Recruiter guide | Updated 5 November 2026 | By Ramy Elbeitam, recruitment operations manager

How to save attachments from many emails in Outlook

Short answer: Outlook cannot save attachments from many emails in one step. The free workarounds are dragging attachments out one message at a time, a VBA macro in classic Outlook, a Power Automate flow, or a desktop tool such as Applicant Packager, which signs in to Outlook read-only and saves the CVs from matching emails.

If you post a job and the applications land in Outlook, you soon face a folder of fifty or five hundred emails, each with a CV attached. Outlook makes it easy to save the attachments from one email, but it has no button that saves every attachment from a selection of emails. This guide covers what Outlook can do on its own, the workarounds that actually hold up, and the mistakes that cost recruiters time.

What Outlook can do on its own

In classic Outlook for Windows, open an email, click the arrow next to any attachment and choose Save All Attachments. You pick a folder and every file from that one message is saved. In the new Outlook and Outlook on the web, the equivalent is Download all under the attachment list, which gives you a zip file for that message.

Both options work per email. For ten applications that is fine. For two hundred it means two hundred rounds of open, save, choose a folder, and it is easy to skip one or save a CV into the wrong role's folder.

Workaround 1: drag the attachments, not the emails

In classic Outlook you can open the reading pane and drag an attachment straight onto a folder in File Explorer. It is quicker than the save dialog, but still one email at a time. Dragging the emails themselves to a folder saves .msg files, not the CVs inside them. Those files only open in Outlook, so they are no use to a hiring manager who just wants the PDF.

Workaround 2: narrow the list first

Whatever method you use, it goes faster when you only touch the emails that matter. Before saving anything:

Search the folder with hasattachments:yes to hide messages with no files.
Add the job code or title, for example hasattachments:yes "Staff Nurse", so you don't mix roles.
Sort by date, newest first, so a revised CV is the one you see first.
Flag or categorize each email once you've saved its files, so you can tell where you stopped if you are interrupted.

Workaround 3: Power Automate for new applications

If your mailbox is Microsoft 365, a Power Automate flow can save attachments as emails arrive. The usual pattern is the trigger When a new email arrives with Include attachments and Only with attachments turned on, followed by Create file in OneDrive or SharePoint for each attachment. Things to know before you rely on it:

It only handles new email. It does not go back through the applications already in your inbox.
File names collide. Ten applicants all send CV.pdf, so build the sender's address or the received time into the file name, or later files overwrite earlier ones.
Signature images and logos are attachments too. Add a condition that skips small image files, or your folder fills with image001.png.
The files end up in cloud storage your organization controls. Check that this fits your company's rules for applicant data.

Workaround 4: a VBA macro

Classic Outlook can run a VBA macro that loops over the selected emails and saves each attachment. Many examples exist online. It works, but macros are often blocked by company IT policy, they don't run in the new Outlook or on the web, and a script copied from a forum has full access to your mailbox. Only use one you understand line by line.

Mistakes to avoid

Saving everything into one folder. Fifty files named Resume.pdf, Resume(1).pdf and so on can't be traced back to a person. See how to name and file CVs.
Losing the email itself. The cover note often holds the expected salary, availability or the role applied for. Keep a link between the file and the message.
Keeping copies forever. Every saved CV is personal data you are now responsible for. Decide when you will delete them; our privacy guide covers this.

Using Applicant Packager with Outlook.com or Microsoft 365

Applicant Packager is a free Windows app that reads your mailbox and saves CVs into one folder per role and applicant. For Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 mailboxes you sign in through Microsoft's own browser page; the app never sees your password. It reads mail only and never moves, deletes or marks messages, and the files stay on your computer. You review the list of applicants before anything is downloaded.

Download Applicant Packager free

Questions about saving Outlook attachments in bulk

Can Outlook save attachments from multiple emails at once?

Not with a built-in button. You can select several attachments inside one message, but saving across many messages needs a macro, Power Automate or a separate tool.

Does the new Outlook for Windows support VBA macros?

No. Macros run only in classic Outlook for Windows. In the new Outlook and Outlook on the web, use Power Automate or a desktop tool that connects to the mailbox.

Is there a free tool to download CVs from Outlook?

Yes. Applicant Packager is free for Windows. It signs in to Outlook or Microsoft 365 through Microsoft's own page, reads mail without changing it, and saves the CVs from matching application emails into folders on your computer.

Can a Power Automate flow save old emails, or only new ones?

A standard "when a new email arrives" flow handles new mail only. For a backlog of existing applications you need a manual export or a tool that scans the mailbox.