Problem Attaching Docs To Emails

I created a Word document and tried to attach it to an email I was sending. I clicked the Attach button and it presented me with OneDrive as an option, which it always does, but when I clicked OneDrive it showed me a different presentation of my files there than it usually does and when I selected the Word document I wanted to attach there was no option to do that, only to Share it, which I didn't want. Anyone know what's happened there?

 

It would also have presented you with a File Explorer window, and you use that to negotiate to the Word document on your computer. That's the way to do this, forget OneDrive, it's only confusing you.

 

Thanks for your reply and I guess I didn't explain my problem properly. The Word document I want to attach isn't on my computer it's in my files on OneDrive.

 

I don't use OneDrive so can't help with that but maybe if you were using Outlook as your email client you would be able to attach your OneDrive files to messages. Not sure though. Surprised anyone would trust an online server with their only copy of anything.

 

Thanks, but I have a hotmail account, which operates via Outlook and I've still got problems. Cheers anyway.

 

Thanks plodr, I hadn't thought of that. It's a getaround, although if I can I'd like to get back to simply attaching stuff from OneDrive, which I was able to do previously.

 

ok, thanks

 

I don't use OneDrive either but my understanding of how it works says that, despite your statement that the document you want to attach is not on your computer, in fact it is but you simply don't know about it and so can't find it to attach it. Files get to OneDrive because, when properly set up, OneDrive automatically syncs them from your computer to your online account. You need to open File Explorer on your computer, open your OneDrive folder and take a good look at its contents. They should be identical to what is showing in your online account.

Hope this helps

 

If you are using Office 365 then please ignore my post above. I use the installed version of Office but have no clue how Office 365 operates.

 

I thank you for your reply but I'm sure you're wrong about this. One of the advantages of storing things on OneDrive is that they're stored in the Cloud. This means that they can be accessed from anywhere in the world, whereas if they were just stored on your computer this wouldn't be possible.

 

You are not following. I was saying that files on OneDrive got there by being synced from your computer, so any file you want to attach should also be on your computer. That's how it works when using the installed version of Office, but as I also said, if you are using Office 365 it works differently and my comment may not be true. Either way, you need to examine the contents of your OneDrive folder on your computer.

 

Earlier you advised that when I pressed the "Attach" button to attach a document to the email I was sending I would be presented with a File Explorer window. That doesn't happen, but there is an option "Browse this computer". I select this but I'm unable to access File Explorer through this either. So my only other option is to select the "OneDrive" button. I do this and I'm presented with a list of my files, but, as I said in my OP, when I select a file to attach, the only button I can press is "Share Link", which I don't want to do. Previously, the button would just say "Open" and then the file would attach itself to my email.

 

What is your user account type, Standard or Administrator, and what version of Windows are you using?

 

I'm using Windows 10 but I'm not sure whether my user account is Standard or Administrator. I've tried to find out but unsuccessfully. Can you tell me how I find out please.

 

Sure, it's Control Panel > User Accounts.

What I would really like to see is what you are seeing after selecting Browse This Computer, so if you think you may know how to capture a screenshot and post it here then that would really help.

 

I've discovered that I'm an administrator. I've just done a screenshot and pasted it into Word but then when I've tried to upload it here using the button below, I'm not shown the file. I have an idea how I might be able to do it so just trying that now.

 

Just realized I've sent it. Not sure how ... I tried to drag and drop but thought it hadn't worked.

 

That's your Outlook email of course. You need to get the screen that first appears when you click Browse this Computer - or is that it?

 

I was in Outlook email, I clicked on New Message and then clicked on the Attach button and this is the screenshot taken then.

 

Interesting but not what was asked for

 

The screenshot isn't easy to read but if you click the third icon down in your taskbar which, unconventionally, you have on the left of your screen, you will open File Explorer. You then need to find the OneDrive folder and open it. Your files will be in there and can be attached to an email from there.

 

I was aware that the third icon down was for File Explorer and I've tried to get there by clicking on "Browse this computer" (shown on screenshot) but I can't get to it from there. Also, I've just discovered that when I go into File Explorer from the desktop, completely unrelated to attaching to emails or anything, it won't let me open any of my files.

 

I don't have an answer for that, but can you see your OneDrive folder and the file(s) there that you wanted to attach?

 

No I can't. The files that I see there (Word docs etc) are different to the ones that I can access when I just go straight into OneDrive from my desktop.

 

That indicates that OneDrive hasn't synced with your PC for a time. It's supposed to sync on a device when you start it up. Are you sure it is set to run at startup or hasn't been disabled?

 

This sync failure probably accounts for you not being able to attach your files as you used to. You need someone to help who, like yourself, uses OneDrive all the time.

 

No, I'm not sure about that or even how I'd check whether that was the case. But many thanks for your input.

 

I doubt it's a serious problem - hope you get the help you need.

 

Thank you

 

Thanks. Also now getting some help from Microsoft. Fingers crossed.

 

Me again Getting involved in this thread has done me a small favour - at long last I've taken the nagging from Windows Security seriously and set up OneDrive to further protect my files! And that of course got me thinking again about your unresolved problem.

The most obvious aspect is that your local OneDrive folder isn't syncing with OneDrive online, so the obvious thing to check is whether you are logged in to your MS account or not. If you are using a local account seems to me that you have to login each session for OneDrive to work but if you are using a Microsoft account you are always logged in and OneDrive should be running constantly. Have you had a look into this?

 

Thanks for your suggestions. I have two hotmail accounts, of which one of them has a lot of files in OneDrive. If I'm in the email for this account then I can access all my files in OneDrive. But if I'm in the email for the other account (which has no files in OneDrive) I can't access the files from the first account through OneDrive. By the way, I'm not talking about attaching to emails here. So I'm assuming that if I'm logged into the correct email account I'm also logged in to that MS account. So, as a rule, I never have to log in to my usual account (which has all the files) because in that email account I've ticked the box "Keep me logged in".

Since I was last on here I've been to MS Support. They were unable to solve the issue completely but said they would get back to me. In the meantime they've suggested something that seems to work. When I click the Attach button when sending an email a dropdown menu appears which shows OneDrive and Browse this computer. As you know, when I select OneDrive then through that route I can attach the file but then it won't open from the email. However, if I go through the Browse this conputer route I can attach the file and it will open. Anyway, thanks for your input.

 

Now we are getting somewhere! As far as MS servers are concerned your two MS accounts are two different users and it won't allow either to access the other's documents just as it won't allow anyone else to either. I'm not yet sufficiently familiar with OneDrive to know all of its capabilities but there is quite possibly a way to share your files between the two accounts. Have a look around in settings.

 

I do have some sympathy as I have quickly come to the conclusion that OneDrive is not for me. However the OP's problem stems entirely from his having two MS accounts. A Windows installation can only satisfactorily handle one OneDrive account.

 

Fair enough mate, you did. Obviously I didn't investigate that properly. Thanks again.

 

It's ma'am.