Searching attachments in emails can be time-consuming and annoying. Fortunately, Microsoft has a “File” view in Outlook Online that makes it easy to find any document you’re looking for. That’s how it works.
Microsoft Outlook has traditionally been an amalgamation of email, calendar, people and tasks, but that leaves out an important component: data. If you use the Outlook desktop client, you have powerful search options to fill that gap. When it comes to attachments, there is a dedicated “Have attachments” option on the “Search” tab specifically for files you have sent or received.
Outlook Online does not have a ribbon, but you can still search for attachments by clicking the arrow in the “Search” box and selecting the “Attachments” checkbox.
Microsoft took it a step further in Outlook Online and introduced a dedicated file view for Microsoft 365 / Office 365 subscribers and Outlook Live accounts.
You can access this view by clicking on the “Files” icon in the lower left corner of Outlook. By default, it will be between the “People” and “Tasks” icons.
If you can’t see it, but have a three-dot icon instead, click on the three-dot icon and then on the “Files” option in the menu that appears.
The standard view will show all files, with an icon showing the file type, subject, sender, date of receipt or sending and the folder in which the email with the attachment is kept.
In a slightly strange twist, image files are not displayed in this standard view. To show them, you can click on “Files x” to show all files Including images or click on the “Photos” option in the sidebar to show only images.
By default, files are displayed in a list, but you can click “View” and change to “View blocks” to show the files as thumbnails.
This is where the “Photos” option applies, as it is much easier to find the image you are looking for.
To open an attachment, double-click it in the Attachments list and a panel will open with a view of the attachment and the email to which it was attached.
From here, you can download the file and perform several other actions, depending on the type of file, as well as performing the standard actions that you would normally do with email, such as Reply, Forward and so on.
If you just need to find an attachment and download or print it, you can skip this step and download or print it directly from the list. Click the three dot menu icon next to the file name and choose the appropriate action from the menu.
Alternatively, select the item by clicking on the circle to the left of it and the same options appear on the toolbar.
This is ideal for downloading multiple files at once, as you can select as many files as you like using this method.
When you are finished using your files and want to return to your emails, click on the “Mail” icon in the lower left corner of Outlook.
The File view is a good addition to Microsoft Outlook Online. It’s easy to use, fast, and allows you to manage your attachments in a user-friendly way that is definitely more refined than just selecting search results.