Mail Attachment Downloader PRO- How To


Get the latest build

Before contacting support or if you experience any issue whatsoever, usually there is a newer build (version may stay the same, but the build is newer) for the PRO version you bought (v2.x or v3.x) and you can download it from the same location we have listed in the license email you received along with the serial.

To check the build you currently have, hover the mouse over the main title text (i.e. "Mail Attachment Downloader") in the main program window and you should see the version eg. 3.2 and the build 3.2.0.955 (955 is the build).

All settings will be preserved when upgrading, however, we highly recommend you backup the Settings folder before upgrading. You can backup the settings via the Export/Import tab. If you do not have an Export/Import tab, you can open the Settings folder from the Settings button -> Settings folder button if you are using v3.x OR from the Mail Server tab -> Settings folder button if you are using v2.x.


Places to go to for help



Mail Server Settings

Mail Server Settings

Please refer to the Mail Server Settings HOW TO page for up-to-date information on configuring the mail server settings for this product.


Frequently Asked Questions

How do I run multiple accounts for every Connect And Download?

Select multiple@multiple from the Account dropdown in the main window and select the accounts you want to run for. Then just hit Connect And Download.

What are Global filters and why do I need them?

In the Free version, you had various tabs to specify how to filter the emails down. In the PRO version, we recommend you use the Global filters (tab) instead. We have this blog post explaining how to move from the Free configuration to the Global filters configuration. Please read it in its entirety before contacting support.

Global filters are what allows you to take various actions (like document conversion, copying or deleting emails after download).

How do I re-order Global filters?

Hold the Ctrl button and drag and drop the rule in the Global filters tab.

Why does it download all my mail the first time I run it?

The program identifies new mail based on when it last successfully downloaded attachments.

So when you run it for the first time, since no attachments have been downloaded yet, it will download all mail attachments in your email inbox after which it will only scan for mail attachments that arrive from thereon (including read and unread mail).

The default setting will only download messages since last download including unread mails that have not been downloaded by the program. IMPORTANT: If you switch this setting to All mail at any time, any state will be lost and the next time you select messages since last download it will download from the start again. To avoid this, select a date filter (see FAQ below titled "How do I download from a given date?").

Subsequent runs by clicking the 'Connect And Download' button will download remaining mail attachments that have not been downloaded yet until it has downloaded all attachments till the present day.

How do I download from a given date?

If you don't want to wait to download all email attachments the first time when messages since last download option is selected in the Search tab for the account, do the following.

If you are using Global filters tab:
If you look at the search tab, date filters should be disabled. This is because Global filters has rules defined within. To make an initial download from a date when using Global Filters, in the Global FIlters tab set the Start Date to the day you want to download from. This will ensure that the first download is always from that date. Subsequent Connect And Downloads would only check for new messages if you had selected "Messages since last download" option in the Search tab for that account. You can always select "All mail" to re-download the older mails from that date again.  

If you are NOT using Global filters tab:
Set the 'start date' from which you want to download your attachments in the Search tab. Leave the 'end date' unchecked to indicate that there is no end date.

How do I re-download the same attachments?

If you you want to re-download the same attachments that the program had already downloaded in the past, choose Search -> Check In -> All mail. You may also want to check the Inline Content checkbox if you want to download attachments that are inlined. For certain types of mail servers this will be checked by default.

I received the "Google Account: sign-in attempt blocked" email?

The program tries to log you in with your supplied password. Google has enabled higher security by default on most new accounts, so when the program tries to connect Google will deny the login attempt requesting that the program provide more credentials.

When this happens, you will be then taken to google.com to authorize the program to access your email with a code. This will only happen the first time you logon. All subsequent logons will NOT send you this email. More info about security

How do multiple rules work in Global filters tab?

Please read through the description here first for Global filters. Rules have the following components: Filters, Extractions, Save location/format and Actions. If the filters defined inside the rule matches an attachment or email body, then the file (which could be the body of the email) is saved in the specified save location and format inside the rule. Once the file is saved, the various actions are run. Rules are run from top/down order and ordering is important.

How do I test Global filters?

The best way to test Global filters (when you have many of them) is to create a new mailbox folder in your email account called something like "Test Mail Attachment Downloader". Then in the main program window, pick Selected folders and then check ONLY the "Test Mail Attachment Downloader" folder that you created. Then in the Search tab, pick "new messages since last download" and ensure Inline checkbox is checked.

Then move (do not forward) any emails you want to test into this folder using any email client of your choice (like Thunderbird, Outlook etc.). Then run Connect and Download to test whether the specific rule was applied. You can see which rule was applied in the "Download History" tab (next to "Current Status" tab towards the lower half of the main program window). If you see that the wrong rule was run for this test, make sure ordering of the rules is correct.

Make sure when you are done testing that you deselect the test folder that was selected for the test and then the folder you want to normally run on is selected.

Having trouble connecting?

You may be behind a corporate firewall or something may be blocking your connection. Check with your IT administrator to ensure that your host, port, TLS and IMAP/POP3 information is correctly entered and that you have a direct connection to the mail server. If the connection still fails, contact us.

I'm using gmail and some attachments aren't being downloaded.

Some attachments are inlined, check the 'Inline attachments' checkbox in the Search tab. If the attachment still doesn't download, contact issues@gearmage.com.

Why is Selected Folders grayed out?

Some mail servers only support the POP3 mail server protocol.

The POP3 protocol inherently does not support folders whereas the IMAP protocol does.

To overcome this, first, make sure that your mail server supports IMAP and then change the protocol via the Settings button to IMAP.

Setting the date doesn't seem to work

If you are using POP3 (in the mail server tab, see if POP3 is selected), the program will still need to scan/download (and throw away) attachments from the start of time even if the date is set.

File type limitations

A format of attached files that is sent by Outlook (TNEF) is not supported if your mail server does not convert them. These will be ignored by the program.

I see [THROTTLED] in the Status, what is that?

Some email providers like Gmail will end up throttling your connection if we end up processing too many requests for a given email account.

Where are the settings stored?

The settings are stored in the users %AppData%\MAD folder based on the logged on Windows user. You can confirm this by going to the Logs tab and clicking the Logs folder under the Client section.