How to save one/multiple emails without attachments in Outlook?

Author: Kelly Last Modified: 2025-04-18

When saving an email in Outlook, the default behavior is to save all content, including attachments. However, there are situations where you may only want to save the email content without its attachments—for instance, to save storage space or focus on the email text. This guide explores two methods: a manual approach for saving a single email and an efficient solution for handling multiple emails using Kutools for Outlook.

Save one email without attachments in Outlook (Manual, One-by-One Process)

Save multiple emails without attachments in Outlook 👍 (Efficient, Bulk Method )

Save one email without attachments in Outlook

If you need to save a single email without its attachments, you can manually remove the attachments first and then save the email. This method is straightforward but involves a few steps.

1. In the "Mail" view, click the email you want to save to display it in the Reading Pane. Then click any attachment in the email to activate the "Attachment Tools".

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2. In the "Attachments" tab, click "Select All" to highlight all attachments, then click "Remove Attachment".

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3. A confirmation dialog will appear. Click "Remove Attachment" to proceed. All attachments will now be removed from the email.

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4. With the email still selected, click" File" > "Save As".

5. In the "Save As" dialog box, "(1)Choose the destination folder. (2) Enter a name for the email if required in the "File name" box. (3)Click the "Save" button.

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This process removes attachments from a single email before saving it. While straightforward, repeating these steps for multiple emails can be highly time-consuming.

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Save multiple emails without attachments in Outlook 👍

For batch saving multiple emails without their attachments, "Kutools for Outlook" offers a streamlined approach through its "Detach All" (Attachment) feature. This method efficiently removes attachments from multiple emails in bulk and allows you to save the emails without the attachments.

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Step 1: Select emails and enable the Detach All feature

In the "Mail" view, select the emails whose attachments you want to remove. Click "Kutools Plus" > "Attachment Tools" > "Detach All".

shot of the Detach All button

Note: Hold "Ctrl" to select multiple non-adjacent emails or "Shift" to select a range of adjacent emails.

Step 2: Configure detachment settings

Click the "Browse" icon to specify a destination folder for saving the attachments.
(Optional) Customize the attachment detachment style if needed. (For this example, leave the "Detach attachments in below style" checkbox unchecked to save all attachments directly into the destination folder.)
(Optional) Enable the "Attachment icon is still remained in the emails" option if you want to keep a visual indicator in the emails for reference.
Click "OK" to confirm.

Step 3: Confirm the detachment

When the confirmation dialog box appears, click "Yes" to proceed.
The attachments will now be saved to the specified folder and removed from the selected emails.

Step 4: Save emails without attachments

Select the emails from which attachments were removed and press "Ctrl" + "C" to copy them.
Open the destination folder in" File Explorer" and press "Ctrl" + "V" to paste the emails.