How to reply to all with attachments (outlook version 16.52)

NUNO MARZIA 101

I use Outlook version 16.52 on Mac and when I reply to all how can I use the attachs of the original mail?

Barry Schwarz 1,946 Reputation points

2021-09-21T21:16:22.237+00:00

If you do a Replay All, all the addressees already have the attachments.
Why send them again?
NUNO MARZIA 101 Reputation points

2021-09-21T21:45:19.457+00:00

Yes, but if you need to reply to all with an approval and the attach are the evidence of that approval, how do you do it? Save to the disk and attach again? or Fwd and copy all the addresses...in the previous outlook version that was possible..
Barry Schwarz 1,946 Reputation points

2021-09-21T23:08:10.833+00:00

I would start with Replay All and copy all the address from the To box to the clipboard. Then close this email and Forward the original email. Now you can paste the addresses into the new To box.

If you have forwarding set up to include a copy of the original message, then you can start with Forward, copy the addresses from the body of the included message, and paste them into the To box.
Hillman, Kyle 181 Reputation points

2022-06-23T22:51:11.007+00:00

There should be a preference option to automatically include attachments in replies. There are numerous instances where I have to add someone new into a reply, and they need the attachment for reference. Regardless, it is almost always more convenient to have the attachment in the reply instead of digging through the email string.
Claire Kuczerpa 111 Reputation points

2022-10-19T19:05:36.953+00:00

I would have to agree, it would save everyone time and energy if all attachments are included in responses. No more digging thorugh old email threads to find a file from months ago.
Jefferson Tan 21 Reputation points

2022-12-16T01:37:03.713+00:00

Yes, that function is one of the most useful feature that outlook should be included.

in my opinion,
Microsoft , is a highly bureaucracy company , that does not make great product
from window 7 to window 10 , 11 ,
each new edition changes create frustrations to users,
useful functions/ features are changes
and new useless features are added,
making the system slower .
Jefferson Tan 21 Reputation points

2022-12-16T01:42:33.05+00:00

that the problem, technology should be simplified to fit for human ease to use

so many steps
"....Replay All and copy all.... close this email and Forward......"
to do a simple function { reply with attachments}

it would be much appreciate if Micro soft would listen to users and create great, useful and faster products,
not just added more icons and gimmicks to-look-good features,
slowing down the useful features.
Anonymous

2023-04-17T15:17:30.2566667+00:00

It is crucial in my industry of manufacturing to have attachments included on replies. In Apple email it is an option to include attachments and I miss that option now that I have to use Microsoft Outlook. I hope they will add this option!
Ken Van Kley 0 Reputation points

2023-05-24T13:14:54.4933333+00:00

The default for many email clients originally used to be "include the attachment" when doing a reply-to-all. This was changed because it cost too much storage in the back-end to save all these extra copies of attachments (they weren't deduped by most mail systems). Mail clients should re-add the feature (they never should have taken it out, just made it "not the default").
Sunny Wong 1 Reputation point

2023-07-20T03:38:35.78+00:00

As Delegate claiming expense for others, receipts still need to be scanned and they will be emailed to myself. Without any other Enterprise tool to keep track of these incoming email and tag at which step are they in the claim process, I reply to myself with different subject to identify their claim status. It is time consuming and error prone to include attachments using above suggestions. IMHO reply rather than forward is the better choice because the sender is myself. Also, more conservative organizations do need attachments in reply. So, I guess it takes judgement whether to include attachments for such requirements when there is sufficient bandwidth and storage. In the meantime, I will be replying and copy attachment while waiting for more user friendly Expense Management Enterprise software.
Dylan Chazen 0 Reputation points

2023-10-13T11:31:22.11+00:00

Why have we lost this functionality it is incredibly time consuming having to copy and paste when an attachment could just be added automatically. That being said it would be nice to have a button or option to choose either or for user like @Barry Schwarz or for users such as myself that need the attachment to remain attached in the reply all
Kristupas Petrauskas 0 Reputation points

2024-03-25T13:45:24.07+00:00
Easily solved by creating a macro! :)

Click [Alt] + [F11]

