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Word attachment becomes Word Viewer and won't open

If I attempt to open a Word document attached to an email the file type at the top left changes to Word Viewer

and there is nothing showing on the screen just a plain grey background. However, if I drag the document from

my email [Outlook] to the desktop it shows as a Word file and opens fine.

It's always best to save attachments to the local drive and open them from there.
Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - MVP Office Apps & Services (Word)
dougrobbinsmvp@gmail.com
It's time to replace ‘Diversity, Equity & Inclusion’ with ‘Excellence, Opportunity & Civility’ - V Ramaswamy

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This is something which just began happening recently. I have always been able to open Word attachments without this happening. I was looking for a way to resolve the issue.

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Hello,

 

What do you mean by the attachment changes to Word viewer?

 

Provide us the screen shot of the exact changes of the attachment?

 

You may download the file and perform the file association for Word and check if it helps.

Right click on downloaded attachment Word file/ Open with and Choose Default Program/ Select Word

And ensure to check the box “always use this program to open this kind of file” and click on OK.

Once you complete the above mentioned steps, you may open Word attachment and check if it helps.

 

If the above steps fail, you may repair Office 2013 using the following link and verify the status:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/repair-or-remove-office-2010-HA010357402.aspx

 

I hope the above information helps. Let us know if you need further assistance.

Thank you.

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Question Info

Last updated May 21, 2022 Views 983 Applies to: