Select the product you need help with

Office document attachments in Outlook unexpectedly open in Protected View mode

Article ID: 2714439 - View products that this article applies to.

Symptoms

When you open an Office document attached to an e-mail message, the document opens in Protected View mode with the following notification displayed at the top of the document.

This file originated as an e-mail attachment and might be unsafe. Click for more details.

This warning is shown in the following figure.

Collapse this imageExpand this image

This problem occurs even though the e-mail message was sent to you by another user in your organization (using Microsoft Exchange Server).

Back to the top | Give Feedback

Cause

This problem occurs when the MarkInternalAsUnsafe DWORD value exists under either of the following registry keys and has a value of one (1).

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security

Back to the top | Give Feedback

To resolve this problem, make the change that is appropriate to your situation.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756

(https://vkbexternal.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/VKBWebService/ViewContent.aspx?PortalId=1&scid=kb;en-US;322756)

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

MarkInternalAsUnsafe=1 under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security

To have us update the value of MarkInternalAsUnsafe for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you prefer to update the value yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To update the value of MarkInternalAsUnsafe automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Then click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.

Collapse this imageExpand this image
Fix this problem
(http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9817744)

Microsoft Fix it 55008
Collapse this imageExpand this image

Notes
- This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.
- If you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the Fix it solution to a flash drive or a CD and then run it on the computer that has the problem.
Then, go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Let me fix it myself
To update the value of MarkInternalAsUnsafe, follow these steps:
1. Exit Outlook.
2. Start Registry Editor.
  - In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
  - In Windows XP, click Run on the Start menu, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then select the following registry subkey:
  
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security
4. Double-click the MarkInternalAsUnsafe DWORD value.
5. Change the value from 1 to 0 and click OK.
6. Restart Outlook.
MarkInternalAsUnsafe=1 under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security

In this configuration, the MarkInternalAsUnsafe value is located under the \Policies hive in the registry. Therefore, your system administrator will have to disable the Use Protected View for attachments from internal senders policy in the Group Policy Management Console.
1. Start the Group Policy Management Console.
2. Expand the Microsoft Outlook 2010 node, and then select Security.
  
  Collapse this imageExpand this image
3. Double-click the Use Protected View for attachments received from internal senders policy.
4. Select Not Configured, and then click OK.

Did this fix the problem?

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this section. If the problem is not fixed, you can contact support
(http://support.microsoft.com/contactus)
.
We would appreciate your feedback. To provide feedback or to report any issues with this solution, please leave a comment on the "Fix it for me
(http://blogs.technet.com/fixit4me/)
" blog or send us an email
(mailto:fixit4me@microsoft.com?Subject=KB)
.

Back to the top | Give Feedback

More information

Files from the Internet and from other potentially unsafe locations can contain viruses, worms, or other kinds of malware, which can harm your computer. To help protect your computer, files from these potentially unsafe locations are opened in Protected View. However, if the e-mail message with the Office document attachment originates from within your own Microsoft Exchange Server organization, the attachments will only open in Protected View if you have MarkInternalAsUnsafe=1 in the registry, which is not the default Office configuration. The default behavior is to not open Office document attachments in Protected View if the e-mail message originates inside your own Exchange organization.

Back to the top | Give Feedback

Note This is a "FAST PUBLISH" article created directly from within the Microsoft support organization. The information contained herein is provided as-is in response to emerging issues. As a result of the speed in making it available, the materials may include typographical errors and may be revised at any time without notice. See Terms of Use

(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=151500)

for other considerations.

Back to the top | Give Feedback