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I am unable to open Office file attachments from Outlook with the new app

Zane Richards 20 Reputation points
2024-07-24T13:41:12.6833333+00:00

I have a new Laptop using Windows 11 and MS Office Professional Plus 2019.

When trying to open office files(Word or Excel) which are attached in an email I get the following error message: "This action couldn't be performed because Office doesn't recognize the command it was given".

I can download them and open them, and I can also use the preview option which shows the content. It seems I just cannot open the file directly from the email. With further testing I am able to open it directly from the older / Classic outlook, just not form the new outlook app.

How can I resolve this?

Office
Office
A suite of Microsoft productivity software that supports common business tasks, including word processing, email, presentations, and data management and analysis.
1,704 questions
Outlook
Outlook
A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.
3,988 questions
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  1. Joan Hua-MSFT 2,635 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2024-07-25T02:28:16.79+00:00

    Hi @Zane Richards

    Welcome to our forum!

    According to your description, i reproduce your issue. Based on my research, it is not yet supported to open an attachment file with its default formatting application in New Outlook. I am afraid that you need to switch back to the legacy Outlook to continue to use this feature.

    Please kindly understand that many functions are not designed at present. To get this feature more quickly, I have found a post in feedback collection website, and you could vote for it. Many features of our current products are designed and upgraded based on customers’ feedback. You can also make suggestions on that website and hope Microsoft will notice this in the future. 

    User's image Thanks for your support and understanding! 

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".  

    Note: Please follow the steps in our [documentation] to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

    1 person found this answer helpful.

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  1. Philippe Levesque 5,801 Reputation points
    2024-07-24T15:03:45.78+00:00

    Hi

    It's a common issue with the newer Outlook apps, often it's the office integration that does not work well. Try repair office, try to update the outlook app with Windows update or via the store; ms-windows-store://pdp/?ProductId=9NRX63209R7B

    If you use the Outlook as a Chrome/Edge add-on, reinstall it too; https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-the-web-version-of-outlook-like-a-desktop-app-b360bd9a-00dc-43a4-bdf8-71cdeeb78e83

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