How to Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird

The most popular attachment types are the Quick Time Player, Windows Media Player, MS PowerPoint and MS Word. Obviously to be able to open an attachment with a certain program it should be installed on your computer prior to using it.

This wiki article will show a few examples of opening the Thunderbird attachments using some programs.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:
Open an attachment with Quick Time Player (3GPP file)

  1. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 1
    1
    Click on an attachment to open it.
    • It will take you to a prompt window looking like on image
  2. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 2
    2
    Keep a default option "Open with ..." and using a little arrow on the right side place "Quick Time Player" into the window (if it's not in there yet)
    • Tick a box "Do this automatically for files like these ..."
    • Click "OK" button
  3. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 3
    3
    Click on Tools (on toolbar), then Options, and Attachments tab
    • Make sure your action is added to the Settings (shown by arrow)
  4. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 4
    4
    Click the "OK" button to save it.

Method 2
Method 2 of 3:
Open an attachment with MS PowerPoint (PPS, PPT files)

  1. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 5
    1
    Click on the attachment to open it.
  2. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 6
    2
    Repeat the process described in step 2 (in method 1) but this time make sure to place "Microsoft PowerPoint" into the window.
  3. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 7
    3
    Click on the Tools, Options, and Attachments tab.
    • Make sure your action is added to the Settings (shown by arrow on image)

  4. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 8
    4
    Click the "OK" button.

Method 3
Method 3 of 3:
Open an attachment with Microsoft Word (DOC file)

  1. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 9
    1
    Click on attachment to open it.
  2. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 10
    2
    Repeat the process as before.
    • In step 2 make sure to place "Microsoft Word" into the window.
    • Click "OK".
  3. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 11
    3
    Click the Tools, Options, and Attachments tab.
    • Make sure your action is added to the Settings.
  4. Image titled Open Email Attachments in Thunderbird Step 12
    4
    Click the "OK" button.

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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 13,150 times.
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Co-authors: 2
Updated: March 4, 2021
Views: 13,150
Categories: Mozilla Thunderbird