When you forward an email, you might not think twice about how you do it. But there's a world of difference between a standard forward and forwarding an email as an attachment. One method simply copies the text; the other packages the entire original message into a self-contained, unchangeable file.
This distinction is more than just a technical detail. For professionals, it’s a critical tool for maintaining accuracy, providing evidence, and keeping a clean audit trail.
So, why go through the extra click or two? Because when accuracy and integrity are on the line, the standard "Forward" button just doesn't cut it.
When you hit that familiar button, your email client is essentially just copying and pasting the message content into a new email. This process can butcher the original formatting, create those messy "Fwd: Fwd: Fwd:" chains, and, most importantly, it strips away all the crucial background information.
Forwarding as an attachment is a completely different ballgame.
The biggest advantage is perfect preservation. An email forwarded as an attachment becomes its own .eml file—a perfect digital snapshot of the original. This file locks everything in place, so you can be confident nothing has been tampered with.
Here’s what stays intact:
.eml file. Nothing gets left behind.This isn’t just a nice-to-have feature; in many professional settings, it's an absolute requirement.
Think about it. An accountant needs to submit a long email thread to an auditor. A simple forward looks sloppy and could even be questioned. But attaching the original .eml files provides an untampered record.
The same goes for legal teams submitting emails as evidence, where proving the message hasn't been altered is everything. Or for IT support, who can use the full headers in an attached email to instantly diagnose a tricky delivery problem.
Key Takeaway: Forwarding as an attachment turns a simple email into a verifiable document. It’s the digital equivalent of submitting an original, signed paper instead of a blurry photocopy.
There's also a huge organizational benefit. Let's say you need to bring a colleague up to speed on a project with five different important emails. Instead of forwarding them one by one and creating a confusing mess, you can attach all five to a single summary email.
The recipient gets a clean, organized package. They can open each attached email individually to see the full, original context without getting lost in a chain of replies and forwards.
This small change in habit declutters inboxes and makes it much easier to follow complex conversations. For anyone who handles sensitive information, it's a foundational skill for upholding professional standards and fits perfectly within a modern document management cloud strategy, where precision is paramount.
For most professionals, desktop email clients are the daily workhorses. They’re packed with powerful features you just can't find in web-based versions, and when it comes to forwarding an email as an attachment, these apps give you the most direct and efficient ways to get it done.
Knowing the right moves for your specific platform can be a huge time-saver. Think about bundling multiple emails for a client file or sending an untampered thread to your legal team. Let's dig into the exact steps for the most popular desktop clients.
In many corporate settings, Microsoft Outlook is the undisputed king, and it gives you a few different ways to tackle this. Each one has its own slight advantage, so you can pick whatever feels most natural for your workflow.
Probably the quickest method is a simple drag-and-drop. Just open a new, blank email. Then, find the email (or emails) you want to attach in your inbox list and literally drag them into the body of your new message. Outlook instantly converts them into .eml attachments. Easy.
If you prefer using the ribbon, that’s just as easy.
This command pops open a new email with your selected message already attached and ready to go.
This is where the real power of desktop Outlook shines. Imagine you’re an accountant gathering every email related to a client’s quarterly taxes. Forwarding them one by one would be a nightmare.
Instead, you can select a whole batch of messages at once. Hold down the Ctrl key and click each email you need. If they’re all in a row, just click the first one, hold the Shift key, and click the last one to select the entire group.
Once they're highlighted, you can use either of the methods we just covered—drag them all into a new message or use the Forward as Attachment command. Every selected email will be bundled neatly into a single new message. For companies that are all-in on Microsoft's ecosystem, managing these workflows with a dedicated Office 365 cloud hosting solution ensures the whole team can access these powerful desktop features.
Pro Tip: When sending several attachments, give the recipient a hand by renaming the .eml files to be more descriptive. You can edit the name just by single-clicking the attachment in your draft email, the same way you’d rename any other file.
Good news for Mac users—the process is nearly identical, even if the interface looks a bit different. The drag-and-drop technique works perfectly: open a new message, then pull the emails you need from your inbox right into the new email body.
If you’re more of a menu person:
This consistency makes it painless to switch between a Windows PC and a Mac without having to relearn your whole routine.
For those who stick with Apple's native Mail app, the process is just as straightforward and built right in. Apple Mail has supported this for a long time, as it's a critical feature for professional communication.
To get started, select one or more messages from your inbox. With your emails highlighted, look up to the menu bar at the top of the screen.
From there, click on Message, and from the dropdown menu, simply choose Forward as Attachment. A new compose window will immediately open with those emails already attached as clean .eml files.
Let's face it, we don't always have access to our primary work computer. Whether you're borrowing a colleague's laptop or logging in from a hotel business center, knowing how to handle email professionally from a web browser is a non-negotiable skill. Desktop apps are great, but the real world demands flexibility.
