Outlook for Mac Will Not Download Attachments

Question

My Outlook for Mac just stopped downloading attachments. The attachments are grayed out and the message says "Downloading attachments from server ..." but nothing happens.

When I click on Help there is no option to Check for Updates. Under the Messages tab, all options under Attachments are grayed out.

I can log on to Outlook on the web and see and retrieve all attachments.

My version of Outlook for Mac is Version 16.101.3 (25100321).

Help!!

Answer 1

It sounds like you are experiencing an issue with Outlook for Mac where attachments are not downloading properly. Here are a few steps you can try to troubleshoot this problem:

1. Check Internet Connection: Ensure that your internet connection is stable, as a poor connection can affect the downloading of attachments.
2. Restart Outlook: Sometimes, simply restarting the application can resolve temporary glitches.
3. Update Outlook: Since you mentioned that there is no option to check for updates under Help, you may want to manually check for updates through the Mac App Store or reinstall Outlook to ensure you have the latest version.
4. Reset Outlook Preferences: You can reset the Outlook preferences by quitting Outlook, then navigating to ~/Library/Preferences/ and removing the com.microsoft.Outlook.plist file. Restart Outlook afterward.
5. Rebuild Outlook Profile: If the issue persists, consider creating a new Outlook profile. Go to Applications > Utilities > Microsoft Database Utility and create a new profile.
6. Check for Blocked Attachments: Ensure that the attachments you are trying to download are not blocked by Outlook settings. You can log into Outlook on the web to verify if the attachments are accessible there.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may want to reach out to Microsoft Support for further assistance.

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References:

• Email messages are stuck in Outbox in Outlook 2016 for Mac

Answer 2

Hi Marc,

The fix for that symptom in New Outlook for Mac is to update Outlook with Microsoft AutoUpdate. Close Outlook, open Word, then go to Help > Check for Updates and install all available updates.

If you do not see Check for Updates in Word, launch Microsoft AutoUpdate directly. In Finder choose Go > Go to Folder, paste this path: /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/ and open Microsoft AutoUpdate.app. Then install all updates.

Your build 16.101.3 is behind. Microsoft's current Mac release is already at 16.103 as of Nov 11, 2025, and recent builds include fixes for attachment behavior in Outlook for Mac.

After updating, relaunch Outlook and open one of the affected messages. Give it a minute on that message so the attachment placeholders can finish.

If attachments are still stuck after you update, tell me and I will give you the next step.