---
title: "Gmail Attachments Not Downloading or Opening: What to Do"
description: "Gmail attachments not downloading, opening or sending? Google's fixes: blocked file types, the 25 MB limit, virus scans, browser and app causes, full storage."
url: https://thedrive.ai/blog/gmail-attachments-not-downloading-or-opening
published: 2026-11-02
updated: 2026-11-02
tags: ["gmail", "email attachments", "troubleshooting", "google workspace", "email management"]
author: "Bigyan Karki"
publisher: The Drive AI
---

# Gmail Attachments Not Downloading or Opening: What to Do

> **TL;DR:** When a Gmail attachment will not download or open, Google's own checklist is short: use a supported browser, turn extensions off one at a time, clear cache and cookies, and check whether the sender used confidential mode, which blocks downloads. Attachments that never arrive are usually a blocked file type, a file over 25 MB that became a Drive link, or an account whose Google storage is full. Each fix below links to the Google help page it comes from.

Disclosure: The Drive AI publishes this guide. It files email attachments into folders; it does not fix Gmail. The Gmail behaviour below comes from Google's help pages as of November 2026, linked at each fix. Where Google documents no fix, none is given.

## Why are Gmail attachments not showing?

A file the sender attached is missing from your copy for one of four documented reasons: Gmail blocked the type, the file was too large and became a Drive link, your network blocks the attachment domain, or the sender's own Google storage is full.

1. **The file type is blocked.** Gmail does not allow [a list of executable and script types](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6590), including .exe, .bat, .cmd, .js, .msi, .ps1, .vbs, .dmg, .iso, .jar and .apk, and it blocks them inside archives such as .zip, .tgz, .gz and .bz2 too. Password-protected archives and documents with malicious macros are also blocked. The sender sees "This message was blocked because its content presents a potential security issue". Google's suggested route is to upload the file to Google Drive and send it as a Drive attachment.
2. **It is over 25 MB.** For personal accounts the attachment limit is 25 MB. Above that, Gmail "automatically removes the attachment and adds it as a Google Drive link" ([Send attachments with your Gmail message](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6584)). Look for a Drive link in the message body. Work and school limits are set by the Workspace administrator.
3. **Attachments are unavailable on your network.** Google says your network administrator or internet provider may have blocked the domain Google uses for attachments; the fix is to ask them, or try another network ([Send attachments](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/8770)).
4. **A Drive attachment you cannot open.** Drive attachments depend on sharing. Gmail "checks to see if your recipients have access to the file" before sending, but on work and school accounts "only people with a Google Account can see Google Drive files you attach in Gmail" ([Send Google Drive attachments in Gmail](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/2480713)). Ask the sender to set the file to Anyone with the link.

## Why won't Gmail attachments download?

Google's page for this symptom gives three steps, in this order, plus one condition that no fix changes ([Open and download attachments in Gmail](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/30719)).

1. **Check that you're using a supported browser.** Gmail supports Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Microsoft Edge, and "works best in the newest and last prior version". Cookies and JavaScript must be on. If a supported browser shows "This browser is not supported", an extension is the likely cause ([Supported browsers](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6557)).
2. **Turn off extensions one at a time.** Google's wording: "Try turning off extensions you have on your browser one at a time." Google's error page adds a quick test: open Gmail in your browser's incognito or private mode, which runs without extensions ([Fix common error messages in Gmail](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7036382)).
3. **Clear your browser's cache and cookies.** Then open Gmail again.
4. **Check for confidential mode.** "If the sender turned on confidential mode, you won't be able to copy or download the message text and attachments." Nothing on your side changes that; ask the sender to resend normally.

## Why won't a Gmail attachment open?

If the file downloads but will not open, or the preview shows an error, Google documents two cases.

1. **Video previews.** If a video attachment shows an error instead of playing, download it and open it in your device's video player ([Open and download attachments](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/30719)).
2. **An infected or unscannable file.** Attachments are scanned automatically. If an attachment in your inbox is infected, you cannot download it at all. If you see "Gmail virus scanners are temporarily unavailable", Google's advice is to "try downloading the attachment later, or you can open the attachment at your own risk" ([Anti-virus scanning attachments](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/25760)).

For anything else that opens wrongly, the file is intact and the viewer is the problem; open it in the native app rather than the preview.

## Why can't Gmail scan an attachment for viruses?

Two different messages, two causes. "Gmail virus scanners are temporarily unavailable" means the scanner, not the file, is the problem; wait and retry. Encrypted attachments, such as documents that need a password to open, "can't be scanned for viruses" at all, so Gmail warns you every time ([Gmail app help, Android](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/30719?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid)). Google's rule for both: if the email looks suspicious, do not download the attachment; if you know and trust the sender, you can ignore the warning.

## Why are attachments not uploading in Gmail?

Google's steps for a file that will not attach ([Send attachments](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/8770)):

1. **Use a supported browser**, updated to the current version.
2. **Try adding the attachment in another browser.** If it works there, go back to the extension and cache steps above.
3. **If you've set up a web browser proxy, try disabling it.**
4. **Check the size and type.** Over 25 MB becomes a Drive link; a blocked type is refused outright. Gmail also shows "Virus detected!" if the file you are attaching is infected, and lets you send without it ([Anti-virus scanning](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/25760)).

