Outlook security settings restrict / block access to several executable files that are sent to you as a attachment, though the security is not questionable, there are several times when legit attachments are blocked by Outlook.

I came across such a problem when a colleague emailed me a .bat (batch) file, as a attachment. Outlook simply blocked access to the file, and it also did not provide me with a option to unblock the attachment.

There are few workarounds for the problems, but those are dirty hacks which would require users to edit the registry, so instead of using that I searched for a tool that would do this trick for me. We came across a very useful utility called OutlookTools which is a must have utility for any Outlook user.

OutlookTools is a support and advanced settings tool for Microsoft Office Outlook. It gives you easy access to Outlook settings and data folders and allows you to change settings that are normally only possible through the registry. There are several features we found in OutlookTools and one of them was to unblock potentially unsafe attachments.

Once you have selected the file type to be unblocked, restart outlook and you should be able to download the blocked attachment. You can re-enable the block for the file type once you have downloaded the file you require, by running OutlookTools once again.

OutlookTools is a definite must have since it will allow you to block and unblock attachments without having to do the dirty editing in the registry, in addition to unblocking executables and other blocked files, it also has several other features including:

• Easy access to Outlook settings and data folders
• Easy access to troubleshooting tools
• Start Outlook with a startup switch
• Clear the Most Recently Used lists
• Make the New Mail Alert stay up for longer than 30 seconds
• Hides options not available for your Outlook version

OutlookTools supports various Office versions such as Outlook 2000, Outlook 2002/XP, Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007 making it a must have tool for any Outlook user. OutlookTools is absolutely free to use.

Download OutlookTools [learn more]