The Ultimate Guide to Attach Emails to Emails in Outlook Fast

As our digital lives become more intertwined with email communication, managing a cluttered inbox has morphed into a daily chore. With emails piling up, finding and organizing them becomes a herculean task, especially when you need to refer back to an old thread or attachment. That’s where mastering email attachments in Outlook can be a game-changer for both professionals and personal users.

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Key Takeaways

• In the Microsoft Outlook Desktop client, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+F after selecting emails to quickly attach them to a new email message.
• To attach emails to emails in Outlook, you can select “Forward as Attachment” from the context menu or drag and drop the selected emails directly into a new message window.
• For attaching emails within the Outlook Web Access (OWA), create a new message and drag the email you wish to attach from your message list into the draft email.

Outlook as a Powerful Tool for Email Attachments

Outlook has evolved to become a staple email client with robust features tailored for easy handling of email attachments. Not only can you attach files from your computer or OneDrive, but you can also insert images directly into your messages for immediate visibility. Outlook’s seamless integration with office tools empowers you to share documents, presentations, and spreadsheets with just a few clicks – making it a powerhouse for efficient communication and collaboration.

Step-by-Step Tutorial for Attaching Emails in Outlook (2024)

Locate and Select the Email You Want to Attach

To start attaching an email to another email in Outlook, begin by navigating through your inbox or folders to find the desired message. Once you have located it, right-click the email and choose ‘Copy’ from the menu. This will place the entire email on your clipboard.

Attaching an email to another email in Microsoft Outlook is quite straightforward. Here are the steps to do it:

For Outlook Desktop Application:

STEP 1: Launch your Outlook desktop application.
STEP 2: Click on “New Email” to compose a new message.

STEP 3: Go to the folder where the email you want to attach is located (e.g., Inbox, Sent Items, etc.).
STEP 4: Locate the email you wish to attach.
STEP 5: Click and hold the email you want to attach. > Drag it to the new email you are composing and release the mouse button.

The email will appear as an attachment.

For Outlook Web Application (Outlook.com or Office 365):

STEP 1: Go to your Outlook web application in your browser.
STEP 2: Click on “New Message” to compose a new email.
STEP 3: Open the email you want to attach in a separate tab or window.
STEP 4: If your browser supports it, you can drag the email from your list and drop it into the new email window.

Alternatively, select the email you want to attach, click on the three dots (more options) in the email window, and choose “Forward as Attachment.” This will create a new email with the selected email attached.

Alternative Method for Both Desktop and Web:

STEP 1: Open the email you want to attach.
STEP 2: Choose “File” > “Save As” and save the email to your computer as a .msg file.

STEP 3: Create a new email.
STEP 4: Use the attach file option (usually represented by a paperclip icon) to attach the saved .msg file to your new email.


These methods should help you attach emails to other emails in Microsoft Outlook, making it easy to share entire conversations or specific messages with others.

Advanced Tips for Email Attachments in Outlook

Automatically Forwarding Emails as Attachments

One of the niftiest features Outlook offers is the ability to set your emails to automatically forward as attachments. This can be particularly useful if you want to preserve the full email, including header and routing information. To set this up, navigate to the Home tab, find ”More Respond Actions,” and select ”Forward as Attachment.” This will turn each forwarded email into an encapsulated file that can be easily shared while keeping all the original information intact.

Remember that this setting might vary between different versions of Outlook, so double-check that these steps apply to your specific version.

Managing Attachment Sizes and Formats for Optimal Sending

Keeping a watchful eye on attachment sizes ensures your emails are not bounced back due to exceeding size limits. Outlook typically allows a default maximum size of 20MB for attachments, but you can often adjust these limits if required. It’s wise to be mindful of the formats you’re attaching as well—PDFs or zipped files can be more efficient when sharing multiple documents or high-resolution images.

For larger files, consider using cloud services like OneDrive or Dropbox and simply share a link within your email instead, thus avoiding large attachments altogether.

Solutions to Common Attachment Challenges

Troubleshooting Attachment Issues in Outlook

When attachments aren’t behaving as they should in Outlook, a few common troubleshoots can help. First, check the size of the file—if it’s over the limit, either compress it or use a file-sharing service. If the issue is not size-related, ensure Outlook is updated to the latest version, as this can resolve many bugs and glitches. Also, look into your add-ins; sometimes these can interfere with Outlook’s functionality. If all else fails, restarting Outlook or even your whole system can often be the simple fix needed.

How to Send Bulk Email Attachments Without Hassle

For those times when you’ve got a stack of emails to send as attachments, Outlook makes the process smooth. You can select multiple emails by holding the ‘Ctrl’ key and clicking on each email you wish to send. Then, with your emails selected, simply click ‘Forward Items’ from the ‘Home’ tab, and all the chosen emails will be attached to a new email message as individual .eml files. This method is perfect for sending many emails at once without overwhelming either yourself or your recipient.

Just remember, while this method is convenient, be mindful of the recipient’s inbox limitations and consider whether all the attachments are necessary to avoid email overload.

Best Practices for Security and Efficiency

Ensuring Safe Email Attachments

Safety should always be a priority when it comes to email attachments. Always scan attachments for malware before sending or opening them, and make use of Outlook’s built-in security features, such as the Trust Center settings, to limit the risk of accidentally distributing or receiving harmful files. Be especially cautious with executable file types (.exe, .scr, etc.) as they are common carriers of viruses.

It’s also important to educate recipients to expect certain attachments from you, reducing the risk of them falling prey to phishing attempts that might mimic your email format.

Streamlining Your Inbox with Efficient Attachment Management

To maintain an organized inbox, adopt efficient attachment management practices. Use Clean Email or similar email management tools to sort, archive, or delete large attachments that consume too much space. Take advantage of Outlook’s search functionality to quickly find emails by attachment type or size, and consider creating dedicated folders for emails with certain attachments to make retrieval a breeze.

Also, regularly review and clear out unneeded attachments to prevent storage overflow which can slow down your email performance.

FAQs: Navigating Through Common Queries

How do I attach an email to another email in Outlook?

To attach an email to another email in Outlook, first, open the email you want to attach. Then go to the ‘More’ option in the ‘Respond’ group under the Home tab and select ‘Forward as Attachment’. A new email window will open with the selected email attached. If you’re replying, simply drag the email you want to attach from your inbox into the open reply email window.

What are the limitations on the size of attachments in Outlook?

Outlook sets a default attachment size limit of 20 MB, but this can vary based on your email server or administrator settings. If you exceed this limit, you might face sending issues or receive an error message. For larger attachments, consider using file compression or a cloud service link.

How do I attach several emails to one email in Outlook?

To attach multiple emails to a single email in Outlook, select the messages you want by holding ‘Ctrl’ and clicking on each email. Then, either use ‘Forward as Attachment’ from the ‘Respond’ group under the Home tab or simply drag the selected emails into a new email message that you’ve created. This will attach all the selected emails at once.