Why aren't my attachments showing up in Gmail?

Last reviewed: September 27, 2026 · Markdown version

Someone says they attached a file, and you cannot see it or cannot open it. Most often the file was never attached at all: it arrived as a Google Drive link. The other causes are a blocked download address, the virus scanner, the browser, or an account that is full. This page is about mail you receive; if your own attachments will not send, that is a different list.

1. It came as a link, not a file

For personal accounts, "If your total attachment size is greater than the limit, Gmail automatically removes the attachment and adds it as a Google Drive link in the email" (Send attachments with your Gmail message, read 27 September 2026). So look in the message body for a Drive link rather than at the bottom for a file. In search, has:drive finds those messages.

If the link opens to an access request, the sender's sharing is the problem. When a Drive file is kept private to the recipients, Google lists who still cannot see it: people without a Google Account, anyone whose address "isn't a Google account", and anyone who got it "through a mailing list" (Send Google Drive attachments in Gmail, read 27 September 2026). Only the sender can change that.

2. Your network blocks attachments

On the computer version of that page Google gives a cause people rarely suspect: "Your network administrator or Internet provider probably blocked 'mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com,' the domain Google uses to host attachments" (the Send attachments page). In our reading, a likely sign is attachments that fail on one network and work on another, such as office Wi-Fi versus mobile data. Google's advice is to contact your internet provider, or on a managed network, whoever runs it.

3. The virus scanner stopped it

If Gmail finds "a known virus attached to an email that's been sent to you", it "will reject the message and let the sender know", so that email does not reach your inbox. If the virus is found in a message already in your inbox, "you won't be able to download the attachment". A third case is temporary: "Gmail virus scanners are temporarily unavailable", and the advice is to try again later (Anti-virus scanning attachments, read 27 September 2026). Some mail is stopped before it arrives: "Gmail blocks messages that may spread viruses, like messages that include executable files or certain links" (File types blocked in Gmail, read 27 September 2026).

4. It is there, but will not open or download

Google's troubleshooting for the computer, in its own order: a supported browser, then turning browser extensions off one at a time, then clearing the cache and cookies (Open & download attachments in Gmail, read 27 September 2026). Two special cases on the same page:

Confidential mode. "If the sender turned on confidential mode, you won't be able to copy or download the message text and attachments." That is by design.
Videos. A video attached directly may show "an error screen instead of the video". Download it and play it on your device.

5. Pictures in the message are blank

Images inside the body are not attachments, and they have their own setting. If they do not load, check Settings → See all settings → Images, and choose "Always display external images". Gmail also holds images back on purpose: "If Gmail thinks a sender or message is suspicious, you won’t see images automatically" (Turn images on or off in Gmail, read 27 September 2026).

6. Your storage is full

A full account stops more than attachments. Google's attachments page states that at the storage limit "you can't send or receive attachments" (the Send attachments page), and the storage page adds that "Messages sent to you go back to the sender" (Manage your storage in Drive, Gmail & Photos, read 27 September 2026). If whole emails have stopped arriving too, this is the likely cause; what to do about it.