Thankfully, both Gmail and Outlook on the Web (OWA) have you covered, though they hide this feature in plain sight. Let's dig into how to find it so you can keep your email trails clean and secure, no matter where you're working from.
For a long time, this was a huge pain point for Gmail users. If you needed to forward an email without altering it, you were out of luck. Google finally added a "Forward as attachment" option, but they tucked it away where most people would never find it.
Once you know the trick, it's easy.
First, open the email thread you need to send. Ignore the big "Forward" button at the bottom and instead, look for the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of that specific message.
Click that, and you'll see the Forward as attachment option. A new compose window will pop up with the original email already converted into a tidy .eml file. It’s a game-changer for anyone who lives in Gmail and needs to submit communications for project records or client review.
Need to send a bunch at once?
Gmail will then create a single new email with every selected conversation attached as its own .eml file. This is a massive time-saver when you're compiling all the back-and-forth on a project.
Microsoft's approach with Outlook on the Web is beautifully simple because it works just like the desktop app. It’s all about a quick drag-and-drop.
Start by clicking New mail to open a blank message. You'll want to position this new window so you can still see your inbox list. From there, just find the email you want to attach, click and hold, and drag it right into the body of your new draft.
You’ll see it instantly transform into an .eml file. You can keep dragging more emails into the same draft to attach as many as you need. I've found this is especially handy for professionals working in remote desktop environments who need to quickly bundle case files or financial threads without firing up the full Outlook client.
The big takeaway here? While these web-based methods work perfectly well, they can feel a bit clunky compared to their desktop siblings. Trying to select and attach 50 emails is always going to be a smoother experience in a dedicated program.
Webmail has come a long way, but it's important to be realistic about its limitations compared to a full-blown desktop application. The end result—an .eml attachment—is the same, but how you get there can be different.
Despite these trade-offs, for most day-to-day work, both Gmail and Outlook on the Web provide a completely reliable way to forward an email as an attachment. The sheer convenience of being able to do it from any browser, anywhere, is a powerful advantage that often outweighs the minor quirks.
We all know productivity doesn't chain you to a desk anymore. But let's be honest, handling complex email tasks on your phone can be a real headache. A perfect example is forwarding an email as an attachment. What takes two clicks on a desktop suddenly becomes a puzzle on a mobile app.
Why the disconnect? Mobile apps are built for speed and simplicity. That often means less common features, like forwarding as an attachment, get buried or left out entirely. The good news is that with a few smart workarounds, you can get it done and maintain the same professional standards you would from your computer.
This visual guide breaks down how straightforward the process is on desktop browsers, showing the key differences between how Gmail and Outlook handle it.
As you can see, even though the goal is identical, the path to get there is unique to each platform's design. The same is true on mobile, but the solutions are a little different.
If you're using the official Gmail or Outlook apps on your iPhone or Android, you've probably noticed there's no "Forward as Attachment" button. It just isn't there. The most reliable solution is a clever trick using the "Print" function to create a perfect PDF copy of the email.
Here’s how to pull it off in either app:
Sure, this method gives you a PDF instead of an actual .eml file, but it accomplishes the most important thing: it preserves the email exactly as it was, with all its formatting and headers intact. For professionals who need to maintain clear records while on the go, this is an essential skill and a great example of smart remote work security best practices.
The native Mail app on iOS and iPadOS actually has a more direct—if slightly hidden—way to create a true .eml attachment. It's not obvious at all, but once you learn the trick, it's surprisingly efficient.
The secret is all in the drag-and-drop.
Start by composing a new, blank email. With that draft open, navigate back to your inbox list. Find the message you want to attach, then tap and hold it until you feel a little haptic feedback and the email "lifts" off the screen. From there, just drag it right into the body of the new email you're writing.
Pro Tip: This sounds like it's made for an iPad, but it works just fine on an iPhone. After you "lift" the email, just use your other thumb to swipe up and open the app switcher or tap the new message icon in your dock. Then drop the email into your draft.
Apple Mail will instantly convert that dragged message into a proper .eml file, complete with the little email icon. You can even do this with multiple emails, dragging them one by one into the same draft. This makes it an incredibly powerful way to bundle client correspondence or project threads right from your phone. For anyone who regularly needs to forward emails as attachments, this built-in feature makes Apple's native app a seriously strong contender.
Knowing the mechanics of forwarding an email as an attachment is one thing. Knowing when and why to do it is what separates the pros from the amateurs. In fields like law, finance, or project management where details are everything, mastering this skill can make a world of difference for clarity, compliance, and information security.
