Ahh the “Outlook blocked access to the following potentially unsafe attachments” message, one of the most annoying things you can see when you in a hurry to get an attachment. However there is a good reason that attachments are disabled in outlook, some attachments can potentially be unsafe, as the warning says. But so long as you know were an attachment is from and you know the risks why can’t you enable these, after all you did pay for your computer and Office so you should be able to do what you want, right? Well in outlooks default setting there is no way to enable unsafe attachments, however there is a setting in the registry to enable them:
Just before I begin I want to remind you that there is a GOOD RESON why outlook blocks certain types of files and that for security. However when there is a file I need to open and I know it IS SAFE I go through these steps to enable it then disable the after I’ve download the file. So let’s start:
Windows 95 – XP:
Start > Run > Type regedit > Click Ok Navigate through the tree on the left panel to: +HKEY_CURRENT_USER ++Software +++Microsoft ++++Office +++++14.0(or your version of office (14.0 for Office 2010)) ++++++Outlook +++++++Security Once found Right Click on the Right Hand panel and select New>String Value > Name it Level1Remove Now double click on the new string, add exe in the Value Data field to enable .exe files. Once this is complete restart outlook to save the changes.
Windows Vistsa – 7
Start > Type regedit in the search bar > click Registry Editor in the programs window Navigate through the tree on the left panel to: +HKEY_CURRENT_USER ++Software +++Microsoft ++++Office +++++Outlook ++++++Security Once found Right Click on the Right Hand panel and select New>String Value > Name it Level1Remove Now double click on the new string, add exe in the Value Data field to enable .exe files. Once this is complete restart outlook to save the changes.
You can add multiple allowed types by editing this new Registry Entry like so:
exe;mdb;vbs
Please remember you should only allow dangerous file types temporarily. Once you have the file you need you disable the file type by removing the value of the new Registry Value.
Please feel free to add any comments or questions, thanks.
