Windows 10: Receiving winmail.dat attachments instead of PDF

Hello, I am receiving winmail.dat attachments from 3 out of 4 people from the same office. They should be in PDF but instead are coming in as winmail.dat. Meanwhile I have them send it to my gf on her email and she receives them in PDF version.

:)

 

pdf attachment on an email in outlook changes to .dat format

Hi Enid. I'm Greg, an installation specialist, 10 years awarded Windows MVP, and Volunteer Moderator, here to help you.

1) See if you can System Restore to a point before the problem began following this guide:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-system-r...

If the problem repeats then check which Windows Updates were installed at Settings > Update & Security > Windows Updates > Update History, uninstall them there or System Restore again, then immediately check for and block the Updates with the Hide Updates tool
explained here:
https://www.howtogeek.com/223864/how-to-uninsta...

2) This can happen if you save a file in in Rich Text Format. See here:

https://acrobatusers.com/forum/general-acrobat-...

https://proconnect.intuit.com/community/print-a...

3) To change .dat files back to .pdf see here:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-convert-a-...

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-conve...

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and keep me posted. If you'll wait to rate whether my post resolved your problem, I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

______________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly
research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

 

pdf attachment on an email in outlook changes to .dat format

I use Outlook on my Windows 10 laptop. In the past week, I have had 3 situations in which an email downloaded with a pdf attachment. After it downloaded and I had opened the attachment, the attachment format changed to .dat & now the attachments are useless.
I have gotten other emails with pdf attachments during this same time period and they are just fine.

I typically leave my outlook window open all the time and have it set up so that the default view is to show my unread emails (from two different email accounts). All 3 of the emails where the format of the attached file changed were listed at the top of
the unread email list (they were the most recent unread email on that day).

The format change seems to occur "overnight", i.e., all is well when I last use my laptop in the evening and then when I return the next morning, the attachment format changed.

Any ideas on the cause and how to prevent this problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

converting email attachment from Winmail

How can I convert an attachment from Winmail to a format that can be read?