How to Download Attachments from Outlook Mail at Outlook.com

You can download not only any single attachment but also all a message's documents as a ZIP file from Outlook Mail and Outlook.com.

File Sharing That Just Works

A typical home sporting a computer or two and speedy connections to the Internets has, it seems, more ways to share documents than documents. Fortunately, among the many possibilities is one that, most of the time, just works.

So, people sent their files and photos to your email address.

Now you need to get them out of Outlook Mail on the Web (or Windows Live Hotmail) and onto your lap- or desktop. Fortunately, there is a way to save attachments that just works—and one that lets you download multiple attached files in one go.

Download Attachments from Outlook Mail on the Web (at Outlook.com)

To download an individual file attached to an email you received in Outlook Mail on the web:

1. Open the email that came with the file attached.
2. Make sure the attachment area is expanded for the message.
   • Click Show all ___ attachments if you see it beneath the message's header area.
3. Click the downward-pointed arrow head (⌄) next to the file you want to download.
4. Select Download from the context menu that has shown.
5. Now choose a download location, if prompted, and save the document using your browser's file saving dialog.

To have Outlook Mail on the web compress all attached files into a single ZIP file and download that:

1. Open the email that contains multiple attachments.
2. Click Download all in the message's attachments area.
3. If prompted, use your browser's saving dialog to pick a location and save the ZIP file.
   • The ZIP file is named like the email's subject by default.

Download Attachments from Outlook.com

To download any file from a message in Outlook.com:

1. Open the message that contains the attached file.
2. Make sure the attachment area is expanded.
   • If you do not see individual attachment names and previews, click the attachments header right beneath the email's header.
3. Click the name of the attachment you want to download.
4. Select Download from the context menu that has appeared.
5. If prompted, pick a download location and save the file using your browser's download dialog.

To save a ZIP file that contains all files attached to a message in Outlook.com:

1. Open the message that has the files you want to download attached to it.
2. Make sure the attachment area is expanded.
3. Click Download all as zip.
4. If prompted, save the ZIP file using your browser's download dialog.

Download Attachments from Windows Live Hotmail

To download a single attached file from a message in Windows Live Hotmail:

1. Click the name of the attached file in the attachment area just below the message's recipients and above the message text.
2. Depending on the browser your use, click Save or merely watch the download happen.

To download all documents attached to a message compressed into a single zip file:

1. Click Download all attachments in the message's attachment area.
2. Save or directly open the zip file named like the message's Subject: line.

(Updated June 2016, tested with Windows Live Hotmail, Outlook.com and Outlook Mail on the Web)