Recently we discovered that while using Internet Explorer 8 to access Outlook Web Access it was no longer easy to save a Word .docx file that is attached to an email. The problem is that by default instead of saving as a .docx file it saves as a .zip file. This was causing a lot of confusion and we needed to apply a fix quickly.
Since the only results I found when searching for a solution to this problem were server based I figured I’d post the client solution in case someone else is running into this issue.
To resolve this issue, place the URL for your OWA into Internet Explorer’s Trusted Sites list. Then when you attempt to save a .docx file from an email attachment it will save as .docx instead of .zip.
A simple client-side solution, easily pushed down through group policy or configured manually.
Amazingly, this worked. After hours of searching, it was so simple. Thanks for posting the solution. Any thoughts on how to get Outlook to just open the file with the appropriate program w/o having to save it?