Nexus 7 cannot open .pptx mail attachments. Can you help?

[Andy Yeoman]

Hi,

My first post. After several months of happiness with my N7 I have a problem. I cannot open .pptx attachments via the mail app. It tells me there is no app installed that can open the attachement. This is incorrect because I have several including OfficeSuite Pro. Has anyone else had a similar problem and been able to solve it? I'm hopeful that it'll be something simple.

BTW I can open other MS file types including .ppt.

 

[friedtators]

Save the file and then open. Attachments are viewed in mail client.

 

[Andy Yeoman]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately the option to save the attachment isn't presented. Normally I would see "View" and "Save" next to an attachment but the only option I get with .pptx attachments is "Info" which tells me there is no App installed to open this attachment.

 

[Seronac]

I tried it and was able to open a .pptx file with OfficeSuite Pro. I suspect that there may be a few possibilities: 1) the file is saved as a picture slideshow, which may not be supported, so try a different file, or file format, 2) the app installation is incorrect, in which case uninstall and reinstall the app, or 3) the file really isn't a .pptx file. Either way, good luck, that's a very odd problem.

 

[Louise m1]

I have exactly the same issue and I'm using Kingston office.

 

[Louise m1]

I've tried downloading office suite and no joy, won't open PDF attachments either.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! When you have an attachment in Gmail, you should see a 3 vertical dot menu button the right of the attachment's file name. Tap it, and you should see a menu that says "Preview" and "Save." Save the attachment, then use one of your other apps to open the attachment.

 

[Louise m1]

Thank you but it doesn't give me the option to do that. As the Andy said, the only option is to open the info box. I then receive a message telling me that there is no app installed to open the attachment, which is not the case.

 

[B. Diddy]

Go to System Settings/Apps/All. Do you have an app called Document Viewer? This is the stock viewer on my 2012 N7 that allows me to view attachments. If you can find it, select it and Clear Cache and Data. If you can't find it, scroll all the way down to see if it's disabled. Or see if there's a list of Disabled apps to the right of the All apps list.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Louise m1]

There does not appear to be an app called document viewer. I have looked this up on Google play and cannot see which one I should be installing.

 

[B. Diddy]

Any chance you might have disabled it some time in the past? Even if you don't see any disabled apps listed in Settings/Apps/All, they might be hiding somewhere. I recently noticed a bug with Android 4.3 on the Nexus 7 where Disabled apps just disappear from the list. Normally, there should be a list of Disabled apps right next to the All apps list in Settings/Apps. What I discovered is that if I disable another system app, suddenly the Disabled list will pop up. So give that a try. Pick an innocuous system app (like any of the preinstalled live wallpapers), disable it in Settings/Apps/All. Then look to see if there is a Disabled app list that appears next to the All Apps list. Select the Disabled apps list, and see if you can find Document Viewer there. If you see it, select it and Enable it.

 

[rxgadget]

Try downloading Quickoffice from Google Play. It is free and is made to work with Google Drive inherently.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Louise m1]

Thank you, I have tried both of the above suggestions. When I disable the app, the only disabled app listed is the one I've just disabled, so no luck there. I have also downloaded the quickoffice app and I am getting the same error still. I have not removed any apps as I have only has the nexus a short time, so I don't think that I've removed anything that I shouldn't have.

 

[B. Diddy]

This is so peculiar. Document Viewer is definitely a system app on my 2012 Nexus 7, because I can't uninstall it--I can only disable it. Do you have a 2012 Nexus 7 or a 2013 version (the newer one)?

 

[Louise m1]

I have the new 2013 version. As I say, I've only had it a few months and I haven't deleted any apps. I would expect to be unable to delete this particular app in any case.

 

[B. Diddy]

It may be that the 2013 Nexus 7 doesn't come with Document Viewer. Can anyone else with a 2013 version verify this?

 

[Flashfox]

For what it's worth, I have a stock Nexus 7 2012 running in 4.3. "Document Viewer" is present but it cannot open a ".pptx" document. However, the attachment in the "Gmail" app does show a "save" option so I saved it. I then use an app I licensed ($): "Documents To Go" (from Dataviz). It opens the .pptx file without any problem. As a FYI, I use Documents To Go for all of my Microsoft Office work and as many now send me files in the 2013 format, I like this capability

Side note --> I also sync with my Outlook Servers at the office via "TouchDown". Files are almost all MS Office or PDF and vary in versions. TouchDown and Documents To Go have never let me down. Granted, I paid for them but I always had challenges with the built-in apps... the extra $ eliminated many headaches and workarounds.

 

[Louise m1]

It's interesting that you mention gmail, I've just tried forwarding the attachment to my gmail account and can open it in there no problem. This is very odd as I'm using the stock email app to link to my aol account and I can download attachments using my android phone with the same app and same account. I'm wondering if it's a compatibility issue with 4.3 and the mail app.

 

[Flashfox]

Louise... it also works within "TouchDown" (from our Exchange server).

 

[Seronac]

Given that several people have offered varying suggestions to no avail, I would suggest a factory reset of the device and another try before installing any other third party apps.

Posted via Android Central App on Nexus 7