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How do I get Thunderbird to read tnef formatted encapsulated files?

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 70 views
  • Last reply by bwallum

I have received a pdf file which has been encapsulated in tnef (Transport Neutral Encapsulated Format), a Microsoft format.

Can I open this file to view the pdf using Thunderbird?

I have received a pdf file which has been encapsulated in tnef (Transport Neutral Encapsulated Format), a Microsoft format. Can I open this file to view the pdf using Thunderbird?
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

Indeed, problem solved with installing KTnef and using its extract function. Thank you for motivating me to find the answer.

Had to undo your chosen solution tag to mark as solved. Thanks christ1!

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All Replies (4)

Thunderbird doesn't even show standard PDFs. You'll need an external viewer for viewing PDFs. The error message in your screenshot seems to be from the Gnome Document Viewer app, but certainly not from Thunderbird. So you'd need to look for a PDF viewer supporting the Microsoft format.

If this is about a winmail.dat attachment see https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/what-winmaildat-attachment

Modified by christ1

Thanks christ1, a very good steer! I looked up a tnef viewer, found KTnef in the Ubuntu depository so guess other non MS peeps will find it.

I ran KTnef and immediately tried to open the encapsulated pdf, failed and then tried extracting it (from KTnef) then opened the extracted file and bingo!

Many thanks indeed for your help.

Good. When your problem is fixed, can you mark the topic as 'Solved' please? Thank you.

Chosen Solution

Indeed, problem solved with installing KTnef and using its extract function. Thank you for motivating me to find the answer.

Had to undo your chosen solution tag to mark as solved. Thanks christ1!

Modified by bwallum