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Compatibility issues with sending Outlook emails from Windows to Mac users

Anonymous
2019-05-14T22:09:06+00:00

I'm having compatibility issues sending emails from Microsoft Outlook for Windows to Mac users.

The text format default is set to HTML, but it is received at Plain Text and document attachments show up as "Windat" and are not able to be opened.

Any thoughts?

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-05-21T01:29:30+00:00

    Hi CherlGray,

    Please feel free to contact me if you have any other question. I'm very glad to offer help.

    Sincerely,

    Shawn

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-05-18T11:20:19+00:00

    Hello CheryIGray,

    Yes, you understood me correctly. However, what I've mentioned in my last reply is avoiding winmail.dat sending from the sender side. And winmail.dat will happen because Outlook uses a proprietary email format(Rich Text Format) rather than HTML or Plain Text format, and only a few other email clients can decipher.

    In other words receiving an extra attachment isn’t the problem. The truth is, a recipient using an email outside of Microsoft’s scope won’t be able to access any real attachments from the email. Any attachments included in the message will be locked inside the winmail.dat file.

    So, after we set up functionally on the sender side, no matter the message is composed with Plain Text or HTML, if some recipients are still receiving winmail.dat emails on Mac, they may use winmail.dat viewer to open these attachments supported by Apple.

    Thanks for your kind understanding.

    Regards,

    Shawn

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-05-16T09:59:45+00:00

    Thanks Shawn,

    If I understand correctly, I need to convert to Plain Text format.

    But doesn't this mean formatted emails, signature blocks etc within the email are lost?

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-05-16T09:40:54+00:00

    Hi CherylGray,

    Have your problem been solved? Any feedback is appreciated.

    Sincerely,

    Shawn

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-05-15T06:11:46+00:00

    Hello CheryIGray1,

    Welcome to post in community.

    Generally, a "winmail.dat" file appears because various mail programs handle message formats different. Certain messages sent from the Outlook client may arrive with a winmail.dat attachment if recipients' mail program is not set up to handle mail in the Microsoft Outlook Rich Text Format.

    If recipients want to open the winmail.dat file and read the message or file attachment, the best way is that sender change him/her Outlook's settings so that mail can be sent in the plain-text format, then resend the messages to the recipients.

    For Microsoft Outlook 2010 and later versions, follow these steps:

    1. Click the File tab, click Options, and then click Mail.
    2. In the Compose in this message format list, click Plain Text or HTML, and then click OK.

     

    3.  In the Compose messages section, select the Compose messages in this format dropdown arrow and choose either HTML or Plain Text.

    Feel free to contact me if you have any further question on it. I'm very glad to help you.

    Regards,

    Shawn

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