![Diane Poremsky [Outlook MVP]](http://www.outlook-tips.net/images/2014/MVP_BlueOnly.png)
For years, I changed the association for eml (and nws) to notepad so email attachments or files on my hard drive would open outside of OE. (Before that, I changed the file extension to txt or html.)
This reghack will allow you to open *.eml attachments (OE/Mail/Live mail messages) in Outlook's message form (if you want to reply to the message, use Alt+S to send if the send button is missing).
The advantage of using the following method is the headers are hidden; the disadvantage is Outlook needs to be open.
Warning: before editing the registry you should export the keys you are planning to edit. If you start having problems with Outlook, restore the keys. That said, I haven’t had any problems with this hack.
If you have Live Mail installed, go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Microsoft Internet Mail Message WLMail\shell\open\command
If Outlook express, go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Microsoft Internet Mail Message\shell\open\command
Change the key to the following line, exactly as shown below, except you'll use the correct path for your version of Outlook:
For example, in Outlook 2007 on 64x Vista or Windows, the path is
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\OUTLOOK.EXE" /eml "%1"
In Outlook 2003 on 32bit Windows, you'll use
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\OUTLOOK.EXE" /eml "%1"
Complete instructions and screenshots are at Open .eml Files in Outlook.
Thanks mrbinky3000 for sharing this!
Published March 24, 2010. Last updated on September 23, 2013.
