Hi everyone,
I have an iPhone 8s running ver 12.1.2. For about 3 weeks now, I am unable to open any PDF documents from the mail app. I get the error "Cannot download attachment". I have checked my storage, I have 31 GB left in storage. I do not have the adobe app on the phone, it has worked fine without it.
I have looked online for answers but none seem to resolve my issue. Can you help?
PDF Doc size 331 KB
iPhone 8
Hello thruacanon,
We appreciate the follow-up reply.
Reinstalling the Mail app was a great step and that helps rule out a number of possible causes.
Are you using an Exchange email account? Do you have more than one email account on your iOS devices? You mentioned Outlook and the fact that the issue occurs on two different iOS devices, and knowing if the issue occurs with multiple accounts would narrow things down further.
In your original post, you were running iOS 12.1.2. Have you updated to iOS 12.1.3 since it was released? If not, that would be a great next step: How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Take care.
Hello thruacanon,
Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities. I see you've been running into an issue opening PDF attachments.
It sounds like this happens with all PDF files you try to open on the iPhone; is that right?
Are you able to open the same PDF attachments on other devices that share the same email account?
Do you use more than one email account on your device? If so, have you noticed if the issue affects attachments from all accounts, or just one?
Does it help if you Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch?
How about if you test on both a cellular connection, and Wi-Fi? Do you find you're able to open attachments on one connection type but not the other?
Hopefully the information above helps you.
Cheers.
Hello thruacanon,
Thanks for the additional detail. If you're seeing this issue across a number of devices after the troubleshooting and testing you've done so far, your best next step is to get in contact with Apple directly to look into this further. You can use this link to Contact Apple Support.
Have a great day.
The default email on the iPhone and iPad will not download the attachment. I have removed the email app and readded it, restarted the phone. I have made sure all apps are up to date. I have tried on wifi and cellular data. The issue persists on my iPad as well. If I try and open it on my Windows 10 laptop via Outlook or if I use the GMAIL app, it will open fine.
I get the same error Cannot Download Attachment if I use the default Apple Mail app.
Hi Starr,
I have updated my devices to the new iOS 12.1.3 and still have this issue. I am using exchange email as my primary account and then I have 2 GMAIL accounts. None of them work on the iPhone or iPad using the default email app.
If I use the GMAIL app, I can open any PDF document. However, I do not use the GMAIL app for my work which utilizes Exchange.
I have removed my GMAIL accounts from the default email app. I only use the exchange account on the default app and it still will not open my PDF documents.
We have many other users at my office that are having this issue. As the IT support, they have come to me to get it fixed. Please advise.
TIA.
Cannot download attachment (PDF)
