Download or open email attachments

If you receive an email with an attachment (a file), you can open the file after downloading it to your computer. If the attachment is a Pages, Numbers or Keynote document, you can download it or just open it in Pages, Numbers or Keynote for iCloud beta. If the attachment is a vCard file, which has a filename ending with .vcf, you can just add the contact information it contains to your contacts.

Open Pages, Numbers and Keynote attachments

  1. Open an email message that contains an attached Pages, Numbers or Keynote document.

  2. At the bottom of the message content, click Open in [App] to the right of the attachment icon.

    The document opens in the document editor window of Pages, Numbers or Keynote for iCloud beta.

If you want to open the attached document in the Pages, Numbers or Keynote app on your Mac, download the attachment, then open the downloaded file.

Download attachments

  1. Open an email message that contains an attachment.

    A message that contains an attachment has a paper clip icon to the right of the sender’s name in the message list.

  2. If you don’t see the attached files listed above the message body, click More (on the far right).

  3. Click the file you want to download to your computer’s hard disk.

  4. Locate and open the attachment.

    The file is downloaded to the location specified in your web browser’s settings. With Safari on a Mac, the default location is your Downloads folder.

Add an attached vCard to your contacts

  1. Open an email message that contains a vCard attachment, which has a filename ending with .vcf.

    A message that contains an attachment has a paper clip icon to the right of the sender’s name in the message list.

  2. If you don’t see the attached files listed above the message body, click More (on the far right).

  3. Click the vCard (.vcf) file whose contact information you want to add, then click Add to Contacts.

If you can’t open an attachment, it might have been created using an app you don’t have on your computer. If that’s the case, ask the sender to re-send the file in an app you do have.