Microsoft Lists - Attachment Errors

Question

Microsoft Lists doesnt always display the attachments that i have already inputted into the platform. can you help with this? i think there's a bug

Answer 1

Hi @Brandon Wilkoff, 

Good day. Sorry you’re going through this, and I appreciate you sharing the details of your situation. 

Before we proceed, please note that this is a user-to-user community forum. As a moderator, I don’t have access to your Microsoft 365 tenant, your account, or your device to make changes directly. However, I’ll do my best to support you by sharing the appropriate resources and directing you to the right support channels. 

Based on the behavior you described, it appears that the attachment may already exist in the list item on the backend, even though it is not consistently displaying in the Microsoft Lists interface. This would explain why you receive the error message when trying to upload the same file again

In other words, the issue seems to be more related to how the attachment is being displayed or refreshed in the list item, rather than the file not being uploaded at all. 

• Also, there is a known issue related to this problem, which you may refer to here: Unable to reattach a file with the name that's same as a deleted attachment - SharePoint | Microsof… 

In the meantime, here are some workarounds you can try: 

1. Open the list item in Edit mode, then save it again 

• Sometimes saving the item can refresh the attachment state and make the file display correctly. 

2. Refresh the browser and reopen the item 

• This can help if the UI did not fully update after the attachment was added. 

3. Try a different browser or InPrivate/Incognito window 

• This helps rule out any browser cache/session-related display issue. 
• 

4. Rename the file slightly, then try uploading it again 

• For example, you may try renaming the file slightly before uploading it again, such as adding “_v2” to the end of the file name.

5. Check whether the attachment is visible from another view or for another user 
   If possible, verify whether the attachment appears for someone else or from a different list view. 

For your references: Show or hide columns in a list or library - Microsoft Support 

If the attachment still does not display after trying the above, the next best step would be to involve your organization’s IT team. I recommend asking them to open a support ticket with Microsoft Support through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. This will allow Microsoft to review the list behavior more closely and check whether there is a backend issue affecting attachment visibility.

 

In case you do not know who is your IT admin, kindly refer to this article: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? - Microsoft Support  

hope this information is helpful. Should you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please feel free to share them in the comment below. I'm very happy to help.     

Thank you again for your understanding and cooperation.    

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it.  

Note: Follow the steps in our documentation to enable email notifications if you want to receive email notifications related to this topic.     

Answer 2

I keep getting the below message when i try to re-attach the file. The file is attached, it just doesnt display. please fix!!!

Encountering issue when uploading attachment [Moderator note: Personally Identifiable Information removed] Contract - 2026.pdf : A file or folder with this name already exists