Outlook HTML vs. Printing

Today I noticed how I haven't missed using Microsoft Outlook. I printed an email, but found that all the standard headers were missing - From, Sent, To, and Subject. Additionally, trying to troubleshoot using Print Preview also gave surprising results:

Microsoft's KB 222320 ("Some print options not available with HTML messages") does little more than acknowledging this as a problem.

Converting from HTML to Rich Text format is not an option. HTML is much more standards compliant, even with Outlook's quirks. More importantly, HTML format has much better support by other email clients, and has a smaller message size than Rich Text format.

I didn't find a "great" solution for this. The best work-around I found it to not have Outlook handle the printing of messages at all, even though it involves some extra steps. Simply save the message(s) using File, Save As, then selecting "HTML" for "Save As Type". Open the file in your favorite web browser, then preview and/or print from there.

I experienced this on Outlook 2003 with the latest service packs. The KB article states the issue also exists with 2002 (XP) and 2000. I don't have Office 2007 available to test, but I'd be curious of the results.

Microsoft Outlook's blocked attachments

I just finished one of those late-night phone calls, one that also happened to interrupt my sleep. The culprit? Microsoft Outlook was blocking access to a file attachment that a user needed access to.

For the reasoning behind this functionality in Outlook, William Kennedy, the General Manager of Office Communication Services at Microsoft, has an explanation in "Blocked attachments: The Outlook feature you love to hate".

The kicker here is that the blocked file was a ".mat" file, which Outlook blocked on the assumption that it was an "Access Table Shortcut" file instead of the MathWorks MATLAB file that it really was.

William Kennedy's article describes a few alternatives for sending such files so that they do not get blocked, but these are of little use once the file or files are already sent and need to be accessed on the receiving end.

The quickest and easiest way to fix this is to download and install Slovak Technical Services' Attachment Options plugin for Outlook. This free adds an "Attachment Security & Options" tab under Outlook's Tools/Options, where chosen file extensions can be essentially "unblocked" by moving them from "Level 1" to "Level 2".

The alternative is to edit the Registry directly. See "Opening Attachments Blocked by the Microsoft Outlook E-Mail Security Update" at Slipstick Systems for the details. (All the usual warnings about editing the registry apply.)

Here are some other pages at Microsoft that may be helpful:

• Attachment File Types Restricted by Outlook 2003
• About unblocking attachments
• Administrator-Controlled Settings vs. User-Controlled Settings
• How to configure Outlook to block additional attachment file name extensions