Outlook has blocked access to unsafe attachments

Outlook assumes that users aren’t smart enough to be allowed access to executable file types. This assumption may or may not be valid, depending on your user base.

Microsoft has a writeup with an explanation, but the basic idea is pretty straightforward. Also available is the list of attachments blocked in Outlook 2007.

If you’ve decided your users should have access to certain restricted file types, the process is actually very simple; just a quick registry edit and you’re on your way.

  1. Start…Run…”regedit”
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security
  3. Create a new string value called Level1Remove
  4. Enter in the file extensions you want to use, such as .exe or .bat
  5. You can have multiple file types separated by a semicolon like this: “.exe;.com”

This applies to Outlook whether or not you use Outlook Connector.