How to Troubleshoot Outlook 2016 For Mac Attachments Greyed Out: Trusted Solutions

Written By Kumar Raj

Approved By Anuraag Singh

Published On September 12th, 2022

Reading Time 5 Minutes Reading

In the previous article, we discussed “How to Resolve Mac Outlook not Downloading Attachments?“. In this article, We will discuss the simple and quick tricks to resolve Outlook 2016 for Mac Attachments greyed Out.

Outlook 2016 for Mac is the most used in Mac. With the release of the customized Outlook 2011 version for Mac OS, Microsoft has extended its reach to a large section of Mac users. Outlook 2016 included some more useful features and gathered a bigger fanbase.

However, the 2016 version of Outlook for Mac is not free of bugs. One of the most common issues faced by Mac Outlook users is attachments greyed out in Outlook for Mac. In this post, we will discuss how to troubleshoot Outlook 2016 for Mac attachments greyed out the issue. First, we will learn more about the problem.

What is Outlook 2016 For Mac Attachments Greyed Out Problem

When this problem occurs, users are barred from downloading the received attachments. Though all attachments are visible in the emails, they are greyed out. So, the user becomes unable to click on the attachments in order to download.

Waiting for some minutes might help but not on all occasions. If the same emails are accessed from OWA or tablets or smartphones, this issue has not been encountered. It seems that the attachments greyed out is exclusively Outlook 2016 for Mac problem.

Real User Queries to Understand Mac Outlook Attachments Greyed Outlook Problem

We have taken some user queries from different forums to have a better idea about Mac attachments greyed out in Outlook 2016.

User Query 1: “Hello there. I own an Admin account of office 365 and the issue I will talk about has occurred to one of our employees. The person in question cannot download the attachment he gets with Outlook 2016 emails as they are greyed out. This problem is not present when he tries to download the attachments from OWA or smartphone. It seems that the email attachment greyed out problem only occurs in Outlook 2016 for Mac. Please help us out with an easy solution.”

User Query 2: “I am a subscriber of E3 plan of Office 365 and recently I am getting some problems with Outlook 2016 for Mac. Sometimes, I receive emails with attachments in my Outlook. I cannot download those attachments because Outlook 2016 attachments are greyed out. This issue does not persist on tablet, smartphone or web app of Outlook. It also does not occur in case of all emails or any particular sender. Looking for a suggestion to fix Outlook 2016 for Mac attachments greyed out

We can see that how this issue is affecting Outlook for Mac users. That is why, we have decided to enlist some of the solutions to this problem.

Ways to Resolve Outlook for Mac 2016 Attachments are Greyed Out Issue

Users can try these workarounds to get rid of this issue.

Since this problem does not appear in Outlook Web App, try viewing the attachments through OWA. Users can also download the attachments from smartphones and tablets.
Forward the emails to yourself but only with the attachments. You can download the attachments from the forwarded emails.
Users can also try moving emails to another folder and emptying the cache. Follow these steps to do that:
- Create a new folder in your Outlook for Mac 2016 and give it a name.
- Now move all the emails with attachment greyed out problems to that folder.
- Right-click on the folder and select the Properties option.
- Now, click on Empty Cache.
- If prompted with any warning message, click OK.

Apart from these, users can check the solution from Microsoft. This issue has been a bug of Outlook 2016 for Mac and in March 2018, Microsoft fixed this issue in their latest Outlook Mac version. Click on Help>> Check for Update in Mac Outlook to get the latest update (16.11). Then they have to follow the procedure in AutoUpdate Wizard.
The installation of this update should help you get rid of this problem permanently. If this also does not work and the attachments are still greyed out in your Outlook, click on Get entire message. This should solve your problem.

Best Way to Download Attachments from Mac Outlook

Well, after trying all the above methods if you are still getting an issue, then you can try SysTools Mac Outlook Attachment Extractor. The tool gives you the option to extract multiple attachments from Mac Outlook OLK and OLM files.

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This tool gives you the wide range of features like naming convention, extract attachments from calendars, maintain folder hierarchy. So to check the features of the tool you can try the demo of the tool without spending a single penny.

Working of the Tool

1. First, download and install the tool on your Mac device.

2. Open the tool and seclec the Auto Locate Mac Outlook 2019/2016/Office 365 Office option.

3. Choose the Maintain Folder Hierarchy option from Folder Option.

4. Select the Categories from you want to extract attachments.

5. At last, click on the Export button to complete the task.

Final Words

Attachments greyed out are undoubtedly an annoying problem for Outlook Mac users. To help them with that problem, we described how to troubleshoot Outlook 2016 For Mac attachments greyed out. Users can try the workarounds shared in this post. Otherwise, they can choose the solution provided by Microsoft. Using the methods discussed here, this issue can be solved permanently.

By Kumar Raj

A versatile writer with the vast knowledge of technology helps to reduce the gap between a user and technology. Provides easy and reliable ways to resolve multiple technical issues, which users encounter in their day-to-day life.

View all of Kumar Raj's posts.