Create new module

Paste code below

Add a quick ribbon button for macro

Click the new button

'-------------------------------------------

Sub ReplyAllWithAttachments()     Dim oReply As Outlook.MailItem     Dim oItem As Object

    Set oItem = GetCurrentItem()     If Not oItem Is Nothing Then         Set oReply = oItem.ReplyAll         CopyAttachments oItem, oReply         oReply.Display         oItem.UnRead = False     End If

    Set oReply = Nothing     Set oItem = Nothing End Sub

Sub CopyAttachments(oSourceItem As Object, oTargetItem As Object)     Dim oAttachment As Outlook.Attachment     For Each oAttachment In oSourceItem.Attachments         If Not oAttachment.FileName Like "image*" Then             Dim sSavePath As String             sSavePath = Environ("TEMP") & "" & oAttachment.FileName             oAttachment.SaveAsFile sSavePath             oTargetItem.Attachments.Add sSavePath, olByValue, , oAttachment.DisplayName             Kill sSavePath         End If     Next oAttachment End Sub

Function GetCurrentItem() As Object     Dim objApp As Outlook.Application     Set objApp = Application     On Error Resume Next     Select Case TypeName(objApp.ActiveWindow)         Case "Explorer"             Set GetCurrentItem = objApp.ActiveExplorer.Selection.Item(1)         Case "Inspector"             Set GetCurrentItem = objApp.ActiveInspector.CurrentItem         Case Else             Set GetCurrentItem = Nothing     End Select     On Error GoTo 0     Set objApp = Nothing End Function
Jefferson Tan 21 Reputation points

2024-03-26T01:53:07.6166667+00:00

Hi Mr Kristupas Petrauskas

i had problem with the macro

Do you have the detailed steps for this step :

"Add a quick ribbon button for macro"

thank you
Kristupas Petrauskas 0 Reputation points

2024-03-26T10:29:09.1833333+00:00

Hi Tan,

Sure. Open the Outlook Options: Click on the File tab in the ribbon, then select Options to open the Outlook Options dialog box.

Customize the Quick Access Toolbar: In the Outlook Options dialog box, select Quick Access Toolbar from the list on the left.

Choose Macros from the “Choose commands from” Dropdown: In the "Choose commands from" dropdown list, select Macros. This will display all the macros you have created in the list below the dropdown.

Add the Macro to the Quick Access Toolbar: Find the macro you want to add from the list, select it, then click the Add >> button to add it to the Quick Access Toolbar. The macro will now appear in the list on the right side of the window.

(Optional) Modify the Macro Button: After adding the macro to the Quick Access Toolbar, you may want to modify its appearance or display name. To do this, select the macro in the right list and click the Modify… button. Here, you can choose a different icon for your macro button and give it a more descriptive name if you wish.

Save Your Changes: Click OK to close the Outlook Options dialog box. Your macro button should now appear in the Quick Access Toolbar at the top of the Outlook window.

Now, whenever you want to run the macro, you can simply click its button in the Quick Access Toolbar.

Accepted answer

ChristyZhang-MSFT 20,801 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2021-09-22T02:47:08.587+00:00

Hi @NUNO MARZIA ,

Welcome to our forum!

According to your description, I understand that you want to attach the attachment of the original email when replying to all, right?

If so, the method mentioned by Barry schwarz-8780 is indeed a good way to forward the original message and enter all recipient addresses.

In addition of course there is a more convenient method. Please refer to the following steps:
1.Click Outlook at the top>Preferences…>Composing>Under HTML tab, unclick Close the original message window after replying or forwarding;

2.Double click the original email and click Reply all, then the reply email will displayed in a new window;

3.Drag the attachment of the original message to the reply message.

4.Then you can reply to all recipients with the attachment of the original message.

Hope the above help!

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Hillman, Kyle 181 Reputation points

2023-03-08T15:56:54.66+00:00

You do realize how many extra steps that is, right? You had to include a whole SOP with pictures! What if the "Reply" dropdown simply included "Reply-All" and "Reply-All with Attachments."

Mohamed Thoufeek 10 Reputation points

2023-04-12T08:27:44.58+00:00

Correct, "Reply all with attachments" option was there before in the previous versions. it was more continent. now its really frustrating to copy pasting the addresses and making forward email instead of reply all with attachments!

