Winmail.dat Troubleshooting

We email the majority of our files as password protected PDFs. Recently, we have received feedback that occasionally when we email a PDF attachment, it comes through as a winmail.dat file that they are unable to open. This is a known translation issue between Microsoft and some other email hosts, and is not something we have control over. Here are a few things to try to open the file that have worked for some clients:

• Often, the winmail.dat does not contain a PDF at all, only formatting language for the body of the email. Confirm that the email with the winmail.dat attachment was supposed to have an attached file; we usually specifically state in the body of the email that there is an attachment, or if the attachment is sent tthrough a separate email.

• Make sure that our office email addresses are added to your safe senders list and add our email to you contact list.

• If you are viewing the attachment on a cell phone, try viewing it from a tablet or computer.

• Make sure your software is up to date, including your device’s software as well as Adobe’s.

• Try saving the file and renaming it from .dat to .pdf at the end of the file name.

• Right click the file and try printing as a PDF.

If you have tried all of the above and are still unable to open the file, please contact our office. We can either set up a Citrix ShareFile folder for you and upload the PDF for secure document sharing, or mail you a paper copy of the attachment.