Outlook 2016: Change location where received attachments are stored

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I am running Outlook 2016 (Office 365) under Windows 10. I would like Outlook to save all received attachments automatically to a single simple folder (where I can subsequently sort them out – moving some to their correct final locations, and deleting most others). [And yes, I realize this will break the link between the email message and the attachment. At present, it appears that Outlook “hides” the attachments in a mass collection of “user/appdata …” folders that are basically impossible to get to. For my needs, this is completely unacceptable. It also means that I *must* go through and manually move (save as) each individual attachment from the email view – which is frequently not practical.

It should not be this hard to change. Either an Outlook option, or a registry edit should be the most that is required to change this – but for the life of me, I cannot find it. All I see is how to make Outlook change the “save as” default destination, and even that apparently no longer works. {:<(

Any suggestions?

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http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-outlook/outlook-2010-change-default-file-for-saved/b720d0f5-6eed-4e0f-9dc1-0c6dd316a595?auth=1

This should work, changing the version number to 16.0

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See Outlook SecureTemp Files Folder[/url]. Outlook 2016 is version 16.0.

Joe

--Joe

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See Outlook SecureTemp Files Folder. Outlook 2016 is version 16.0.

Thanks, but both suggestions don’t seem to work, and aren’t addressing my problem. [But I seriously DO appreciate the suggestions.]

Outlook 2016 seems to override the registry. I can set the change (as described above). However, the attachment is still put in the same place (upon receipt), and when opened, Outlook changes the registry edit back to some variation of right where it was before. [Saving the registry while Outlook is closed, and then opening Outlook, makes no difference. This is consistent with what I have seen elsewhere on the web – namely, that the old registry edit that worked through Outlook 2013, etc. no longer works.]

But I must have explained my problem poorly anyway, because these all address either a) the default “save as” option on the attachment, or b) the securetemp folder that holds the file (copy) only while the attachment is open. What I am trying to change is where the attachment is automatically stored when it is RECEIVED! In other words, if I receive a bunch of emails (okay, mostly spam), and five have attachments, then I want to open a folder (such as D:Mail Attachments) – even without reading the emails – and see five files (the attachments) in there. I don’t want them scattered among thousands of hidden folders under APPDATA.

Again, much appreciate the suggestions. Hopefully I have explained the problem better. tnx, jmk

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Seems Joe’s suggestion should be what you need. I don’t know of any other way, tbh. Sorry.

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Seems Joe’s suggestion should be what you need. I don’t know of any other way, tbh. Sorry.

Unfortunately, no. [Although I did find the page interesting.] As you can see, it references the “secure temporary file folder.” For reasons the article explains, when you OPEN the attachment to an email, Outlook actually copies the attachment into a temporary (and ordinary) folder. This, the article, explains, allows anti-virus programs to have a shot at the attachment. The attachment *copy* is then deleted automatically when the attachment is closed. [With a couple of bugs, as explained in the article.]

Sadly, this has nothing to do with my problem. Right now every received attachment (that is, when the email is first received) gets placed in a unique and special file and folder created when the email is received from the sender. You receive a 100 emails, each of which has attachments? Outlook creates 100 new folders!!!

Worse (from my standpoint), each of these folders is not only hidden but basically unreachable by normal Windows Explorer actions. [There *are* ways, but nothing realistic for 100s or thousands of emails.]

I just want it to stick my *incoming* email attachments in a single folder that can be opened like any other.

Again, though – I really do thank every one for their suggestions and effort. I guess Outlook just doesn’t have anywhere near the capabilities of something like Eudora.

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I suppose the only way with outlook would to be to run a script to do that. The script would have to be coded, of course, but it would definitely be possible.

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There are various utilities that can do what you want; some free, but the best ones are paid:

Many of these utilities will remove attachments from the email message and can replace them with links to the attachment on your hard drive,
allowing you easy access to the attachment while keeping your mailbox or personal folders smaller.

Attachment Management Tools for Outlook (at slipstick.com)

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The following Outlook macros can be used to process a single message, a folder of messages, or by using the main macro as a script with a rule, automatically as the messages arrive. The messages are saved to a named folder, which is created if it doesn’t exist. No existing filename is overwritten.

