How to resize large image attachments in outlook

Outlook 2013 allows you to easily resize large photo attachments before sending. This is also a cool way to use Outlook to resize large photos for yourself.

If you need to send a large image as an attachments in Outlook 2013, here’s a trick that allows you to resize it to a smaller size. This allows you to send the picture more quickly, and avoid company attachment size limits — believe it or not, some companies still have small attachment limits. Resizing the image will prevent you from getting bounce backs. This is also helpful if you need to resize an image for yourself. Here’s how to do it.

Quick Image Resizing in Outlook 2013

While this is a quick method of resizing images, you should know that it will only allow you to resize them to a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. This won’t give you the ultimate full quality of say a RAW image, it can still be which useful in a lot of situations.

Start by opening Outlook and composing a new message. Then click the Insert tab on the Ribbon, and then click the Attach File.

Find the image you want to resize and attach to the message.

The next steps are the key for making this work. Once the image has been added as an attachment, click the File tab.

You’ll see the following screen in the Info section. Select “Resize large images when I send this message” and click the arrow on the top right side to return to the Compose screen. Type your message and send it off.

If you’re using this trick to resize the image for yourself, type your own email address and send it to yourself. After that, you can open the message from the Inbox or from Sent Items.

Once you open the message, you will notice that the image attachment is significantly smaller in size. In this example, I used a 5 MB image file and it’s been compressed down to only 136 KB. The only thing left to do is to right-click the name of the file and Save it wherever you want on your computer.

If you’re sending the image to a business colleague they’ll be able to recieve it and check it out. Then if you need to send the original large RAW photo, you can use Dropbox, SkyDrive, or service like YouSendIt.

Are you in desperate need of sending large image as attachments in Outlook 2013? If yes, here is a trick to help you resize your image into smaller size. This will allow you to send the picture more quickly and help you avoid company attachment size limits. Resizing the image will prevent you from getting bounce backs. So, the next time you want to resize an image for yourself, this is what you should do:

This is a quick method of resizing images but you should note that it will only allow you to resize them to a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. This will not give you the ultimate full quality of a RAW image but it can still be useful in a lot of situations.

Open Outlook and compose a new message

Click on the Insert tab on the Ribbon and hit Attach File

Find the image you want to resize and attach to the message

Once the image has been added as an attachment, click the File tab.

The following screen will appear in the Info section. Select “Resize large images when I send this message” and click the arrow on the top right side to return to the Compose screen. Type your message and send it off.

If you want to resize the image for yourself, type your own email address and send it to yourself. You may later open the message from the Inbox or from Sent Items.

Once you open the message, you will notice that the image attachment is significantly smaller in size. Right-click the name of the file and Save it wherever you want on your PC.

If you need to send the original large RAW photo, use Dropbox, SkyDrive, or service like YouSentIt.

Replies (7) 

Is there a way for users of Outlook on the Web to resize/compress images before sending? We have users with limited mailbox sizes who don’t have access to the full Outlook desktop app so there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to compress images before sending.

Pet peeve of mine. People sending me 14 or 15 MB PNGs.

These users should learn to save then resize the image before sending it.

2. Right-click > Open with Paint (to use a built-in app)

3. Resize then save as (different name to preserve the original version)

4. When saving as, that’s an opportunity to save a PNG as a smaller, compressed (maybe 90% quality) JPG.

5. There are free apps available that probably make this resizing process easier.

(Watch out for ads or programs that aren’t free)

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Is there a way for users of Outlook on the Web to resize/compress images before sending? We have users with limited mailbox sizes who don’t have access to the full Outlook desktop app so there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to compress images before sending.

Pet peeve of mine. People sending me 14 or 15 MB PNGs.

These users should learn to save then resize the image before sending it.

2. Right-click > Open with Paint (to use a built-in app)

3. Resize then save as (different name to preserve the original version)

4. When saving as, that’s an opportunity to save a PNG as a smaller, compressed (maybe 90% quality) JPG.

5. There are free apps available that probably make this resizing process easier.

(Watch out for ads or programs that aren’t free)

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In fairness, Outlook for the Web should offer an option to resize image files automatically or at the touch of a button as it does with the Outlook desktop version. I’m not sure you can expect users to waste a few minutes every time they need to email over a photo.

