Quick VBA script: Attachment reminder for Outlook

K.C. Lemson has created a quick Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) script that helps prevent this from happening.

When a message is sent, it checks the body of the message for the word "attach" (either in whole or in part). If there's no attachment, a pop-up dialog box will appear to warn you that there's no attachment in the message.

I have modified the original script slightly so that the check for the word "attach" is case-insensitive, in case you start a sentence with the word (i.e., "Attached is the file you asked for…").

Note that to create the script, you need to first enable macros in Microsoft Outlook (which is disabled by default for security reasons).

1. In Microsoft Outlook, go to Tools -> Macros -> Security and select Medium. You'll be prompted if you want to run macros when you start Microsoft Outlook.
2. Go to Tools -> Macros -> Visual Basic Editor.
3. Double-click on 'This Outlook Session' in the left-hand panel.
4. Paste the following code into the code window:

Private Sub Application_ItemSend(ByVal Item As Object, Cancel As Boolean)
Dim lngres As Long
If InStr(1, UCase(Item.Body), "ATTACH") <> 0 Then
If Item.Attachments.Count = 0 Then
lngres = MsgBox("'Attach' in body, but no attachment - send anyway?", _
vbYesNo + vbDefaultButton2 + vbQuestion, "You asked me to warn you...")
If lngres = vbNo Then Cancel = True
End If
End If
End Sub

5. Press F5 to check the code and make sure it's properly compiled.
6. Close the code editor and restart Microsoft Outlook. You should be asked on startup if you want to run macros; select Enable Macros.
7. Send a test message with "attach" somewhere in the body and no attachment to make sure the script works.

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author: Serdar Yegulalp is editor of Windows Insight, a newsletter devoted to hints, tips, tricks, news and goodies for all flavors of Windows users.

MEMBER FEEDBACK TO THIS TIP

This is a very useful tip, but can you explain why I get a pop-up message each time the script is executed? It asks me if I want to allow the program access. Is there some way of turning this off?
—Simon P.

******************************************

This warning comes up in different contexts depending on how Outlook is set to run scripts. If you just want to be warned once when you start Outlook, go to Tools -> Macros -> Security and select the "Medium" option (this is part of the instructions in the script).

If you're using something other than Outlook 2003 (which is what I composed the tip with), you might get slightly different behaviors.
—Serdar Yegulalp, tip author

******************************************

I'd like to know why the pop-up message comes behind the test email I'm sending. For users this would just appear as if Outlook had locked!
—Phil H.

******************************************

This hasn't happened on the machines I've worked with, but in the original script's notes, there is this caveat:

Are you using Microsoft Word as your email editor?
—Serdar Yegulalp, tip author

******************************************

Microsoft Outlook 2003 will not run the macro, even at low security. I don't think the problem is in the script but in the settings. I am in a network where I have no administrator rights, but I can run macros in other applications easily.

Is there a solution to this?
—Andrei T.

******************************************

One way to get around this would be to sign the macro with the Office 2003 Resource Kit utility Selfcert.exe. This will allow the macro to work on the computer that it has been signed on, but I believe that will only be possible if you are not an admin.

There's a Microsoft article with more information on digitally signing macros in Office 2003.
—Serdar Yegulalp, tip author

******************************************

I have several comments regarding this tip.

• You should check out an article I wrote on this topic called "How to get Outlook to remind you to insert a forgotten attachment." I also wrote a follow-up article with step-by-step instructions on how to get Outlook to enable you to insert multiple forgotten attachments.
• Member Simon P. is encountering a Microsoft Outlook security protection mechanism that cannot be fixed by changing macro security levels. I suggest that he download Express ClickYes (the free version) from Context Magic.
• Phil H. reports that his pop-up message keeps coming up behind his Outlook window. This is indeed because Microsoft Word is his email editor, however, there is a way to fix this, which is to use vbSystemModal in the MsgBox call.
• The tip author mentions Self Cert to reader Andrei T. You can learn more about SelfCert in my article, "Using SelfCert to create digital certificates in a network environment."

Do you have comments on this tip? Let us know.

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