How do I get Outlook 2007 to read .eml files and attachments?

Anonymous
2010-03-11T22:35:16+00:00

I am a web developer working from home.  A lot of my clients talk to me via chat programs like Yahoo Messenger and Skype.  Often times, they send mail messages from a end-users to me over yahoo or skype that are .eml files.  These files describe bugs or other errors that end-users experienced.

I can't understand why I can't read "eml" files in Outlook 2007.  Right now, windows 2007 wants to use windows live mail to open these files.

Is there a third-party add-on that will give Outlook 2007 this functionality?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Apps

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2010-03-12T01:11:33+00:00

I solved the problem for Windows 7 64 bit users and Vista 64 bit users

  1. Open up regedit.exe (The windows registry editor)
  2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Microsoft Internet Mail Message WLMail\shell\open\command
  3. Change "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Mail\wlmail.exe" /eml:%1 to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\OUTLOOK.EXE" /eml "%1"   (do not forget the double quotes!)
  4. Restart your computer

This way, windows thinks that "Windows Live Mail" is still the default program for opening .eml files.  However, we changed the registry so that instead of opening Windows Live Mail, we are opening OUTLOOK.EXE.  What I mean is that if you opened the control panel, clicked on Default Programs and associated .eml files with Windows Live Mail, we've tricked out the registry so that it will open outlook instead--even though Windows still says it is associated with Windows Live.  Confusing, I know.

The best analogy are those old commercials where "We've secretly changed Lisa's favorite detergent with new all temperature Cheer!"  In this case we secretly changed Windows Live Mail with Outlook when it comes to opening .eml attachments.

Anyhow, this trick worked for me.  I can open .eml files just by double-clicking on them.  You can always change things back if you decide to switch to Windows Live.

Was this answer helpful?

10+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

47 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Diane Poremsky MVP 17,541 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-03-13T12:13:06+00:00

    Do you have all updates installed for Office 2007?  SP2 adds the ability to open eml files, without the need to edit the registry.  Open EML files with Outlook

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-18T11:53:07+00:00

    Me helped this (win x64, outlook 2007):

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.eml]

    @="Outlook.File.eml"

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.eml\OpenWithProgids]

    "Outlook.File.eml"=""

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Outlook.File.eml]

    @="E-mail Message"

    "EditFlags"=hex:00,00,00,00

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Outlook.File.eml\shell]

    @="Open"

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Outlook.File.eml\DefaultIcon]

    @=""C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe",10"

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Outlook.File.eml\shell\Open]

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Outlook.File.eml\shell\Open\command]

    @=""C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe" /eml "%1""

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes.eml]

    @="Outlook.File.eml"

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes.eml\OpenWithProgids]

    "Outlook.File.eml"=""

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Outlook.File.eml]

    @="E-mail Message"

    "EditFlags"=hex:00,00,00,00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Outlook.File.eml\shell]

    @="Open"

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Outlook.File.eml\DefaultIcon]

    @=""C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe",10"

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Outlook.File.eml\shell\Open\command]

    @=""C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe" /eml "%1""

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Microsoft Outlook\Capabilities\FileAssociations]

    ".eml"="Outlook.File.eml"

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2016-04-21T17:50:44+00:00

    I got this working with outlook 2007 but I am using Windows 7 so this might not work under XP. 

    The first thing I did was right click on a saved .eml file and associated it with OUTLOOK (which opens a new email with the .eml file as an attachment)

    Now on my computer HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.eml points to eml_auto_file . 

    I changed HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\eml_auto_file\shell\read\command to call**"c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\outlook.exe" /eml "%1"** like the other solution above.

    Next I created the keys HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\OUTLOOK_eml.exe\shell\open\command

    In the command key set (default) REG_SZ value to "c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\outlook.exe" /eml "%1"

    open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts.eml\UserChoice

    Change Progid to Applications\OUTLOOK_eml.exe

    If you get access denied when changing Progid check the permissions on the UserChoice key.  There might be a deny flag set which you can unset (I would set it back when you are done).

    Indeed, this works. Thank you very much for this tutorial. Almost everywhere else, the instructions are not that comprehensive or even incomplete. If you do not follow all these instructions you will end up with Outlook 2007 opening an new e-mail with the EML file as an attachment. But now that problem is solved. Thank you once again!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments