Download email attachments in .NET

// C#

using(Imap imap = new Imap())
{
	imap.Connect("imap.example.com");   // or ConnectSSL for SSL
	imap.UseBestLogin("user", "password");

	imap.SelectInbox();
	List<long> uids = imap.Search(Flag.All);

	foreach (long uid in uids)
	{
		IMail email = new MailBuilder()
			.CreateFromEml(imap.GetMessageByUID(uid));

		Console.WriteLine(email.Subject);

		// save all attachments to disk
		foreach(MimeData mime in email.Attachments)
		{
			mime.Save(mime.SafeFileName);
		}
	}
	imap.Close();
}

' VB.NET

Using imap As New Imap()
	imap.Connect("imap.example.com")   ' or ConnectSSL for SSL
	imap.UseBestLogin("user", "password")

	imap.SelectInbox()
	Dim uids As List(Of Long) = imap.Search(Flag.All)

	For Each uid As Long In uids
		Dim email As IMail = New MailBuilder()_
			.CreateFromEml(imap.GetMessageByUID(uid))

		Console.WriteLine(email.Subject)

		' save all attachments to disk
		For Each mime As MimeData In email.Attachments
			mime.Save(mime.SafeFileName)
		Next
	Next
	imap.Close()
End Using

// C# 

using(Pop3 pop3 = new Pop3())
{
	pop3.Connect("pop3.example.com");   // or ConnectSSL
	pop3.UseBestLogin("user", "password");

	foreach (string uid in pop3.GetAll())
	{
		IMail email = new MailBuilder()
			.CreateFromEml(pop3.GetMessageByUID(uid));

		Console.WriteLine(email.Subject);

		// save all attachments to disk
		foreach(MimeData mime in email.Attachments)
		{
			mime.Save(mime.SafeFileName);
		}
	}
	pop3.Close();
}

' VB.NET

Using pop3 As New Pop3()
	pop3.Connect("pop3.example.com") ' or ConnectSSL
	pop3.UseBestLogin("user", "password")

	For Each uid As String In pop3.GetAll()
		Dim email As IMail = New MailBuilder() _
      			.CreateFromEml(pop3.GetMessageByUID(uid))

		Console.WriteLine(email.Subject)

		' save all attachments to disk
		For Each mime As MimeData In email.Attachments
			mime.Save(mime.SafeFileName)
		Next
	Next
	pop3.Close()
End Using

30 Responses to “Download email attachments in .NET”

1. Vincentius Owen Says:
   June 7th, 2010 at 14:34

   Is it possible for me to delete specified email with this component?

   Thank You

2. Limilabs support Says:
   June 8th, 2010 at 13:19

   @Vincentius Yes, you can. Both IMAP and POP3 clients have two methods: DeleteMessage and DeleteMessageByUID.

   If you are using Gmail you may want to also check this post:
   http://www.limilabs.com/blog/delete-email-permanently-in-gmail

3. Franz Says:
   September 19th, 2010 at 20:47

   When i try the “when using pop3 sever” for C# and i keep getting the System.UnauthorizedAccessException was unhandled error. Any fixes?

4. Limilabs support Says:
   September 20th, 2010 at 12:35

   @Franz
   1. Are you using the latest version?
   2. What is the stack trace of the exception?
   3. Please contact us via email:
   http://www.limilabs.com/support
   it’ll be much easier to help you.

5. madhan Says:
   December 3rd, 2010 at 12:20

   email.Attachments.ForEach(mime => mime.Save(mime.SafeFileName));

   “=>” showing error

6. Limilabs support Says:
   December 19th, 2010 at 12:36

   @madhan

   Lambda expressions are supported in C# compiler 3.0 or greater .

   You can use regular foreach loop to iterate over Attachments collection.

7. Sunil Says:
   December 19th, 2010 at 13:42

   Hi,

   Where I can change folder path for download attachments from POP3?
   What is default path?
   It’s working but i can’t able to see the download attachemnts
   Please replay

8. Limilabs support Says:
   December 20th, 2010 at 12:45

   @Sunil
   Attachments are part of the email you download, files are not created on disk until you call MimeData.Save method on objects in Attachments collection.

   If you want to specify different folder than the default path for current process, just specify it as an argument for the Save method:

   mime.Save(@”c:\attachments\” + mime.SafeFileName)

9. Chintan Says:
   April 25th, 2011 at 09:41

   Hi,

   I want to download .csv format file and save it to database.

   so how can i do it ???

   I dont want to save the csv format file in any harddrive.

   Please Reply.

10. Limilabs support Says:
    April 25th, 2011 at 11:33

    @Chintan

    If the csv file is attached to the email you can directly access attachment’s data as stream using MimeData.GetMemoryStream() method:

    MemoryStream stream = mime.GetMemoryStream();
    

    or as byte array using MimeData.Data property:

    byte[] data = mime.Data;
    

    If your csv attachment has correct mime type, you can also cast MimeData to MimeText and use Text property to access csv data as string:

    string text = ((MimeText)mime).Text;
    

    As for your question on how to save this data to database, it depends on the db you are using (MSSQL, Oracle, MySql, document db) and it’s structure. I don’t think I can help you with so little information you provided and also I believe it’s out of scope of Mail.dll.

11. Binis Says:
    July 13th, 2011 at 15:11

    How can I check if the password that a user has entered matches to its username (basically if it is correct)…..

