Email forwarding issue

We too have problem with iPhones and iPads (iOS 9.3.1 and Exchange 2010). I think it's related only to Exchange 2010 but if it's related to Exchange Online - it's not normal.

I don't believe this is related to the Exchange version in any way. This is specifically an issue with how the iOS Mail.app handles attachments.

(We are experiencing this issue on Exchange Online)

We are having a similar issue with corrupt PDFs that originate from iPhones that are forwarding emails in an Exchange environment.

When a PC user attempts to open the PDF, the receive an error message "Acrobat could not open 'PDFname' because it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged (for example, it was sent as an email attachment and wasn't correctly decoded.)"

The file is only readable from an iPhone, or from the Mac OSX native viewer (will not open from Adobe on Mac either).

Interestingly enough, the corrupt PDF files CAN be repaired by opening the said PDF on a Mac using the native "preview" app, and using "save As" from there. The resulting PDF can then be opened from PC, Mac, Adobe, etc...

Please see this thread as well:

Cannot Open PDF Forward From iPhone

Does anyone have any fixes for these corrupt attachments forwarded from iPhones?

We have the exact same problem. iOS9.3.1 devices and Exchange 2010 Enterprise 14.3 (Build 123.4)

We independently came to the same conclusions with each of the tests posted by LEMX_Mobility.

Ruling this out as a Microsoft problem because the issue is not encountered on Blackberry or Android devices.

Next steps will be to review the difference between forwarding the iPhone downloaded attachment vs forwarding the message in the pre-downloaded state (which works fine).

All,

I've opened a support case with Apple for this issue. They had me upload logs from my test iPhone to review with their engineers.

I'll post any finding in this thread.

Possible solution derived from Adobe and Microsoft Community forums:

https://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-4621

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/954684

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-outlook/email-with-i mage-and-attachment-forwarded-by/4d0367d5-3dca-49e9-9253-3821a3fab234?auth=1

These threads contain evidence of the issue since 2012, reference the inline attachments, the extra .HTM file, and suggest that bold faced content in the signature impact attachment corruption. This mishandling (or intentional invocation) of the iOS processing of inline attachments, after it is fully received (attachments downloaded) by the iPhone/iPad device, lead us to try the following:

1. Toggle the signature on/off
2. Send a test message
3. Toggle the signature on/off
4. Re-open the iPhone/iPad mail application
5. Forward message containing attachment

Detailed description:

1. Toggle the signature on/off

a. Remove your email signature. iOS Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Signature on your iPad/iPhone.

b. If you do not have a signature, perform the reverse action, and add a signature.

2. Send a test message

a. Creating a new test message will confirm the signature is added or removed

3. Toggle the signature on/off

a. Create an email signature. I used copy and paste from a previous message. iOS Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Signature on your iPad/iPhone.

b. If you added a signature in the previous step, perform the reverse action, and remove signature.

4. Re-open the iPhone mail application

a. Double tap on the Home button, and swipe up on the mail application to close

b. Open the mail application

5. Forward message containing attachment

a. Locate a message containing a valid attachment. Using a previously sent attachment may have corrupted it. Preferably, test with a message containing multiple attachments. For example, a PDF, DOCX, XLSX, or a combination of multiple attachments of the same type.

b. Forward the message containing the attachments.

c. The recipient should receive all attachments intact.

d. You still get the bonus .HTM files for each attachment.

This fix seems to stick even with a hard power off (holding power and home button for 10 seconds).

Give it a try, and let me know if this works for you too.

We are experiencing this issue.

The issue is affecting email attachments when forwarding messages from iPhones or iPads running iOS 9.3 or later. In such cases, the recipient may receive an email with missing or corrupted attachment files.

We are not using Exchange. We believe this is an ActiveSync related issue since 9.3 that effects native mail in iOS.

I am aware of at least 10 other large companies having this issue.

I logged a call with apple support and was told that this would be passed to engineering in the US. The response I've had is that "our engineering team have not been able to find fault with the device while running any tests in the background here and have looked to refer to the email support as the issue seems to be located to a particular exchange and not all mail accounts"

Given that I've demonstrated to them that we can replicate this using outlook.com accounts - I'm slightly frustrated by this response as I believe the issue is with ActiveSync in the native client.

We are NOT an exchange shop. We use IBM Notes for email. And we are experiencing this issue as well.

@andre-ldn.

"Ruling this out as a Microsoft problem because the issue is not encountered on Blackberry or Android devices."

Agreed, that does sound confusing. To clarify, I'm saying it is NOT a Microsoft issue because the failure occurs at the action of iPhone message forwarding. It is received by Outlook/Exchange already corrupted. Proof is in the copy of the sent items folder of the originator.

Did you try my solution?

Your suggested solution did not help our issue. In many cases our users don't use any signature at all.

The issue being discussed in this thread started with the 9.3 update. It effects all native mail devices using Activesync.

Problem may be fixed in iOS 9.3.2. Quick test on my iPhone 6 after installing the update looks good (I was also having the problem previously). We're using Exchange 2010 and the native iOS Mail app.

I've tested this again after updating to 9.3.2 but still seeing the same problem.