Anonymous

2023-04-17T15:19:30.16+00:00

This option is just too cumbersome when a simple feature of "include attachments" would save a lot of time and energy spent on all these steps

Jefferson Tan 21 Reputation points

2023-06-23T05:52:31.2133333+00:00

while that is somehow is simplify, but the customers(users) are not accepting it. there is a need to simplify the method. Microsoft can consider recruiting me as your user acceptance criteria tester .

Albert Khor 20 Reputation points

2023-09-05T02:41:01.1333333+00:00

Instead of asking the user to do all these non-value-added steps, can't Microsoft configure Outlook with a preference for the user to decide? It does not make any sense if one can maintain the attachment when forwarding but is not able to do so when replying.

Sunny Wong 1 Reputation point

2023-09-05T04:44:50.2066667+00:00

Replying to myself with attachment is my work around to add post-processing to attachment from my Enterprise grade scanner. My need persists until my manager is willing to spend time required of Mobile Receipt App that come with Concur App.

"Is there a best practice for scanning receipts which I find time consuming when my manager hands over a batch per month.

My use case situation as follows:

No connector between Concur Expense to Scanner

Scanner lack pertinent Accessibility such as following:

copy and paste text

keyboard Text Replacement

attachment of each Receipt within single Scan of hand-assembled receipts."

Liz V 0 Reputation points

2023-09-22T22:11:43.7233333+00:00

This is awful.

ASHOK CHANNEGOWDA 0 Reputation points

2023-11-13T08:08:30.07+00:00

It is a lazy answer when the entire world is asking for the use case to be implemented, MS is providing workarounds.

Claire Irvine 0 Reputation points

2023-12-11T10:25:16.1666667+00:00

Both of these options are what we are already doing. We don't need a work around, ideally we would have a simple solution that would reduce the amount of steps it takes to either re-add the attachments to the 'reply all' or re-add the recipients to the 'forward'. Neither is an efficient use of time. Agree with the others to bring back the drop down option of 'reply with attachments'. Was very useful.

Brian Cleven 0 Reputation points

2024-01-05T19:15:32.92+00:00

This is not a solution to the problem -- this is exactly what the user has been doing all along, and you are just re-iterating how they've been doing it the whole time. You are not actually providing a solution to the problem. Please stop with these types of responses that do not provide a solution (I know you only do it to get points, so I have marked your solution as NOT helpful).

KMJ 0 Reputation points

2024-02-01T19:38:38.6966667+00:00

Your view and mine are different. I do not see where you see Outlook in step 1.
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10 additional answers

AJ 81 Reputation points

2023-01-09T16:31:11.61+00:00

It's just crazy that after more than 40 years (!!!) of email, something as trivial as this is not addressed in Outlook. If it were for me I wouldn't use Outlook at all, but unfortunately that's what was chosen in my organization. The responses providing "solutions" are crazy here. Both are terrible work-arounds to something so simple that has been solved by many competitors in free products.
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16 people found this answer helpful.
Erick Lee 20 Reputation points

2023-01-20T18:27:15.3066667+00:00

Agree completely. It is VERY common for me to need to ADD recipients when replying to all. To have to go through all of these steps when replying or forwarding an email is ridiculous. A simple "Reply with attachments" is all that is needed to greatly simplify. Come on Microsoft!

Matthias Wille 35 Reputation points

2023-02-06T13:04:36.1533333+00:00

Crazy indeed.

Here is my almost every day real world scenario, when you get quick quotes...

No Subject

One attachment with the quote

Common sender email like info@....

If you reply to ask for more detail, NOBODY has any clue what you talk about unless there is the original quote.

Needing to go through a copy and paste exercise is ridiculous at best.

Steve Paulson 15 Reputation points

2023-02-21T16:44:59.18+00:00

It would be very convenient if we had the capability to "right click" on the message, and have a choice to "reply all with attachments" for the times those files are crucial to the e-mail.

sandip 5 Reputation points

2023-03-26T22:37:33.56+00:00

Can't agree more! Looks crazy that such a simple thing is not even given as an option/preference we can select.

