You can view attachments in Gmail in several different ways:
To view an attachment in its original format:
- Open the message containing an attachment.
- Click Download at the bottom of the message.
- Choose to Open or Save the file. Opening the file displays the attachment in a new window. When you're finished reading the attached file, close the new browser window to return to Gmail.
If you'd like the contents of your attachment to appear in a new browser window without having to download the file, view the attachment as HTML. Here's how:
- Open the message containing an attachment.
- Click View as HTML at the bottom of the message.
- When you're finished reading the attached file, close the new browser window to return to Gmail.
Viewing attachments as HTML is a quick and easy alternative to downloading files. You can view the following types of files as HTML: .pdf, .doc, .xls, .ppt, .rtf, .sxw, .sxc, .sxi, .sdw, .sdc, .sdd, and .wml.
If the attachment is a Microsoft Excel file or comma-separated values (CSV) file, you can open it using Google Spreadsheets:
- Open the message containing an attachment.
- Click Open as a Google Spreadsheet at the bottom of the message.
- When you're finished reading the attached file, close the new browser window to return to Gmail.
If the attachment is a Microsoft Word file (DOC), you can open it using Google Docs:
- Open the message containing an attachment.
- Click Open as a Google document at the bottom of the message.
- When you're finished reading the attached file, close the new browser window to return to Gmail.