How to Forward a Message as an Attachment with Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007

Note that Outlook 2013 lets you forward emails as attachments individually.

Forwarding as Attachment in Outlook 2003 and 2007

If you want to share an email with friends or colleagues, forwarding it works like a charm in Outlook.

By default, Outlook inserts the original inline in your forward. This is compatible and simple, and it works.

But you can also forward an email as an attachment appended to your forward. This lets you forward multiple emails in one go elegantly, too.

Why Forwarding as an Attachment Makes Sense

Why would you want to do that? Forwarding as an attachment is a way to share the email body in exactly the form you received it. This makes it easier for the recipient of your forward to reply to the original sender and it preserves some message details that can otherwise be lost — useful to help troubleshooting email problems, for example.

Forward a Message as an Attachment with Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007

Now, to forward a message (or more!) as an attachment in Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007:

• Select Tools | Options… from the menu.
• Go to the Preferences tab.
• Click E-mail Options….
• Make sure Attach original message is selected under When forwarding a message.
• Click OK.
• Click OK again.

• Highlight any messages you want to forward.
• Click Forward.
• Address and send the email with the original messages attached, adding comments in the email body.