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Find Why Outlook Web App Can’t Download Attachments?

  author
Jamie Kaler   Contribution
Rollins Duke
Rollins Duke  Approved By
Published On June 12th, 2026 • 6 min read

Outlook Web App is widely known as Outlook on the web, which is an efficient application for the user to read emails, Calendar, Contacts and attachments via a web browser. Although in some of the circumstances, Outlook Web App do not allow users to download the attachment at all, this is quite frustrating. Since all the attachments belong to some of the working documents, you will have to download them. Let us solve this issue by implementing quick fixes in the coming section of this article to fix the Outlook Web App Not Downloading Attachments problem.

Why Can’t I Download Attachments from OWA?

  • There could be various reasons for Outlook Web App being unable to download attachments, but one of the most common is that your web browser is incompatible with OWA, or there could be an issue in the browser’s settings that prevents Outlook Web App from downloading attachments.
  • A reliable Internet connection is required in order to run the Outlook Web Application successfully, or specifically while sending or downloading some attachments, because a poor connection would stop it completely, or download it in an improper manner.
  • There is a particular limit of attachment in the OWA. The size limits for attachments in the OWA have been specified, so if your attachment is larger than the specified limit, that might be the reason why Outlook Web App can’t Download Attachments.
  • There can be some firewalls and antivirus software that prevent downloading the attachments because they mistakenly treat them as a virus, by scanning them incorrectly. There can be some issues at the server end.
  • It is generally impossible for a user to make changes at the server end. The help from a server admin or an IT professional is recommended in this case.
  • If attachments get corrupted during transmission time. In case the user account is not permitted to download all the attachments.

Precaution: If  “Unable to Download Attachments from Outlook App” Rather than the fixes, let’s find out how to download attachments from an Outlook Web Account. With the Email Attachment Extractor, we can save the vital attached documents from the web account to the system with ease. The toolkit gives instant results with complete accuracy. Try the demo version to know about the working procedure and then get the Pro edition.

How to Troubleshoot Outlook Web App Can’t Download Attachments?

Now, let’s find out how we can fix the attachment not working issue in the Outlook Web account. Let’s start with the common causes of the advanced, you can find this right now.

Now, Solve Related Issues 

Run Outlook Web on a Different Browser

At times, the issues might be with the browser, as we discussed before. Therefore, try accessing the account using another browser and check if you can download the attached documents. If yes, then the subject of this problem is the browser.

Note: Operating system conflicts can sometimes prevent attachments from downloading. If you are experiencing this issue on the Mac desktop application, then see the guide: Download Outlook Mac attachments from the server.

Check Attachment Size Limitation

Once check the size of the attachments, if it exceeds the limit, ask the sender to compress the file. Use another file-sharing service like OneDrive, Google Drive, etc. Also, verify the attachment size limits set by the email provider.

Run Outlook on Web Light Version

Outlook’s light version runs the application in low bandwidth and low accessibility. It is best for the old web browsers. Try switching to the light version, and then try downloading the attachments. Follow the steps to run the Outlook web app in the light version.

  • Log in to the Outlook on the Web account.
  • Go to the settings. Click Mail.
  • Then, click on the General option and select Light Version.
  • Then select the Use the light version of Outlook checkbox.
  • Sign out and log in to the OWA account. Now, you are using the light version of Outlook
  • Now go to the email with attachments and try downloading the attached documents.
If you are having other issues, like not getting emails, then refer to the guide on How to Fix Outlook Not Receiving Emails

Check Browser Related Issues to Fix Outlook Web App Can’t Download Attachments

1) Ensure you update the browser to the latest version. Follow these steps:

Microsoft Edge

  • Open Microsoft Edge.
  • Click on the menu(three horizontal dots).
  • Scroll down and select Help and feedback, then click About Microsoft Edge.
  • Then, Edge will check for updates, and if an update is available, it will download and install.
  • After completing the update, restart the browser.

Google Chrome

  • Start Google Chrome.
  • Click on the three vertical dots.
  • Go to Help > About Google Chrome.
  • Chrome will check for updates and start downloading if there are any.
  • After the update is downloaded, click Relaunch to restart Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox

  • Open Firefox.
  • Click on the three horizontal lines.
  • Select Help and then click About Firefox.
  • Thus, any updates will be automatically checked. If available, it will start downloading.
  • Finally, restart to update Firefox.

2) Clear the browser’s cache and cookies

If any corrupted cache or cookies are enabled, it could interfere with the attachment download process. Follow the steps for each top browser to clear the cache and cookies data.

Microsoft Edge: 

  • Click the menu (3 dots).
  • Select Settings > Privacy,Search, and Service > Clear Browsing Data

Mozilla Firefox:

  • Navigate to the menu.
  • Select Settings>Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data > Clear Data

Google Chrome

  • Click on the top-right three-dot menu.
  • Navigate to Settings and then Privacy and Security > Clear Browsing Data.
  • Select Cached Image and File, Cookies and Other Site Data. Then Click Clear Data

If the issue is with the syncing issue between Outlook and the Exchange server, then refer to Fix Outlook Keeps Disconnecting from Exchange Server.

Conclusion

Issues like “Outlook Web App can’t download attachments”, Outlook Rule not working, etc., can be the outcome of various causes, such as browser-related or server-side issues. With the outlined troubleshooting approach, the user can resolve this issue in no time. Consider using the software, as it is the best approach to prevent any data loss.