Have you ever received an email and opened it only to find big, blank boxes with a red x in the top left hand corner, telling you to click to download images? This is Outlook's security feature, which is turned on by default, and prevents pictures in emails from automatically being downloaded when you open your email. While this feature is helpful in preventing your computer from being infested with a virus or spyware from an infected email, it can also be an annoyance. Here is how you can ensure that Outlook will display pictures in your emails when you set them up as a trusted source.
- When you receive and open an email that contains pictures or images, you will see a security message highlighted in yellow at the top of the email.
- To display the pictures once, right click on the security warning, and select Download Pictures. This will show the picture in just this one email.
- If you want the pictures from a specific sender to always display in emails, select Add the domain ####.com to Safe Sender's List. This way all future pictures will display in emails from that specific sender.
- If you select Change Automatic Download Settings, you can fine tune the rules for this and for all senders.
Be careful not to disable this setting completely, especially if you receive a lot of Spam. There could be a malicious virus or spyware lurking behind those pictures.