Article ID: 290852 - Last Review: July 21, 2009 - Revision: 4.0

You cannot double-click to open an Excel attachment in Outlook

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This article was previously published under Q290852
For a Outlook 2000 version of this article, see 231342  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/231342/ ) .
For a Outlook 98 version of this article, see 231350  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/231350/ ) .
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SYMPTOMS

All attempts to open an Excel file attachment in a message by double-clicking the file are unsuccessful.

If you double-click an Excel attachment in a message, Excel starts and appears to stop responding without opening the worksheet. If you minimize Excel, the following hidden error message occurs:
The system cannot find the file specified.
If you right-click the Excel message attachment, and then click Save As to save it to your hard disk, it saves successfully. However, when you double-click the saved file to open it, you receive the following error message:
Cannot find the file <path\filename> (or one of its component(s)). Make sure the path and file name are correct and that all required libraries are available.
Excel 2002 and Excel 2003

If you click Open on the Excel File menu to open the file from your hard disk, the file opens.

Excel 2007

If you click the Microsoft Office Button, and you then click Open to open the file from your hard disk, the file opens.
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RESOLUTION

Use the following steps to resolve this behavior.

Excel 2002 and Excel 2003

  1. Close the message.
  2. Start Excel.
  3. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  4. Under the General tab, click to clear the ignore other applications option, and then click OK.
  5. Quit Excel.

Excel 2007

  1. Close the message.
  2. Start Excel.
  3. Click the Microsoft Office Logo Button, click Excel Options, and then click Advanced.
  4. Under the General tab, click to clear the Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) option, and then click OK.
  5. Exit Excel.
Now you can double-click the attachment to open it in Excel, and you can save it to your hard disk, and then double-click the file to open it.
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MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about this issue, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
149764  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/149764/EN-US/ ) Excel opens without displaying workbook
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
  • Microsoft Exchange Client 5.5
  • Microsoft Exchange Client 5.0
  • Microsoft Exchange Client 4.0
  • Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2007
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Keywords: 
kbsavefile kberrmsg kbprb KB290852
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