The dreaded attachments showing as .bin file

Mail
1

A service I use and that has been working for years on eM Client without any issues sends me PDF attachments but all of a soddenly they all appear as attachement.bin instead of attachement.pdf

I am using eM Client with Gmail and if I log in to the webmail service the pdfs show and or if I look at the email on my iPhone the PDF’s show. This seems to be a direct issues with eM Client.

I am using Version 8.2.1659 (845a639)

Can anyone shed some light and help me with this…

2

lunes 29 noviembre 2021 :: 1811hrs (UTC +01:00)

Hi @Chris_W1

You do say the OS you are using, however…
What PDF program do you have installed to read/create PDF files?
Probably there is no association between PDF files and eMC, you can correct this in your OS settings.
Restart both your computer and eMC, hopefully with the proviso that you have a PDF reader/creator installed.
Worked for me when I changed my PDF program.

¡Saludos desde la soleada Sevilla en España!
¡Mis mejores deseos y mantente a salvo!

Skybat
[email protected]

Hablo español, luego portugués e inglés, con conocimiento de varios otros idiomas.

3

Hi @skybat, I should have been more clear. The PDF’s work on some emails and not on others. I’m not a novice and I know how to associate .pdf files to a default application so that’s not the problem.

The issue seems to be emanating on emails that are sent with a certain type of certificate. Unfortunately its pot luck as to which PDF’s will work on eM Client. They all work on other web applications and on my iPhone.

Seems to be an issue with the eM Client software corrupting the file

4

lunes 29 noviembre 2021 :: 1848hrs (UTC +01:00)

Hi @Chris_W1

Are you running the latest version of eMC? (8.2.1659 (845a639))

¡Saludos desde la soleada Sevilla en España!
¡Mis mejores deseos y mantente a salvo!

Skybat
[email protected]

Hablo español, luego portugués e inglés, con conocimiento de varios otros idiomas.

5

@skybat As stated in my first post yes :laughing:

6

@Chris_W1

A service I use and that has been working for years on eM Client without any issues sends me PDF attachments but all of a soddenly they all appear as attachement.bin instead of attachement.pdf

The problem might be an incompatibility with either the (sender’s mail client) or (sending mail service / server), as it is very unusual that some emails would have a pdf and some are .bin files instead of .pdf files.

If you (save as) the .bin files and rename them to .pdf, do they open in your pdf reader ?

Also what “mail client” and “mail service / server” is the sender using / sending through ?

Also if you send yourself an email from an alt webmail box with a pdf attached, does it appear as a .pdf or a .bin file in eM Client ?

7

If I’m understanding Chris correctly, everyone else seems to be misunderstanding him! - :grinning:
To try and make it simple and clear. Obviously, Chris should correct me if everyone else is right and I’m wrong!

  1. There is no problem receiving most pdf files.
  2. There is no problem receiving some pdf files that are encrypted and protected by a certificate.
  3. There is a problem receiving some pdf files that are encrypted and protected with some other kind of certificate. - We’ll call that certificate - imploder cert.
  4. His iphone and Gmail have no problem with files encrypted with imploder cert only emclient does.
  5. As of now, we do not know the true identity of imploder cert

@Chris_W1 please let me know if I’ve got this right.

Sorry, I’ve got no answer for you, but sometimes, getting the question stated clearly helps find the answer.

8

Hi chaps sorry for the ridiculously long response times. I allong with everyone in my offices is stuggling within this issue now.

@cyberzork Yes if I save the .bin file to my desktop and rename it to .pdf it then works fine and can be viewed. It just cant be seen by tryig to open it from an email.

@steveshank You are 100% correct regarding all of your explanation. I have spoken to the comany in question about this several times but they keep throwing this isue back over the fence to us.

9

I’ve seen exactly this happen with one of my friends (specific banks) who sends her monthly .pdf statement files and she receives them as a .bin file attachment in eM Client for some unknown reason.

She also has to save and rename them to .pdf after receiving into eM Client which then open fine.

None of her (other banks) monthly bank statement pdf files do that.

So can only presume its the way that specific bank packs up or writes the .pdf file or something happens along the way between that bank and her mailbox to then arrive as a .bin file attachment instead of a .pdf file when received in eM Client.

10

I did a tiny bit of research on this issue and for some it is a matter of the email client on the senders side, being too dumb to know what a pdf file is, and be able to send it so renames them to .bin. It can also occur when it renames files with spaces in the file name. So, if you try having them get rid of the spaces, and update their email client, the problem should go away.

If, in webmail, the file is actually a .bin, then that company needs to stop renaming their pdf files to .bin. Also, I’d be worried about dealing with people who cannot attach a file and send it.

3 Likes
11

There is another old thread on this issue I have managed to dig up. Exactly the same problem I am experiencing Strange Attachments - #8 by Chris_W1

Is there actually any official eM Client tech on this forum who might be able to have a look in to this?