Code:

Option Explicit

Sub ProcessAttachment()
‘An Outlook macro by Graham Mayor
Dim olMsg As MailItem
    On Error Resume Next
    Set olMsg = ActiveExplorer.Selection.Item(1)
    SaveAttachments olMsg
lbl_Exit:
    Exit Sub
End Sub

Sub ProcessFolder()
‘An Outlook macro by Graham Mayor
Dim olNS As Outlook.NameSpace
Dim olMailFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
Dim olItems As Outlook.Items
Dim olMailItem As Outlook.MailItem
Dim ofrm As New frmProgress
Dim PortionDone As Double
Dim i As Long

    On Error GoTo err_Handler
    Set olNS = GetNamespace(“MAPI”)
    Set olMailFolder = olNS.PickFolder
    Set olItems = olMailFolder.Items
    ofrm.Show vbModeless
    i = 0
    For Each olMailItem In olItems
        i = i + 1
        PortionDone = i / olItems.Count
        ofrm.lblProgress.Width = ofrm.fmeProgress.Width * PortionDone
        SaveAttachments olMailItem
        DoEvents
    Next olMailItem
err_Handler:
    Unload ofrm
    Set ofrm = Nothing
    Set olNS = Nothing
    Set olMailFolder = Nothing
    Set olItems = Nothing
    Set olMailItem = Nothing
lbl_Exit:
    Exit Sub
End Sub


Private Sub SaveAttachments(olItem As MailItem)
‘An Outlook macro by Graham Mayor
Dim olAttach As Attachment
Dim strFname As String
Dim strExt As String
Dim j As Long
Const strSaveFldr As String = “D:PathReports”

    CreateFolders strSaveFldr
    On Error GoTo CleanUp
    If olItem.Attachments.Count > 0 Then
        For j = olItem.Attachments.Count To 1 Step -1
            Set olAttach = olItem.Attachments(j)
            If Not olAttach.FileName Like “image*.*” Then
                strFname = olAttach.FileName
                strExt = Right(strFname, Len(strFname) – InStrRev(strFname, Chr(46)))
                strFname = FileNameUnique(strSaveFldr, strFname, strExt)
                olAttach.SaveAsFile strSaveFldr & strFname
                ‘olAttach.Delete        ‘delete the attachment
            End If
        Next j
        olItem.Save
    End If
CleanUp:
    Set olAttach = Nothing
    Set olItem = Nothing
lbl_Exit:
    Exit Sub
End Sub

Private Function FileNameUnique(strPath As String, _
                                strFileName As String, _
                                strExtension As String) As String
‘An Outlook macro by Graham Mayor
Dim lngF As Long
Dim lngName As Long
    lngF = 1
    lngName = Len(strFileName) – (Len(strExtension) + 1)
    strFileName = Left(strFileName, lngName)
    Do While FileExists(strPath & strFileName & Chr(46) & strExtension) = True
        strFileName = Left(strFileName, lngName) & “(” & lngF & “)”
        lngF = lngF + 1
    Loop
    FileNameUnique = strFileName & Chr(46) & strExtension
lbl_Exit:
    Exit Function
End Function

Private Function FileExists(filespec) As Boolean
‘An Outlook macro by Graham Mayor
Dim fso As Object
    Set fso = CreateObject(“Scripting.FileSystemObject”)
    If fso.FileExists(filespec) Then
        FileExists = True
    Else
        FileExists = False
    End If
lbl_Exit:
    Exit Function
End Function

Private Function FolderExists(fldr) As Boolean
‘An Outlook macro by Graham Mayor
Dim fso As Object
    Set fso = CreateObject(“Scripting.FileSystemObject”)
    If (fso.FolderExists(fldr)) Then
        FolderExists = True
    Else
        FolderExists = False
    End If
lbl_Exit:
    Exit Function
End Function

Private Function CreateFolders(strPath As String)
‘An Outlook macro by Graham Mayor
Dim strTempPath As String
Dim lngPath As Long
Dim vPath As Variant
    vPath = Split(strPath, “”)
    strPath = vPath(0) & “”
    For lngPath = 1 To UBound(vPath)
        strPath = strPath & vPath(lngPath) & “”
        If Not FolderExists(strPath) Then MkDir strPath
    Next lngPath
lbl_Exit:
    Exit Function
End Function

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Thanks, Graham.

I got the basic code to work as a VBA script, then tried to move it to a rule. Didn’t have any trouble with that (in essence), including making the rule run every time a new message arrives. However, since the script expects an item to be selected, and arrived messages aren’t (apparently) automatically selected when the rule runs, it’s skipping everything.

I can’t seem to find a list of designator terms for telling it to use “the current mailitem being processed.” Any ideas? tnx, jmk

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I have marked the main sub as Private. Remove ‘Private’ from Private Sub SaveAttachments(olItem As MailItem). You should then be able to use that sub as a script attached to a rule. The rule should be something like:
43912-Rule
The rule will thus act on any message that fits the criteria i.e. with an attachment, that arrives in the Inbox. It doesn’t require an item to be ‘selected’.

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Thanks… found the problem. When I extracted the “saveattachments” code, I somehow botched up the olItem reference. Need a few more tests, then sign it and move the security level back up. Then it should work like I want. Much appreciation to you, and to everyone else who took the time to answer.

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