Mail is not showing attachments

Question

Level 1

9 points

Mail is not showing attachments

I have been using Mail for a few weeks now. When I want to download a an attachment sent recenelty, its not there. Very recent, like the most recent email with an attachment in a conversation is there, but then an attachment in an older email in that conversation is not there. It WAS there were it first arrived, or if its the most recent attachment in a conversation.

If I turn conversation view off its still not showing.

But he filesize of the email is indicating an attachment present.

So how would I retrieve this older attachment that was on an email that is no longer there?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Oct 30, 2012 5:07 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

amityweb Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 30, 2012 5:09 AM in response to amityweb

Also, if I go to File -> Save Attachments, it asks me where to save them, but then it never appears in this location, i.e. it does not save them.

An email without attachment does not give me the option to save them them, so therefore Mail knows there is an attachment in this email, its just not showing or downloading.

It is not specific to this email or sender, this is happeneing often.

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Answer 2

amityweb Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 30, 2012 5:17 AM in response to amityweb

Clicking View Raw Source shows all the code there for the attchment, including filename

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Answer 3

amityweb Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 30, 2012 5:45 AM in response to amityweb

If I search for the filename in Finder it comes up in the mail folder OK (have to know the filename though), I can get it from there. not ideal, assume its a bug in mail.

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Answer 4

BeeDub69

Level 1

5 points

Mar 28, 2013 10:00 PM in response to amityweb

I was having problems with attachments sporadically not showing up in Mail. (10.6.8)

Then I found a thread with a solution here in the forums:

open a Terminal window and type in:

defaults write com.apple.mail PreferPlainText -bool FALSE

Restart Mail. Voila, all attachments are now present.

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Answer 5

Antonv

Level 1

0 points

May 7, 2013 9:38 AM in response to BeeDub69

Thanks. this solved my problem!

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Answer 6

Jul 24, 2013 5:37 PM in response to amityweb

This didn't solve my problem, which is the same.

Would there be another solution?

Is it caused by having moved / deleted the attachment after sending it?

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Answer 7

eesimon

Level 1

0 points

Jan 9, 2014 9:55 AM in response to amityweb

Thanks. This solved my problem.

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Answer 8

Feb 4, 2014 4:55 AM in response to eesimon

I generally have the most success resolving this by selecting the mailbox that's not displaying attachments properly then choosing 'Rebuild' from the Mailbox menu.

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Answer 9

nwonogo

Level 1

9 points

Jun 14, 2016 3:31 AM in response to BeeDub69

Didbnt work for me. My mum has same problem but i dont think opening a terminal and typing code is going to help her, might as well ask her to write the theory of relativity

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Answer 10

nwonogo

Level 1

9 points

Jun 14, 2016 3:35 AM in response to amityweb

use this method and save it

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Answer 11

Jul 5, 2016 8:46 PM in response to nwonogo

Just recently, Mail has started not showing the attachments at the bottom of messages in the Inbox when you are using the preview window. The only way now to see attachments is to double-click and open the message and do what you show. I really preferred being able to view attachments in a preview list.

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Answer 12

Eric Root

Level 10

684,033 points

Jul 6, 2016 6:40 AM in response to William M.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem or a suggestion for improvement. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem/suggested change solved sooner.

Feedback

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Answer 13

Sep 1, 2016 9:07 AM in response to Eric Root

I've been having a slightly different Apple Mail issue with attachments. Once I forward an email that had an attachment, or replied to that email that had an attachment, the attachment then disappears completely. I can no longer find it. I am using that function in Apple Mail that connects all emails into a thread.

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Answer 14

Sep 27, 2016 3:51 PM in response to amityweb

Almost four years later and we're still having this problem?? On the phone with Apple now, but I suspect I won't get anywhere...

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Answer 15

cultinc

Level 1

8 points

Oct 9, 2016 6:21 PM in response to amityweb

I'm getting really tired of having to rebuild my mailbox every 2 days... and losing all my flags.

I cannot run a business with this level of unreliability. Clients will send me an email with an attachment and I won't be able to see it. Then, I'll rebuild the mailboxes and an hour or two later, I can see the client's attachment. Thanks Apple, you are ruining me.

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