But that option is not there.

One of the free image resizers will be easier, I suppose, that manually resizing images.

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Ok, so the answer is that it’s not possible to resize the image size of attachments in Outlook on the Web

Without using another program/app. No.

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Have a good day.

Welcome to our forum community. Thank you for the posting in our forum community. We apologize for some inconvenience.

According to your whole description, thank you for giving your request into Outlook uservoice service. Because many features have built or added on based on customers’ vote, feedback and experience. Microsoft will keep monitoring customers feedback and good ideas there, some features would be added into the product and service by the dedicated developing engineers based on customer’s good ideas in the future, and your good ideas and patience will be very helpful for them to improve the product services.

We are truly appreciating your cooperation and patience in the Microsoft Community.

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I have just sent some images to someone, and I selected the “Resize large images when I send this message” option. However when I sent the email, it did not resize any of the images, and so the email ended up being over 17mb.

Has anyone else had this issue? If so, is there a way to get it to work, without having to open the images in paint and resizing them there?

Thanks for you help.

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The option to resize large images when sending the message only works if the image is attached to the message by using the Attach File option. If you used the Insert option to add the images in your message, you have to either resize or compress the images. The image below shows the two different option.

Insert option

Attach File option

Here’s an article that would walk you through the options on how to resize the reduce the size of pictures and attachments in Outlook email messages.

Let us know if you need additional assistance.

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Does drag and drop work the same as insert file? Because that’s how I added the image attachments to the email.

Thanks for taking the time to help.

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We appreciate your response. The Drag and Drop option works just like the Attach File option. That being said, it means that the resize large images when sending the message option should be working. We suggest that you check your Outlook for any updates by following these steps:

1. Click File.
2. Select Office Account.
3. Under Product Information, choose Update Options.
4. Click Update Now and wait until Office is done checking for and installing updates.

Please take note that you may need to click Enable Updates first if the Update Now option is not available.

If the issue persists, proceed with repairing your Office application by following the steps by following the steps below:

1. Right-click on Start (Window icon on the bottom left corner).
2. Select Programs and Features.
3. Right-click the Office product you want to repair.
4. Select Change.
5. Select Online Repair from the How would you like to repair your Office Programs screen.
6. Select Repair.
7. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the repair.

Let us know if you need additional assistance.

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How to reduce image’s size in Outlook?

Supposing you need to send friends some large photos via Microsoft Outlook, no matter how you attach these photos as attachments or insert photos in the message body directly, these photos may be too big for recipients to receive or view regularly. Actually, you can resize both of attached images and images in messages body before you send the message.

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• More than 100 advanced features will solve most of your problems in Outlook 2010-2019 and 365. Full features 60-day free trial.

Resize attached photos in Outlook 2010 and 2013

This section will talk about resizing big attached photos which you added by Insert > Attach File in message window in Outlook 2010 and 2013.

Step 1: Create a new message with clicking the New- Email button on the Home tab in the Mail view.

Step 2: In the message window, please click the Attach File button on the Insert tab.

Step 3: In the popping up Insert File dialog box, please find out and select pictures, and click the Insert button.

Step 4: In the Message window, click the File > Info.

Step 5: Now please check the option of Resize large images when I send this message. See the following screen shot:

Step 6: Compose your email message and send it.

Note: This method will resize big attached photos at a maximum of 1024×768 pixels in Outlook 2010 and 2013.

Resize attached photos in Outlook 2007

This section will guide you to resize attached pictures automatically in Microsoft Outlook 2007.

Step 1: Create a new message with clicking the File > New > Mail Message, or just clicking the New button in the Ribbon.

Step 2: In the message window, please click the Attach File button on the Insert tab.

Step 3: In the popping up Insert File dialog box, please find out and select pictures, and click the Insert button.

