Forum Discussion
Newest Outlook version doesn't open pdf in Acrobat
My Outlook was updated to the newest version a few days ago and I'm having issues with opening PDF attachments in my default PDF viewer. Before, you could click the attachment in the email and get a preview but if you were to fully open the attachment it would open in my default application.
When I click on it I get this viewer instead of it going directly to Adobe PDF. If I have to download it, I would prefer to save it as a location that I choose.
I can go to Acrobat and open the downloaded files, but that is extra steps. Any suggestions?
- As of June 2024 Microsoft has a roadmap claim that states "In the new Outlook for Windows, users can now open attachments of all types in their respective desktop app by double clicking them." with rollout "starting August 2024". See https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?featureid=401123
Keep providing feedback through the app's Help > Feedback (or Suggest a Feature), or (if you have it) your Microsoft CSM to get this critical feature delivered.skish They still haven't rolled it out yet but I imagine it won't be long as we're already half way through August now. I have made the suggestion though. Considering you only single click to preview a file in New Outlook means a double click is impossible unless they remove the functionality of single click previews which isn't inherently a problem but it's an issue in the case that they have to keep changing things to fix issues that shouldn't have been there in the first place, as opening files in an app is something they've had the functionality for for a while now.
I'll await a response from them to see what they say at least. This is just a headache for me as I'm IT support for a company and I get a ton of grief from the staff because of issues with Old Outlook that require me to switch them to New Outlook to resolve and then loss of functionality that means they need to switch back to Old Outlook.
There's no excuse for them taking this long to make it as functional as the Old Outlook as it's been released for almost a year now to the public. I wish they wouldn't roll out unfinished applications like this.
It's the end of August and still note fixed.
- Having the same issue here. I guess I am not the only one who uses both new and old versions until they make it more user friendly
DeeReinhardt when noting this problem via Feedback to Microsoft (New Outlook/Help/Feedback), they acknowledged that it is a feature that PDFs do not open in third-party app. hope for a fix in a future version.
drkp89_rti Why are so many of the functions that existed in the old outlook not present in this supposedly new and better version. I understand that the new outlook will be the only option moving forward in the near future. without all these items addressed, how does that make sense. Please fix this as I use PDF files often and will need to have the ability to open them directly into adobe and not some pre prescribed pdf viewer from Microsoft. Please let me know if you get this resolved.
Thanks, Stephan
drkp89_rti - Thank you for sharing. This is unacceptable and may be our last straw. We keep losing too many features. All of our employees use this hundreds of times per day.
DeeReinhardt I am having the same issue. Its a bad change to how outlook works. I will go back to the old Outlook. The way the new outlook handles attachments adds extra steps into a process that was working just fine before.
Colette1122 Best i can think of in terms of keeping workflow as simple as is to go for print option, then from print preview you can actually save attachement in the old way. via Edge, with pdf opening after saving. Still adds couple more clicks to each pdf, but it's better than having to go in the folder.
MilesB1670 Yes I was doing that, but have decided to go back to the older version until Microsoft catches up with user feedback.
DeeReinhardt - Same issue here. Opening PDF dirctly from the default viewer on Old Outlook works on same PC, New Outlook does not. Tried the repair option and setting default PDF, but that didn't fix it. Considering a Reset next then full uninstall and reinstall. Probably another dumb oversight like removing the link preview when hovering over a link in an email. Why they are removing some of these features is beyond me.
I resorted to going back to the original Outlook and will wait for Microsoft to resolve the issues it is having with "New Outlook". Microsoft makes it difficult to embrace the changes they make.
Oh well.
IFixThings4U - My tin-foil hat idea is they want us to have to download the files now to inflate our data storage requirements so they can sell more storage. If this comment is removed, it proves my theory. If its left up, it's because they don't want to admit I've figured it out which also proves my theory.
DeeReinhardt - they make it a little harder to figure out, but if you save a PDF to your Mac, then right click on it and select Get Info, then expand the Open With and change your default to Adobe Acrobat and then click on Change All, this will fix your issue as it just fixed mine. Have a great day!
WCurran agreed. The issue is opening the email attached pdf without having to copy it to the pc first. Just double click in the email. Glad to see it on the roadmap finally.
