Are Changes Made to Files Opened from Mac OS X Mail Lost?
When you open an attached file from Mac OS X Mail, the appropriate application pops up, ready for viewing or editing even.
If you do edit the file and faithfully save it, where are the changes you made? The email still contains the original attachment, and opening it again brings up the unedited document.
Fortunately, your changes are not lost.
Where Attachments Opened from Mac OS X Mail Are Stored
When you open an attachment from Mac OS X Mail, a copy is placed in the "Mail Downloads" folder,
- Home/Library/Mail Downloads, or
- the system "Downloads" folder
by default. You will find the edited document in this folder.
Make Mac OS X Mail Store Attachments on the Desktop
If you want to keep track of files opened from Mail more tightly, you can change the folder used to save attachments and downloads, to your Desktop for example.
- Select Mail | Preferences... from the menu.
- Go to the General category.
- Select the desired folder under Downloads Folder:.
Mail Manages the Files Automatically
Mail will never delete a file you opened, edited and saved. It will, however, remove any files associated with deleted messages. You can prevent this by changing the setting under Remove unedited downloads: to Never.