This is the biggest mistake I see people make. They attach an email, type in a recipient, and hit send without a single word of explanation. Don't do that. It forces your colleague to play detective, piecing together why you sent it in the first place.
Your new email is your chance to add value and make their life easier.
Your goal is to eliminate guesswork for the recipient. A little bit of context builds professional goodwill and heads off a lot of potential confusion. You're not just passing something along; you're ensuring the message is understood quickly and correctly.
Choosing the right forwarding method depends entirely on the situation. Here’s a quick guide to help you decide.
| Scenario | Best Method | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Legal/Compliance | Attachment | Preserves original headers, timestamps, and formatting for a clean, verifiable audit trail. |
| IT/Security Reporting | Attachment | Allows the security team to analyze the original email's metadata to trace phishing attempts. |
| Sharing a long thread | Attachment | Bundles the entire conversation neatly into one file, preventing confusion and endless scrolling. |
| Quickly sharing info | Standard Forward | The recipient can read the relevant part immediately without opening a separate file. |
| Introducing contacts | Standard Forward | The original sender's contact info is easily accessible for the recipient to reply. |
| Adding to a discussion | Standard Forward | Your comments can be added directly above the forwarded text, keeping the flow linear. |
Ultimately, the choice comes down to one question: do you need to preserve the email as a pristine, standalone record, or do you just need to share its contents?
Often, the whole reason for forwarding an email as an attachment is to maintain a secure and compliant record. This method keeps the original message intact, creating a perfect audit trail or providing untampered evidence.
But it only works if you handle it with care. Always double-check who you're sending it to. Accidentally sending sensitive client information to the wrong person is an easily avoidable—and potentially disastrous—data breach. Make sure your team is aligned with your organization's data handling policies. You can explore a deeper dive into data loss prevention best practices to get everyone on the same page.
And, of course, the new message you write should meet professional standards. Knowing how to write a professional email ensures your context is clear and your request is taken seriously.
So, when does this actually come in handy? With over 392.5 billion emails sent and received daily, making sure your important messages cut through the noise is crucial. Forwarding as an attachment is a strategic way to ensure critical communications are received and understood, which helps maintain a strong sender reputation and keep you out of the spam folder.
Here are a few real-world examples I've seen:
.eml files preserves the exact timestamps and phrasing, which can be critical evidence down the road.Even after you've got the basic steps down, some of the finer points of forwarding emails as attachments can feel a bit murky. It’s a surprisingly powerful tool, but like any professional instrument, knowing the specifics helps you wield it more effectively and safely. Let’s clear up some of the questions I hear all the time.
This is the big one. What’s the real difference?
A standard forward is basically a copy-and-paste job. It dumps the text and images from the original message into a new one. It's fast and easy for sharing a quick note, but it’s a messy process that often butchers the formatting, breaks embedded images, and, most importantly, strips away all the critical background data.
Forwarding as an attachment is a whole different ball game. It packages the entire original email into a self-contained .eml file. Think of this file as a sealed digital envelope that perfectly preserves every single detail:
When you need to provide a verifiable, untampered record for legal, auditing, or IT support, this is the only way to go.
Yes, almost always. The .eml format has been an industry standard for ages, and virtually every modern email client recognizes it. Whether your recipient is on Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, or Thunderbird, they can just double-click the attachment, and it will open up just like a regular email.
While some older mobile apps might occasionally stumble, most handle .eml files just fine these days. It’s about as universal as a PDF, so you can be confident your attached email will be readable no matter what device or software they're using.
This is a huge source of frustration for a lot of people. It takes two clicks on your desktop, but the option seems to completely vanish on the official Gmail or Outlook mobile app. The reason really comes down to a difference in design philosophy. Mobile apps are built to be streamlined for the most common, high-frequency tasks—reading, replying, and composing new messages.
App developers tend to see forwarding as an attachment as an "advanced" or less-frequent action, so they often just leave it out to keep the user interface looking clean and simple. It’s exactly why workarounds like "printing to PDF" have become the go-to solution for professionals who need to maintain that same level of document integrity while on the move.
A Note on Security: Treat an
.emlfile just like you would any other attachment from an unknown source. It is, after all, a complete email. That means it can contain the same risks, like phishing links or malware. If you get an.emlattachment from a sender you don't recognize or trust, don't open it. Always be cautious.
When you're dealing with sensitive business communications, security has to be top of mind. While forwarding as an attachment preserves an email's integrity, it's just as important to protect your account from being compromised in the first place. A great first step is learning about what two-factor authentication is and why it's such a vital layer of defense.
This focus on proper file handling extends beyond just emails. While this guide focuses on .eml files, knowing the best practices for all attachments is a valuable skill. For instance, correctly attaching pictures to emails ensures they arrive in high quality and are easy to view, which is another small but crucial part of professional communication.
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