Step 4: Click the arrow button at the bottom-right corner in the Include group on Insert tab to activate the Attachment Options pane. See the following screen shot:

Step 5: Go to the Picture Options section in the Attachment Options pane, please click the Select Picture size: box, and select one of picture sizes based on your needs.

Note: If you check the option of Show when attaching files, the Attachment Pane will come out automatically when you attach pictures in your composing messages.

Step 6: Compose your email message and send it.

Reduce the size of photos in message body

Most of time, you may layout photos in the body of messages directly, which make your messages much attractive. However, the photos may be too large for recipients to view regularly. This section will help you solve this problem, and reduce the size of inserted photos in message body easily.

Step 1: Create a new message:

• In Outlook 2010 and 2013, please click the New E-mail button on the Home tab in Mail view;
• In Outlook 2007, please click the File >New >Mail Message, or just clicking the New button in the Ribbon.

Step 2: Insert pictures in the message body with clicking the Picture button on the Insert tab.

Note: The Picture button will be gray until you put the cursor in the body of message.

Step 3: In the popping up Insert Picture dialog box, please find out and select pictures, and click the Insert button.

Step 4: Right click the inserted picture, and select the Size and Position (or Size in Outlook 2007) in the right-clicking menu.

Step 5: In the new dialog box, go to the Scale section on the Size tab, and you can specify the percent of both Height and Width according to your needs, for example 30%. See the following screen shot:

Step 6: Click the OK (or Close) button to exit the dialog box.

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How to compress images before sending email in Outlook?

While sending emails with some large images, you may want to compress the sizes of images for saving sending time and space, but how can you compress the images before sending emails in Outlook?

In this method, I introduce one option which can compress size of images to maximum size of 1024X768 pixels.

1. In the Message window, after inserting the image attachments, click File. See screenshot:

2. Check Resize large images when I send this message option in Info section.

3. Click the Message tab to return to the message. Compose the message and click the Send button to send it.

Then the Images will be compressed to be maximum of 1024X768 pixels.

The second method, you can use the context menu.

1. Select the images you want to send in the specified folder, right click to display context menu.

2. Then in the context menu, click Send to > Mail recipient. See screenshot:

3. In the Attach Files dialog, select the size you need from the drop-down list of Picture size. See screenshot:

4. Click Attach, then all resized images are added in a new message window as attachments. Please compose the email, and click the Send button.

If you want to automatically compress images when sending emails, you can apply Kutools for Outlook’s Auto Compress utility.

Free install Kutools for Outlook, and then do as below steps:

1. Click Kutools > Options in the Attachments group, see screenshot:

2. In the Attachment options dialog, under the General tab, check the Process picture Attachment option, then in the Folder and Message for managing section, check the forlders you apply this option.

3. Then under the Compress tab, check the Automatically compress attachments before sending emails option. See screenshot:

4. Click Ok. Now all attachments including images will be compressed while sending emails.

Note: This Auto Compress feature will automatically compress all attachments including image attachments to .zip files.

Sending digital pictures by email can result in huge message sizes which may be bounced by the sender or recipient’s email server. To avoid problems, you should reduce the size of image attachments before you send them.

While its easy to reduce the size of an image in any image editing program, including the Picture Manager that comes with Outlook 2003 and up, it takes a few minutes to reduce the photo and save it. You can save a lot of time if you let Windows or Outlook reduce the file size as you attach the image instead of resizing it yourself.

If the recipient will be printing the photo you may want to leave the attachment at the original file size.

That brings up a question a reader had about resizing pictures in Outlook 2010. He upgraded from Outlook 2003. Outlook 2003’s Attachment pane has an option to re-size attached photos which is displayed by default when you first attach an image file to a message.

In Outlook 2003, click the Attachment Option button to the right of the attachment field to display the Attachment Options pane.

Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013

Outlook 2010 and 2013 don’t use the attachment pane; they have an option to re-size attached images on the File tab.

After using Outlook 2010 or 2013’s Insert File command, click on the File tab and at the top of the page is a the option to re-size the image. Outlook 2010/2013 has just one size option, 1024×768 pixels, while it’s not the smallest size, it is the most popular image size.

