location of their choice if they want to keep the document.
Just to add, I’ve seen similar behavior with Mozilla Thunderbird. It opens files from a random folder too, and when saving, it just overwrites the file in that folder. At least in Thunderbird, you can choose where to save it, which might ease the frustration a bit.
By default, those temporary files should be opened in Read-Only mode, which serves as a reminder that it’s just a temporary copy. Maybe consider disabling Attachment Previewers or changing the default download location in Outlook to make things clearer for users.
I’ve noticed this too. It seems to be a pretty common issue, and not just limited to Outlook but with other email clients as well. Users often need some training on this because it's a bit of a hassle when they don’t know where their files are going.
Yeah, it's frustrating! I've seen it pop up a lot in offices. Just reinforces the need for users to understand how file saving works.