Allow or block Outlook from downloading Calendar attachments automatically

If you want to allow or block Outlook from downloading Calendar attachments automatically on Windows 11/10, this guide will be handy for you. When you add an Internet Calendar to Outlook, it automatically downloads all the event attachments instantly to provide the best experience. However, if this practice doesn’t seem safe to you, you can prevent Outlook from downloading Calendar attachments automatically.

Allow or block Outlook from downloading Calendar attachments automatically

To allow or block downloading Outlook Calendar attachments automatically, follow these steps:

1. Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
2. Type gpedit.msc and click the OK button.
3. Navigate to Internet Calendars in User Configuration.
4. Double-click on the Automatically download attachments setting.
   • Select the Enabled option to allow.
   • Select the Disabled option to block.
5. Click the OK button.
6. Restart the Outlook app.

To learn more about these steps, continue reading.

First, you need to open the Local Group Policy Editor on your computer. For that, press Win+R to open the Run prompt, type gpedit.msc, and click on the OK button.

Next, you need to navigate to the following path:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Outlook 2016 > Account Settings > Internet Calendars

In the Internet Calendars folder, you can find a setting named Automatically download attachments. You need to double-click on the setting and choose the Enabled option to allow Outlook Calendar to download even attachments automatically.

Similarly, if you want to block, choose the Disabled option and click the OK button to save the change.

Once done, restart the Outlook app to apply the change.

Note: If you want to revert to the original setting, you need to open the same setting in the Local Group Policy Editor, and choose the Not Configured option.

How to turn on or off automatic Outlook Calendar attachments downloads

To turn on or off automatic Outlook Calendar attachments downloads, follow these steps:

1. Search for regedit in the Taskbar search box.
2. Click on the search result.
3. Click the Yes button on the UAC prompt.
4. Go to Microsoft\office\16.0\outlookin the HKCU.
5. Right-click on outlook > New > Key and name it as options.
6. Right-click on options > New > Key and set the name as webcal.
7. Right-click on webcal > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
8. Name it as enableattachments.
9. Double-click on it to set the value data as 1to turn on and keep 0 to turn off.
10. Click the OK button.
11. Restart your computer.

Let’s find out more about these steps.

To get started, you need to open the Registry Editor. For that, search for regedit or Registry Editor in the Taskbar search box and click on the individual search result. If the UAC prompt appears, click on the Yes button to open the Registry Editor on your computer.

Next, you need to navigate to the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0\outlook

However, if you cannot find the aforementioned path, navigate to this path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft

Then, you need to create the sub-keys manually. Once done, you get the path, right-click on outlook > New > Key and name it as options.

After that, right-click on options > New > Key and set the name as webcal. Next, you need to create a REG_DWORD value. For that, right-click on webcal > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and set the name as enableattachments.

By default, it comes with a Value data of 0. If you want to turn off automatic attachment downloading, you need to keep that value data. However, if you want to turn it on, double-click on the REG_DWORD value and set the Value data as 1.

Finally, click the OK button to save the change. Once done, close all windows and restart your computer to apply the change.

Read: How to increase Attachment Size Limit in Outlook

How do I stop Outlook from automatically downloading attachments?

To stop Outlook from automatically downloading attachments, you need to open the Outlook Options panel first. Then, switch to the Trust Center tab, and click on the Trust Center Settings button. Next, open the Automatic Download tab and tick the Don’t download pictures automatically in standard HTML email messages or RSS items checkbox.

How do I change the attachment settings in Outlook?

If you want to change email attachment settings, you need to open the trust Center settings wizard. However, if you want to tweak the Calendar attachment settings, you can go through the above-mentioned steps. In other words, you need to use the Local Group Policy Editor and Registry Editor to enable or disable certain settings.

Read: How to send a Calendar Event as an attachment in Outlook.