This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Attachment problems

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by Toad-Hall

more options

I am having problems getting attachments in many different formats (xlsx. pdf. docx., etc.) It seems that Thunderbird is blocking some of the attachment from coming through somehow because when I login online to my email provider the attachments work fine and I am able to open them. Thunderbird also seems to be blocking some pictures (in the body of the email) randomly. I'm not sure what I can change to fix this but I haven't had problems till recently and I haven't made any changes to my account settings.

I am having problems getting attachments in many different formats (xlsx. pdf. docx., etc.) It seems that Thunderbird is blocking some of the attachment from coming through somehow because when I login online to my email provider the attachments work fine and I am able to open them. Thunderbird also seems to be blocking some pictures (in the body of the email) randomly. I'm not sure what I can change to fix this but I haven't had problems till recently and I haven't made any changes to my account settings.

All Replies (3)

more options

what anti virus are you using?

more options

I'm using Avast (free version)...I work with others that have the same set up as I do but they are not having any issues with attachments. Sometimes they forward me a message and I can't open the attachment through Thunderbird, I have to log in online through my email provider to open the attachment.

more options

Are you actually downloading the attachment? In the 'Account Settings' > 'Synchronization & Storage' for the mail account. Have you selected 'Keep messages for this account on this computer'? Have you selected 'Synchronise all messages locally regardless of age' ? Have you selected to restrict the size of any download? Assuming the answers to the above are 'yes', 'yes' and 'no'...


When you select to read an email, does the email show the attachment at the bottom below the actual message?

If yes, does it show a size for the attachment?

When you right click on the attachment and select 'Open' what happens ? Do you get a window asking you to choose what to use to open it? Do you get any error message ? If error message what does it say word for word ?

If you see attachment are you able to save it to the desktop and then open it?