Note: If you open Windows Explorer and use the Send to MailRecipient command, Windows will offer to re-size the image.

In Outlook 2010, you need to go to the File tab, Info command after attaching the image. You can choose between resizing the attachment or keeping the original size. The re-size options are limited (to one!) compared to Outlook 2003, but most people would choose 1024 x 768 anyway. If you need better control over the file size, re-size it using an image editor program or use Windows Explorer’s Send to MailRecipient command.

Outlook 2007

Outlook 2007 has an Attachment pane too, although it’s not displayed by default when you insert an image. You can display the Attachment pane by clicking the expand button in the Include section of the Home ribbon. In Outlook 2007, expand the Include chunk to enable the Attachment Options pane.

Using Send to Mail Recipient in Windows Explorer

When you right click on one or more images in Windows Explorer and choose Send to > Mail Recipient, the Windows image re-size app comes up, allowing you to reduce the size of the image.

Published September 13, 2011. Last updated on May 23, 2013.

If you are sending photo’s using Outlook 2016 and your images are quite large you can reduce the size of the images automatically before hitting the send button.

Step 1

Attach your images in Outlook 2016 using the Attach File Option in the Ribbon

Step 2

Click on the File Menu (from within the message itself)

Step 3

Under the Info tab you will see the option to Resize large images when I send this message

Step 4

Click on the arrow up the top left and return to the message, click on Send

Note: Please be aware that the option to resize images doesn’t appear above if you “Insert” “Pictures” directly in to the message. It only works when you attach the images to the message.

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2 thoughts on “How to Resize Picture’s in Outlook 2016 (Reduce Image Size)”

I want to be able to resize pictures as I used to with the powertoy that Microsoft stopped but a developer kept providing it but now I cannot find it.
I want to be able to go into a folder, resize a picture or several pictures, save them as resized pics so that I can use them in other applications other than email

When I click on the Info tab, I am not provided that option to resize photos. The only 3 options that pop up are “Encrypt this item”, “Move to folder”, and “Properties”. How do I get the resize photo option to appear? THanks.

KEVIN LEE

People with slow Internet connections may have to wait for gigantic email attachments to download before they can view them. While you can’t reduce the size of an Outlook attachment to zero, you can use a few tricks to make attachments smaller and more manageable. You’ll also benefit if your Internet service provider charges you based on the amount of data you send over the Web.

Explore this article

• Shrink the Pictures
• Zip Them Up
• Compress a File
• Explore Alternative Solutions

1 Shrink the Pictures

Image files can reach several megabytes or more if they have large dimensions or they do not exist in a compressed format. Compressed files, such as JPEG images, are smaller than bitmaps and other types of uncompressed image files. If you need to send someone a large picture as an attachment, click the message window’s “File” button and put a check mark in the “Resize Large Images When I Send this Message” check box. Outlook resizes the image so that it does not exceed 1024×768 pixels.

2 Zip Them Up

Compression software can reduce the sizes of certain types of files significantly. Many media files, such as MP3 songs, MPEG videos, JPEG images and PNG images are already compressed so you usually won’t see significant size reductions by compressing those. Microsoft Office DOCX files don’t compress well either. However, you can see significant cost savings when you compress text files, such as Hypertext Markup Language code and XML files. The compression ratio can vary depending on a text file’s contents and the software you use to compress the file. Some text and database files may compress up to 90 percent. You could also see size reductions of up to 50 percent when you compress a program file.

3 Compress a File

When you you’d like to compress a file, right click it in File Manager and click “Send To.” Select “Compressed Zipped Folder” and File Manager creates a folder that contains a compressed version of the file. When you get ready to send your Outlook message, attach the folder you compressed. Your recipients can decompress the attachment after they receive the message. They won’t need special software because File Manager can do the job.

4 Explore Alternative Solutions

If you and your email recipients share a network, you don’t have to send them a file as an attachment using Outlook. Instead, you could post your large file in a shared or public folder that others can access. Your email message might tell them where to find the file. If you have an account at Dropbox, SkyDrive, Google Drive or a similar file sharing service, you could also store a large attachment file there and share it with anyone.