Why won't the Email Document/Send by E-mail feature work in conjunction with Microsoft Outlook?
In 2024 - Microsoft released a major update for MS Office 365 products which converted many of them, including Outlook, to primarily “Web-based” applications. This has had the unfortunate effect of changing the methods to open a “compose” window, as well as removing compatibility with old “COM Addins” in the new version of the software.
At the time of writing this article (Sept 5th 2024) we do not support the use of our PDF-XChange Office Toolbar Addin (for conversions to PDF) in conjunction with any Web-based Office 365 products. Our team is hard at work finding new ways to implement and offer these beloved features with the new Office 365 lineup, but we cannot guarantee a timeline on an implementation, or that the new features will be able to offer all the same capabilities as before.
In the next release (10.4) we will be updating our “Email Document” feature, with a new method that should be compatible with any default mail application, for those running builds prior to 10.4, the “send by mail” feature will not work with the Web-based Outlook 365).
For now, one workaround is to keep a locally installed Office 2023 (or prior version) on hand, which will allow you to use both the PDF-XChange Toolbar Addin for conversions, and the Send by E-mail feature natively with that client. As always, please do keep an eye open for any updates to our PDF-XChange Products, as these improvements could come in a future version.
The email will not send when I try to use this feature and I receive the error message:
Couldn’t send the document by e-mail.
Error[System]: Unspecified error
This also happens when I try to use the Report a Problem feature.
A version of Outlook prior to Outlook 2010 is being used. These versions of the software provide only a 32-bit version of the Simple MAPI Handler. PDF-XChange Editor installs as a 64-bit application and therefore will not work in conjunction with older versions of Outlook, as it is designed to function with 64-bit comms DLLs in Windows/Outlook installations.
There are two resolutions available for this issue:
The first option is to upgrade to Outlook 2010 or later, as a 64-bit MAPI handler is supported in those versions.
The second option is to use the portable version of PDF-XChange Editor, which is a 32-bit application and therefore will not experience issues when used in conjunction with the older versions of Outlook. It is available here.
This issue may also arise in PDF-Tools when a 64-bit operating system is used in conjunction with a 32-bit Simple MAPI connector (older than Outlook 2010 in the case of Outlook) or a 32-bit scanner driver such as the TWAIN interface.
Please note that the methods outlined above are a workaround for a Windows issue in cases where true 64-bit drivers, or a simple MAPI Connector, are not available. A 64-bit connector (Outlook 2010 or later) or a 64-bit scanner driver (usually WIA) should always be used in preference to this workaround.
You can contact us by phone, email or our social media accounts — we are here to assist you.