Anonymous

2023-04-17T16:04:52.1533333+00:00

agreed!

bill miller 5 Reputation points

2023-06-13T01:54:14.83+00:00

This simple task has cost me an hour and it still doesn't work. Everything has gotten so interwoven and complicated I am put down for my skills with microsoft which is BS. I am sales engineer and the new kids on the block use this as a reason to criticize me.

Albert Khor 20 Reputation points

2023-09-05T02:42:06.8966667+00:00

Agreed. All these additional steps are really unnecessary.

ASHOK CHANNEGOWDA 0 Reputation points

2023-11-13T08:05:43.3833333+00:00

I agree with your comments, It is absurd that Outlook does not have this basic feature for Reply with attachments, which is very necessary for approval. it is not easy to go back to the original email looking for attachments after the email has traveled half the world.
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Henrique 55 Reputation points

2023-04-06T12:25:39.5233333+00:00

This absurdly simple matter should be addressed, for god's sake. I have a very bureaucratic job where it's demanded that everything must be formalized by email - and in many cases we have to add third parties as well as remove some of the original people copied in the message; sometimes all of the attachments are forwarded, some times only a few of them, but in all cases, we keep the original people, the original attachments and then we add new people. There should be a "replay all with attachments" button! It shouldn't be that hard. It doesn't need to be the default option for most users but the option should be there. The sad thing is that I tried many other email clients and not only Outlook, but none of them show that option. I don't understand how come no developer thought of that.
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11 people found this answer helpful.
Anonymous

2023-04-17T16:05:10.8+00:00

Absolutely agree!

Muhammad Imran Javaid 0 Reputation points

2023-06-01T07:17:36.17+00:00

Very logical!

Albert Khor 20 Reputation points

2023-09-05T02:43:28.9133333+00:00

Agreed! Outlook is not well tuned for real-life applications.

Sunny Wong 1 Reputation point

2023-09-05T04:54:35.8033333+00:00

Outlook IMHO is very powerful, but scripting frees non-IT users to steep learning curve. Teams is now cannibalizing Outlook in some way.
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Murgan Subbiah 15 Reputation points

2023-03-03T16:22:33.65+00:00

Good response AJ.

They keep asking for feedbacks a million times and all the surveys seems like nobody bothers to do any, these work arounds are a nuisance if there are several emails and several attachments.

I am not a programmer but below is link to vba code to set up a quick macro and copy paste this code and link it to a button or just run the macro. I tested it it works REPLY ALL WITH ATTACHMENTS.

https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/email/reply-replyall-attachments/#:~:text=Macro%20to%20Reply%20or%20ReplyAll%20with%20Attachments&text=Fortunately%2C%20you%20can%20do%20this,and%20ReplyWithAttachments%20to%20the%20buttons.

I hope it works for everyone.

Best.
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3 people found this answer helpful.
Maria Economou 0 Reputation points

2023-07-19T11:10:27.3166667+00:00

thank you @Murgan Subbiah ! Works like a charm!!! At last, I am saving so much time and effort!!!

Sunny Wong 1 Reputation point

2023-09-05T03:56:55.4633333+00:00

Thanks Murgan for volunteering such valuable work. Even though VBA is not preferred solution for my Enterprise, your VBA is time saver for my use case when:

Scanned Receipt in Digital Developed Economy; (One I claim expense lacks time to use Mobile App, c/w Expense App, due to prerequisite of Report creation).

absence of AI or smarts such as:

connector of Scanner to Expense App OR

to split a scanned Page (of Receipts assembled by hand) into individual Receipt.

download automatically to a folder.

Kind Regards,

Sunny
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Victor Ivanidze 101 Reputation points

2022-02-03T09:17:39.653+00:00

Try to use ReplyWithAtt add-in.
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1 person found this answer helpful.
Sunny Wong 1 Reputation point

2024-01-08T03:17:46.38+00:00

For Enterprise, 3rd party solution requires approval process.

ReplayWithAdd add-in IMHO will go thru an approval process if enough demand arises in my workplace.

The alternative is Enterprise Scan to Email adds accessibility or email profile like Remembering previous data entries like File Name, Email Subject, Email Recipient.

For now, I have to settle with manual operation which unfortunately adds delay to my time critical task.
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