    Thanks,
    Binis

12. Limilabs support Says:
    July 16th, 2011 at 09:09

    @Binis Server does that.
    If the password is incorrect you’ll get an exception from Login method.

13. Kent Says:
    August 16th, 2011 at 16:43

    What if there are multiple files in the emails, I cannot figure out how to save them all?

    Thanks,
    Kent

14. Limilabs support Says:
    August 16th, 2011 at 21:57

    @Kent

    You should iterate over Attachments collection as shown in the blog post,
    you can use foreach loop if you are not familiar with lambdas:

    foreach (MimeData attachment in email.Attachments)
    {
        attachment.Save("c:\" + attachment.SafeFileName);
    }
    

15. mojtaba Says:
    October 3rd, 2011 at 12:30

    files don’t save completely, size of downloaded files is zero.

16. Limilabs support Says:
    October 4th, 2011 at 17:25

    @mojtaba

    This is very unlikely as Mail.dll is rock solid product. In most cases corrupted messages are the problem. If you believe we can improve Mail.dll parser, please check the “I have problems parsing the message” article and contact us directly with the message in question.

17. Veincorp Says:
    October 15th, 2011 at 20:06

    I purchased your mail.dll, it’s awsome, But Why downloaded visual image saved in .DAT extension, is there any way to save it in proper extension

18. Limilabs support Says:
    October 16th, 2011 at 12:41

    @Veincorp

    Most likely the sender of the message have not specified the filename at all.
    In such case SafeFileName property (which you probably use with Save method) generates unique filename.

    You can of course check FileName property for null and act according to your needs.

19. Lax Says:
    October 19th, 2011 at 14:41

    I have set up a IMAP gmail account
    I am trying to connect with the code :

    using (Imap imap = new Imap())
    {
    imap.Connect(“smtp.gmail.com”);
    imap.UseBestLogin(“imap.dmtrigger@gmail.com”, “password”);
    imap.SelectInbox();
    ….
    ….

    But I get this error :
    “A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond …. ”

    Would this be the problem with the account ? But I can send and recieve mails from the account I have set up in my Outlook.
    Can anyone help?

    Thanks,
    Lax.

20. Limilabs support Says:
    October 19th, 2011 at 22:11

    @Lax,

    1. When using IMAP protocol use IMAP server: imap.gmail.com
    2. Use SSL

    using (Imap client = new Imap())
    {
        client.ConnectSSL("imap.gmail.com");
        client.Login("user@gmail.com", "password");
        client.SelectInbox();
    
        // ...
    
        client.Close();
    }
    
    
    

21. Rajkumar Says:
    May 3rd, 2012 at 11:25

    Error 1 The type or namespace name ‘Imap’ could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

22. Limilabs support Says:
    May 4th, 2012 at 10:26

    @Rajkumar

    You need to download and add a reference to Mail.dll IMAP library:
    http://www.limilabs.com/mail/download

23. Archana Says:
    May 15th, 2012 at 11:16

    Hi,

    Your dll is great, but there is a problem that I am facing.
    I have added the save attachment option on a button click event:

    
pop3.ConnectSSL("pop.gmail.com");
pop3.UseBestLogin("username", "password");

    IMail email = new MailBuilder().CreateFromEml(
    pop3.GetMessageByUID(lst.SelectedValue));

    foreach (MimeData attachment in email.Attachments)
{
if (attachment.FileName == lblAttachment.Text)
{
attachment.Save("c:\\" + attachment.SafeFileName);
}
}
pop3.Close();


    but I get a error message that the UID does not exists, and also how do I access the sent mails (sent items)

24. Limilabs support Says:
    May 15th, 2012 at 15:28

    @Archana,

    > I get a error message that the UID does not exists
    Most likely you are trying to download this message for a second time.
    Gmail’s POP3 behavior is quite different from other POP3 servers (http://www.limilabs.com/blog/gmail-pop3-behavior)
    I strongly advise you to use IMAP, it’s going to by much easier for you and you’ll be able to access other folders.

    To access different folder than Inbox you need to use IMAP protocol:
    http://www.limilabs.com/blog/folder-access-with-imap

25. Archana Says:
    May 30th, 2012 at 22:22

    Thanks,
    I have another question, how to get a preview of the attachments in a selected email

26. Limilabs support Says:
    May 31st, 2012 at 16:09

    @Archana

    I’m not sure Mail.dll can help you with that. What does “preview of the attachments” mean?

27. Bafana Says:
    July 14th, 2012 at 21:55

    I’m getting this error”An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions 173.194.66.108:110″ any idea?

28. Limilabs support Says:
    July 15th, 2012 at 09:37

    @Bafana

    Mail.dll needs to establish connection to the server, it seems that your antivirus software or firewall is preventing this.
    Make sure you have antivirus/firewall software disabled or configured correctly.

29. Jarek Says:
    April 16th, 2013 at 16:05

    Is there a way to skip attachments that are in the signature/footer of the mail (e.g. company logo etc.)?

30. Limilabs support Says:
    April 16th, 2013 at 17:33

    @Jarek,

    As you probably know there are 3 attachment collections:

    IMail.Visuals – contains files that should be displayed to the user (usually images embedded inside HTML emails).
    IMail.NonVisuals – “real” attachments.
    IMail.Attachments – contains all attachments (this includes Visuals and NonVisuals).

    Company logo image in the footer is indistinguishable from any other images that are embedded inside HTML, so the answer to your question is no, it is not possible. But it is also not a “real” attachment (rather a visual element) – consider using IMail.NonVisuals collection.

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