Outlook 2016 for Mac does not download attachments randomly

Anonymous
2016-02-25T03:30:14+00:00

hello,

since 1 month time, i'm using outlook 2016 on my mac with my office 365 exchange account. 

i have more or less 3 gb mailbox. when i added my account to outlook 2016 it starts to give fault about downloading the attachments. 

now, even my new received e-mails randomly system does not download the attachments. i can reach the attachments from web mail office 365 but outlook can not download it. 

i thought that there is download limit but not, sometimes i can received big files without problem. but sometimes i didn't. 

the attachments shows as grey as in the photo and i can not forward these e-mails. system blocks itself.

could you please help me to solve this problem, 

it is very important,

br

mert cologlu

Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For home

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
2017-11-17T18:25:36+00:00

I am currently using Microsoft Outlook for Mac, version 15.40 (171108).

I've had this happen a few times, I have had luck deleting the cache of the affected Inbox. I know this may be required when an error pops up with code -17890 on the Sync Errors page. All but once has rebuilding the cache fixed the issue, the one time it didn't work I used OWA to download the attachment but it turned out to be corrupt.

This isn't very efficient because rebuilding the cache requires a full download of your Exchange account, if you could delete the cached version of the affected e-mail it would be more efficient.

Follow the steps below to clear the cache of the affected folder:

  1. Connect to your fastest network connection, you may be downloading gigabytes of data.
  2. Open Outlook.
  3. Right click (or Control click) the Inbox of the account having the problem.
  4. From the pop up, select 'Properties...' near the bottom.
  5. On the 'General' tab you will find a button named 'Empty Cache', click it.
  6. Close the window if required.
  7. Your local copy of your Inbox will be deleted, a fresh download of all e-mails will be performed.
  8. From the 'Window' menu, select 'Sync Status' to monitor the process.
  9. Monitor the 'Sync Status' window, you will note several download threads receiving downloads.

Depending on how much mail is in your Exchange profile and your internet speed it can take 10 minutes or more to recover your Inbox contents.

Was this answer helpful?

10+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2017-11-17T07:47:05+00:00

OK, So I had this issue on another Mac yesterday.

Checked for updates on Office and there was about 1.6GB of them!!!!

Ran them all and the problem seems to be sorted for now.

Only time will tell as this issue is VERY random!

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments

46 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2016-10-03T20:09:30+00:00

    Hi All,

    As this thread is an aged one and the scenarios are different (such as Outlook versions), to ensure you get dedicated assistance, please post a new thread with detailed information in our forum.

    Thanks for your understanding.

    Regards,

    Robert

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2016-09-30T19:27:02+00:00

    Hi MS Office team,

    I have been having the same issue and I too hoped that MS would have fixed this issue once and for all. Using Outlook for Mac 2016 V15.26.1. I'm not going to delete my account and re-enter it as a work around. If I access the IMAP server for my outlook account via browser, I can retrieve the attachment. But that is another band-aid work around, not a fix ;).

    If there are any issues outside (such as network stability) that interrupts connectivity, sync should resume as soon as connectivity is re-established. If the interruption hangs things up in the Outlook application, this is poor recovery coding and not an acceptable reason why the attachment fails to download after connectivity is re-established.

    It appears to be poor networking code in regards to proper synchronization with the mail server (IMAP) and the outlook application.

    A a side bar, this is a similar reason (but different) why I have avoided One Drive - poor networking code - seems to hang up too much. I have never had an issue with iCloud drive nor had any issue with IMAP on Mac mail when it comes to synchronization.

    I hope you fix this soon - it's a flaw that has remained too long.

    Thank you,

    Don

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2016-09-13T18:16:29+00:00

    I have had this problem on and off for several months. With every SW update, I am hopeful that this will go away but it has not. For me, this happens mostly when I am not on my company's VPN.

    The problem does not go away with a new Outlook profile. It just happens with a different set of emails. It was still there when I got a loaner Mac and downloaded my Exchange email on it so nothing wrong with my Macbook setup. I have always been on the latest MacOS - currently El Capitan 10.11.6; and latest MS Outlook - currently 15.25 (160817). The error log in Outlook simply says "Unable to download the attachment in message <email subject>" with an error code of -17890.

    Please fix it asap. It has been around for so long - the earliest mention I see of it is Nov 2015.

    Thanks.

    Ajay

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments