Being able to insert text from a file sounds like a standard feature for any email client. Outlook does in fact support this option, but it isn’t particularly easy to locate.
Technology blogger Helen Bradley discovered that there’s no obvious way to insert text from a file, rather than simply attach the file itself. If Microsoft’s ribbon logic was consistent, there’d be an option on the Insert tab, but there isn’t.
To actually get the task done, you need to select the Attach file option. After picking the file, click the drop down next to the ‘Insert’ button, and select ‘Insert as text’ instead. Bradley’s post describes the process for Outlook 2007; the same system is used for Outlook 2010 as well. We can hope Microsoft might fix this in a future release; after all, how hard would it be to add a ‘Text’ button in the Include group on the Insert tab?
Betty
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 5:31 PMI would never use Outlook, IE or Windows Media Player. I use open source software like SeaMonkey and VLC Media Player. Proprietary software is old-school, catch up with the times dude.
Chris Attwood
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 8:18 PMDude??? now thats old school :)
Wobble
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 12:01 AMor you could…
1) Open text file in text editor
2) Select All, Copy and Paste.
mike
Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 2:04 AMso … if there is a _files folder that contains css/images/etc, how do i include that when i insert as text so that html page content displays correctly? thanks, Mike.
ian
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 7:20 PMSorry Angus that doesn’t work in Office 2010 as they have removed the Insert text option from the menus and I cannot find it anywhere!!
Angus Kidman
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 7:26 AMIan — go to the Insert tab, click on Attach file, and the drop-down Insert button is on the file attachment dialogue itself — not on a menu.