Opening, Reading and Saving Outlook Email Attachments
Attachments on an email can be an important document that you need to read and respond to, an invoice or bill, a picture, or many other types of items. There are a number of methods for opening, reading and saving Outlook email attachments. One method is to read the email message, then press and hold down the Shift key and hit the Tab key one time. Right arrow to the attachment and hit the Enter key one time. A type of dialogue box should come up with three buttons. One button says "Open," another says "Save," and the final button says "Cancel." Arrow to the button you want and then hit the Enter key one time. If you hit Enter on the "Save" button a "Save As" dialogue box will come up. Shift Tab until you find the drive and folder where you want to save the attachment, hit Enter to activate that drive and folder, and then press and hold down the Alt key and hit the letter s to save the attachment. If you arrow to and hit Enter on the "Open" button you will probably be placed in a "Preview" type of screen, where your screen reader may not speak. In some cases there will be an area where you can "Enable Editing" and then read the attachment. Another method is to open the email, and then press and hold down the Alt key and hit the letter f to bring up the "File Menu." Down arrow to the "Save Attachments" menu item and hit the Enter key two times. A "Save As" dialogue box will appear. Shift Tab to the drive and folder where you want to save the attachments. Hit the Enter key one time to activate that drive and folder, and the press the Alt s key command to save the attachments. There are a number of methods for opening and saving attachments--you may need to experiment to see what works best for you, and the version of Outlook you are using. Try the following activity to develop you skills in opening and or saving attachments. When you are finished move to the link titled "BACK" at the bottom of this page to move to the "Outlook Lessons" web page.
1. Open Outlook.
2. Down arrow to an email with an attachment--your screen reader should tell you that there is an attachment.
3. Press and hold down the Shift key and hit the Tab key one time.
4. Release the keys.
5. Right arrow to the attachment you want.
6. Hit the Enter key one time.
7. Move to the "Save" button.
8. Shift Tab to the drive and folder where you want to save the attachment.
9. Hit the Enter key one time to activate the drive and folder.
10. Press and hold down the Alt key and hit the letter s to save the attachment.
11. Press and hold down the Windows key and hit the letter e to move to the Windows File Explorer.
12. Shift Tab to the "Tree View."
13. Move to the drive and folder where you saved the attachment.
14. Hit the Enter key one time.
15. Tab to the "List View."
16. Arrow to the name of the attachment you jsut saved.
17. Hit the Enter key one time to open the attachment.
18. Press and hold down the Alt key and hit the letter f to bring up the "File" menu.
19. Tab over to the "Enable Editing" item.
20. Hit the Enter key one time. You should now be able to read the attachment.
21. Press the Alt s key command to save the attachment.
22. Press the Alt F4 key command to close the attachment.
23. Hit the Escape key one time to return to the Outlook "Inbox."