How to Download All Attachments From Outlook Emails

If you’re in an industry where you receive countless emails every day, you likely get many emails with multiple attachments. Using a manual method to extract attachments can be time-consuming if there are many to download. Luckily, it’s easy to save multiple email attachments at once using Microsoft Outlook.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to download all attachments from Outlook.

How to Download All Microsoft Outlook Email Attachments at Once on Windows

To download all attachments at once using the Windows Microsoft Outlook app, do the following:

1. Open Outlook and sign in to your Outlook profile.
2. Select the email with your desired Outlook attachments.
3. Right-click any of the attachment files and select Save all attachments in the drop-down menu. If you only want to save one file, select Save As.

4. In the new dialog box, hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and select all of the attachments you want to download. Click OK.

5. Select the location that you would like to save the files to and press the OK button.

How to Download All Microsoft Outlook Email Attachments at Once on Mac

Here’s how to download all attachments using Outlook for Mac:

1. Open the MS Outlook application.
2. Select the Email message that contains your attachments.
3. Click on Attachments and select Download All.

4. Select the location that you would like to save your attachments and select Choose.

How to Download Multiple Outlook Attachments From Multiple Emails

It’s also possible to download multiple attachments from many emails at once. To do so:

Use VBA Code

If you are using Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, or 2003, you can use the VBA editor to download multiple attachments from multiple emails.

1. Open your Documents folder and create a new folder named “Attachments.” This is where your attachments will download to.
2. Open Microsoft Outlook.
3. Press the Alt and F11 keys on the keyboard to open the VBA editor.
4. Right-click Microsoft Outlook Object > Insert > Insert Module.

5. Copy the following code into the editor and press Enter:

Dim GCount As Integer

Dim GFilepath As String

Public Sub SaveAttachments()

‘Update 20200821

Dim xMailItem As Outlook.MailItem

Dim xAttachments As Outlook.Attachments

Dim xSelection As Outlook.Selection

Dim i As Long

Dim xAttCount As Long

Dim xFilePath As String, xFolderPath As String, xSaveFiles As String

On Error Resume Next

xFolderPath = CreateObject(“WScript.Shell”).SpecialFolders(16)

Set xSelection = Outlook.Application.ActiveExplorer.Selection

xFolderPath = xFolderPath & “\Attachments\”

If VBA.Dir(xFolderPath, vbDirectory) = vbNullString Then

VBA.MkDir xFolderPath

End If

GFilepath = “”

For Each xMailItem In xSelection

Set xAttachments = xMailItem.Attachments

xAttCount = xAttachments.Count

xSaveFiles = “”

If xAttCount > 0 Then

For i = xAttCount To 1 Step -1

GCount = 0

xFilePath = xFolderPath & xAttachments.Item(i).FileName

GFilepath = xFilePath

xFilePath = FileRename(xFilePath)

If IsEmbeddedAttachment(xAttachments.Item(i)) = False Then

xAttachments.Item(i).SaveAsFile xFilePath

If xMailItem.BodyFormat <> olFormatHTML Then

xSaveFiles = xSaveFiles & vbCrLf & “<Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.>”

Else

xSaveFiles = xSaveFiles & “<br>” & “<a href=’file://” & xFilePath & “‘>” & xFilePath & “</a>”

End If

End If

Next i

End If

Next

Set xAttachments = Nothing

Set xMailItem = Nothing

Set xSelection = Nothing

End Sub

Function FileRename(FilePath As String) As String

Dim xPath As String

Dim xFso As FileSystemObject

On Error Resume Next

Set xFso = CreateObject(“Scripting.FileSystemObject”)

xPath = FilePath

FileRename = xPath

If xFso.FileExists(xPath) Then

GCount = GCount + 1

xPath = xFso.GetParentFolderName(GFilepath) & “\” & xFso.GetBaseName(GFilepath) & ” ” & GCount & “.” + xFso.GetExtensionName(GFilepath)

FileRename = FileRename(xPath)

End If

xFso = Nothing

End Function

Function IsEmbeddedAttachment(Attach As Attachment)

Dim xItem As MailItem

Dim xCid As String

Dim xID As String

Dim xHtml As String

On Error Resume Next

IsEmbeddedAttachment = False

Set xItem = Attach.Parent

If xItem.BodyFormat <> olFormatHTML Then Exit Function

xCid = “”

xCid = Attach.PropertyAccessor.GetProperty(“http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x3712001F”)

If xCid <> “” Then

xHtml = xItem.HTMLBody

xID = “cid:” & xCid

If InStr(xHtml, xID) > 0 Then

IsEmbeddedAttachment = True

End If

End If

End Function

Note: You can copy the original code above from Extend Office and paste it into the editor.

6. Press F5 to run the script. You may get a pop-up window prompting you to allow the action.

Using an External Tool

If you’re using another version of Outlook, want to download a file type other than PST, or find the VBA method cumbersome, you can download a tool that can help you download multiple Outlook attachments at once.

Apps such as Outlook Attachment Extractor have the functionality to save attachments not only from PST files, but from other file formats such as OST, BAK, MSG, OLK, and OLM files, too. You can also configure the app to filter attachments by file size, date, or sender.

How to Download All Attachments From a Corrupted File

If you cannot open, view, or save file attachments in Outlook, the Microsoft Outlook PST file may be corrupted or damaged. You can repair the PST file to retrieve the attachment using tools such as the SCANPST.exe application.

To use this tool, close Outlook and navigate to one of the following locations, depending on your version of Outlook:

1. Outlook 2019: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
2. Outlook 2016: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
3. Outlook 2013: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15
4. Outlook 2010: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14
5. Outlook 2007: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12

Then, double-click SCANPST.EXE.

Select Browse, locate the Outlook data file you want to scan and press Start.

If the tool finds errors, select Repair to attempt to fix them. Once complete, restart Outlook and check whether it now works.

Streamline Your Email Activities

Downloading multiple files from Outlook is easy and you can even download multiple files from multiple emails all at once. If you find the built-in methods in Outlook too difficult, you can download tools such as Outlook Attachment Extractor to help you out.