How to Recover an Attachment in Outlook 2007
Attachments that are added to email messages in Microsoft Outlook are saved to a temporary location when they are added to the message. These attachments may be a text document, a picture or an audio file. When an attachment is accidentally deleted from a message it can easily be recovered. This is possible because Outlook stores a copy of the attachment in a temporary hidden folder on your system.
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Instructions
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Find Temporary Folder
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Open a message in Outlook that has an attachment. Double-click the attached file to open its associated program.
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Go to the File drop down and select the “Save As” option. This will display the Save As dialog box.
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Click the drop down for the “Save In” location. Make a note of the “folder path” for the file. This is the location of the temporary hidden folder on your system. The folder with the letters “OLK” with a series of random characters is the actual folder.
Making Hidden Folders Visible
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Click the Start button and then select the “Computer” or “My Computer” option. Go to the Tools drop down and select “Folder Options.”
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Go to the View tab and then find the section for “Hidden Files and Folders.” Put a check in the box for “Show hidden files and folders.”
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Uncheck the box for “Hide extensions for known file types” and “Hide protected operating system files (recommended).”
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Click the “Apply” button to save the changes and then click the “OK” button to close the window.
Navigate to Hidden Folder
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Click the drop down for the Address bar. Select the Local Disk (C:) and then navigate to the location of the temporary hidden folder that you noted earlier.
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Scroll through the list of temporary files that are displayed on the screen. Find the folder that has the letters “OLK” with a series of characters. Double-click this folder to display its contents.
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10
Find the attachment that you accidentally deleted from Outlook. Copy the file to your desktop or other location.
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Tips & Warnings
Place a shortcut to the temporary folder on your desktop that you can easily access in the future.
If you delete your temporary internet files the attachment will be lost.
References
- Photo Credit Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
