How to automatically print attachments when emails arrive in Outlook?
This tutorial demonstrates a method to combine a VBA script and an Outlook rule to help you automatically print attachments of certain emails when they arrive in Outlook.
Automatically print attachments when certain emails arrive
Supposing, you want to print attachments of incoming emails from a certain sender automatically. You can do as follows to get it done.
Step1: Create a script in Outlook
Firstly, you need to create a VBA script in Outlook.
1. Launch your Outlook, press the Alt + F11 keys simultaneously to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
2. In the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window, double click on Project1 > Microsoft Outlook Objects > ThisOutlookSession to open the ThisOutlookSession (Code) window, and then copy the following code into this code window.
VBA code 1: Automatically print attachments (all types of attachments) when emails arrive
Sub AttachementAutoPrint(Item As Outlook.MailItem)
'Updated by Extendoffice 20230223
Dim xFS As FileSystemObject
Dim xTempFolder As String
Dim xAtt As Attachment
Dim xShell As Object
Dim xFolder As Object, xFolderItem As Object
Dim xFileName As String
On Error GoTo xError
If Item.Attachments.Count = 0 Then Exit Sub
Set xFS = New FileSystemObject
xTempFolder = xFS.GetSpecialFolder(TemporaryFolder)
xTempFolder = xTempFolder & "\ATMP" & Format(Item.ReceivedTime, "yyyymmddhhmmss")
If Not xFS.FolderExists(xTempFolder) Then
MkDir (xTempFolder)
End If
Set xShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Set xFolder = xShell.NameSpace(0)
For Each xAtt In Item.Attachments
If IsEmbeddedAttachment(xAtt) = False Then
xFileName = xTempFolder & "\" & xAtt.FileName
xAtt.SaveAsFile (xFileName)
Set xFolderItem = xFolder.ParseName(xFileName)
xFolderItem.InvokeVerbEx ("print")
End If
Next xAtt
Set xFS = Nothing
Set xFolder = Nothing
Set xFolderItem = Nothing
Set xShell = Nothing
xError:
If Err <> 0 Then
MsgBox Err.Number & " - " & Err.Description, , "Kutools for Outlook"
Err.Clear
End If
Exit Sub
End Sub
Function IsEmbeddedAttachment(Attach As Attachment)
Dim xItem As MailItem
Dim xCid As String
Dim xID As String
Dim xHtml As String
On Error Resume Next
IsEmbeddedAttachment = False
Set xItem = Attach.Parent
If xItem.BodyFormat <> olFormatHTML Then Exit Function
xCid = ""
xCid = Attach.PropertyAccessor.GetProperty("http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x3712001F")
If xCid <> "" Then
xHtml = xItem.HTMLBody
xID = "cid:" & xCid
If InStr(xHtml, xID) > 0 Then
IsEmbeddedAttachment = True
End If
End If
End FunctionNote: This code supports printing of all types of attachments received in emails. If you want to print only the specified type of attachment, such as pdf files, please apply the following VBA code.
VBA code 2: Automatically print the specified type of attachments when emails arrive
Sub AttachementAutoPrint(Item As Outlook.MailItem)
'Updated by Extendoffice 20230223
Dim xFS As FileSystemObject
Dim xTempFolder As String
Dim xAtt As Attachment
Dim xShell As Object
Dim xFolder As Object, xFolderItem As Object
Dim xFileType As String, xFileName As String
On Error GoTo xError
If Item.Attachments.Count = 0 Then Exit Sub
Set xFS = New FileSystemObject
xTempFolder = xFS.GetSpecialFolder(TemporaryFolder)
xTempFolder = xTempFolder & "\ATMP" & Format(Item.ReceivedTime, "yyyymmddhhmmss")
If Not xFS.FolderExists(xTempFolder) Then
MkDir (xTempFolder)
End If
Set xShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Set xFolder = xShell.NameSpace(0)
For Each xAtt In Item.Attachments
If IsEmbeddedAttachment(xAtt) = False Then
xFileName = xAtt.FileName
xFileType = LCase$(Right$(xFileName, VBA.Len(xFileName) - VBA.InStrRev(xFileName, ".")))
xFileName = xTempFolder & "\" & xFileName
Select Case xFileType
Case "pdf" 'change "pdf" to the file extension you want to print
xAtt.SaveAsFile (xFileName)
Set xFolderItem = xFolder.ParseName(xFileName)
xFolderItem.InvokeVerbEx ("print")
End Select
End If
Next xAtt
Set xFS = Nothing
Set xFolder = Nothing
Set xFolderItem = Nothing
Set xShell = Nothing
xError:
If Err <> 0 Then
MsgBox Err.Number & " - " & Err.Description, , "Kutools for Outlook"
Err.Clear
End If
Exit Sub
End Sub
Function IsEmbeddedAttachment(Attach As Attachment)
Dim xItem As MailItem
Dim xCid As String
Dim xID As String
Dim xHtml As String
On Error Resume Next
IsEmbeddedAttachment = False
Set xItem = Attach.Parent
If xItem.BodyFormat <> olFormatHTML Then Exit Function
xCid = ""
xCid = Attach.PropertyAccessor.GetProperty("http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x3712001F")
If xCid <> "" Then
xHtml = xItem.HTMLBody
xID = "cid:" & xCid
If InStr(xHtml, xID) > 0 Then
IsEmbeddedAttachment = True
End If
End If
End Function
Notes:
3. Go ahead and click Tools > References. In the popping up References – Project1 dialog box, check the Microsoft Scripting Runtime box, and then click the OK button.
4. Save the code and press the Alt + Q keys to close the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
Note: Please make sure that the Enable all macros option is enabled in your Outlook. You can check this option by following the steps shown below.
Step2: Build a rule to use the script
After adding the VBA script in Outlook, you need to create a rule to use the script based on certain conditions.
1. Go to the Home tab, click Rules > Manage Rules & Alerts.
2. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click the New Rule button to create a rule.
Tips: If you have added multiple email accounts to your Outlook, please specify an account in the Apply changes to this folder drop-down list where you want to apply the rule. Otherwise, it will be applied to the inbox of the currently selected email account.
3. In the first Rules Wizard dialog box, select Apply rule on messages I receive in the Step 1 box, and then click Next.
4. In the second Rules Wizard dialog box, you need to:
5. In the third Rules Wizard dialog box, you need to configure as follows.
Tips: If the “run a script” option is missing in your Rules Wizard, you can display it by following the method mentioned in this article: restore missing Run A Script pption in Outlook rule.
6. Then another Rules Wizard pops up asking for exceptions. You can select the exceptions if necessary, otherwise, click the Next button without any selections。
7. In the last Rules Wizard, you need to specify a name for the rule, and then click the Finish button.
8. Then it returns to the Rules and Alerts dialog box, you can see the rule you created listed inside, click the OK button to finish the whole settings.
From now on, when an email from the specified person is received, the attached files will be printed automatically.
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