Error opening attachments / Cleaning out the Temporary Outlook Files folder

When opening an attachment directly from within Outlook you could get an error message saying that it can’t create the file and to that you need check the permissions on the folder you want to save it in. In most cases the permissions on the folder isn’t the issue but the fact that the folder is "full". When you open an attachment directly from within Outlook it will first save a copy to a subfolder of the Temporary Internet Files folder. Cleaning out the folder will solve the issue.

Unfortunately this is easier said than done. The subfolder name Outlook creates (on installation of Outlook) in the Temporary Internet Files folder is quite random. It always starts with OLK but is followed by 2 random numbers or letters. Also by default you cannot simply browse to the folder to clean it out. Getting to the Temporary Outlook Folder can still be accomplished in 2 easy steps though.

Step 1: Locate the folder

The folder location is stored in the registry in the following key;

Outlook 97	`HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Outlook\Security`
Outlook 98	`HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.5\Outlook\Security`
Outlook 2000	`HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook\Security`
Outlook 2002/XP	`HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Security`
Outlook 2003	`HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security`
Outlook 2007	`HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security`

Step 2: Get to the folder

Open the OutlookSecureTempFolder registry key from the location provided in Step 1.
Copy the path from the key.
Open Explorer
Paste the address in the Address Bar and press Enter

Use OutlookTools or OutlookTempCleaner

Still not easy enough or just don’t want to go in the Registry to find the folder location? I’ve created two free tools which can do the trick as well.

OutlookTools offers besides locating, opening and cleaning up the SecureTempFolder also quite a lot of additional features to troubleshoot and tweak Outlook.

OutlookTempCleaner focuses only on dealing with the SecureTempFolder and can also be used in (corporate) login and logoff scripts to clean up the folder without any end-user interaction.

Last modified: February 8, 2009