## Why is Gmail not sending my attachment?

Two documented messages. "Gmail's adding files" appears when you attached the file from another device and the upload has not finished: wait, or remove the attachments still uploading on that device. "Couldn't send message" means one or more files did not finish uploading to Drive: remove the attachment and add it again ([Send attachments](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/8770)). A message that is sent and then bounces with the security-issue wording was blocked for its file type, as above.

## What is the Gmail attachment size limit?

25 MB per message on personal accounts, and Gmail swaps anything larger for a Google Drive link instead of refusing it ([Send attachments with your Gmail message](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6584)). Workspace administrators set the sending and receiving limits for work and school accounts. Attachments also count toward your Google storage, which is why Google suggests deleting large ones you no longer need and emptying Trash and Spam.

## Why does Gmail stop receiving attachments when storage is full?

Because storage is shared across Google Drive, Gmail, WhatsApp backups and Google Photos, and when the account reaches its limit "critical services like Gmail stop": you cannot send or receive email, and messages sent to you are returned to the sender ([Manage your storage in Drive, Gmail and Photos](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6374270)). Attachments are usually what filled it.

1. **Empty Trash and Spam.** Google calls this the quickest way to recover space.
2. **Find the biggest attachments.** Search `has:attachment larger:10M`, the operator Google's own storage page suggests; the full operator list is on the [search operators page](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7190). Save the files you need, then delete the messages. There is a fuller method in the guide to [delete large email attachments](https://thedrive.ai/blog/delete-large-email-attachments-free-up-space).
3. **Or buy storage.** A Google One plan raises the total across Drive, Gmail and Photos.

## Why are attachments not working in the Gmail app?

The Android and iPhone apps have fewer moving parts than a browser, so Google's guidance is about where files go and one permission.

1. **Android.** Open the email and tap **Download** on the attachment, or tap **Save to Drive**. For a photo embedded in the body rather than attached, touch and hold it, tap **View image**, then the More menu and **Save** ([Gmail app help, Android](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/30719?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid)).
2. **iPhone and iPad.** Tap the attachment, then choose **Download**, **Drive** or **Photos** at the bottom. If photos will not save, Gmail has not been allowed to access your photos: grant Full access or Limited access in Settings; with None, the save silently fails ([Gmail app help, iOS](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/30719?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS)).
3. **"No connection".** Google's steps are to restart the device, turn Wi-Fi or mobile data off and on, try another network, close and reopen the app, and if needed remove and re-add the Google Account ([Fix common error messages](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7036382)).

## The cause behind most of these searches

Each fix above is a condition on reading a file out of a mailbox: a browser, an extension, a scanner, a sharing setting, a storage quota, a sender's choice of confidential mode. A file in a folder has none of them. It opens like any other file, for anyone with access to the folder.

The native route is to save each attachment out by hand, to [find emails with attachments](https://thedrive.ai/blog/find-emails-with-attachments-gmail-outlook) and download them in batches, or to [download all attachments from Gmail](https://thedrive.ai/blog/download-all-attachments-from-gmail) in one pass. The alternative is a workflow that files them as they arrive. In The Drive AI (Max or any Team plan), an Email Attachment workflow saves a copy of each attachment into The Drive AI or a connected Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint or Dropbox folder, reads the file, and names and files it by what it says. Gmail is only read: the connection cannot send, change or delete email, and the sender and subject are available as context for filing. Limits worth knowing: a personal workspace connects one Gmail account, and a workflow watches the account that receives the mail. The setup is in the guide to [save Gmail attachments to Google Drive automatically](https://thedrive.ai/blog/gmail-attachment-workflows-automate-filing), the wider options are compared in the [email attachment management software](https://thedrive.ai/blog/best-email-attachment-management-software) roundup, and the overview of how to [organize email attachments automatically](https://thedrive.ai/email-integration) covers both Gmail and Outlook.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Why does Gmail say "This message was blocked because its content presents a potential security issue"?

The attachment is a blocked type, or an archive containing one, or a password-protected archive, or a document with a malicious macro. Share it from Google Drive instead.

### Why did my attachment turn into a Google Drive link?

It was over 25 MB. Gmail removes the file and inserts a Drive link automatically on personal accounts.

### Why can't I download an attachment but a colleague can?

Confidential mode affects everyone, so if only you are stuck, it is your browser: extensions, cache and cookies, or an unsupported version. Try incognito mode first.

### Does an attachment count toward my Gmail storage?

Yes. Attachments count toward the storage shared by Gmail, Drive and Photos, including messages in Spam and Trash until they are emptied.

### Can I open a Drive attachment without a Google Account?

Only if the sender shared it as Anyone with the link. On work and school accounts, Drive attachments need a Google Account to open.

### Where do Gmail attachments go when I download them?

On a computer, wherever your browser saves downloads. On Android you tap Download or Save to Drive; on iPhone you choose Download, Drive or Photos. The guide to [find old email attachments](https://thedrive.ai/blog/how-to-find-old-email-attachment) covers the usual places.

## Try it on your files

If the same attachments keep failing, file them once and stop depending on the mailbox. [Create a free account](https://thedrive.ai/signup) and try the instruction below on a sample folder, or connect a mailbox on Max or any Team plan to [save Gmail attachments](https://thedrive.ai/integrations/gmail) as they arrive.