Red X appears instead of image?

Category: Email

"Sometimes in my emails or websites, the images do not appear, but a little red X shows up. Can you tell me please how to correct this?"



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Ah yes, another case of software saving us from ourselves... There are a bunch of reasons why you might see the dreaded "Red X" instead of an image while viewing a web page with Internet Explorer or an email with Outlook.

Here are some possible reasons why the Red X may appear, and suggested fixes for each:

Problem: The "Show Pictures" setting has been turned off in Internet Explorer.
Solution: In Internet Explorer's Tools menu, click Internet Options, then click the Advanced tab. Make sure the Show Pictures check box is selected under Multimedia, and click OK.

Problem: Your anti-virus or firewall is a little too uppity. Check to see if your anti-virus or firewall software has a privacy setting to "disable web bugs".
Solution: Uncheck or turn it off. (The term "web bug" is a misnomer. They are really just harmless tiny images on a web page or email, sometimes used for tracking purposes.)

Problem: Your Internet Explorer security settings are set too high, preventing you from accessing the web site which hosts the image.
Solution: Reset to the default security settings. In Internet Explorer, click on Tools -> Internet Options -> Security -> Default Level.

Problem: You've installed the Windows XP/SP2 updates and you're being bitten by the "Block images and other external content in HTML e-mail" security option. This is automatically turned ON in Outlook Express after you install Windows XP/SP2.
Solution: Click on Tools -> Options -> Security. Then UNCHECK the "Block images and other external content" check box, and click OK.

Problem: You are the SENDER and others are complaining that they can't see images in emails you sent,
Solution: In Outlook Express, Click Tools -> Options -> Send. Under Mail Sending Format, select HTML, then press the HTML Settings button. Make sure the "Send pictures with messages" box is checked.

Problem: The image is hosted on a website that's busy, temporarily offline or defunct. Or the image file on the website might have been renamed or deleted.
Solution: Try again later or ask the sender to send it as an attachment instead of an inline image.

Problem: The image is hosted on a website, and you're not online.
Solution: Make sure your internet connection is active and try again.

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Posted by Bob Rankin on January 19, 2006 12:55 PM


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Related Keywords: Email   red x   missing image   missing picture   outlook   outlook express   email  

Most recent comments on "Red X appears instead of image?"

(See all 59 comments for this article.)

Posted by:

Claire
24 Feb 2009

I have a piczo site from a couple of years ago and i just found it. It still the same except all my photos have red x's and i can't view them. what should i do??

EDITOR'S NOTE: Most likely your photos have been removed because the account was dormant. Probably nothing you can do...


Posted by:

John Bryntze
21 Mar 2009

Sometimes the images in Outlook are corrupted (the cached) and you can delete/flush all files in this folder %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLKxxxxx\ and then restart Outlook and it will work.
Read more here: http://www.john.bryntze.net/jbkb/index.php?title=Office-kb2_Outlook_display_image_red_X_problem


Posted by:

michelle
23 Apr 2009

I don't understand why my website, my pictures on my website, and my video work when i pull them up in Internet explorer and Firefox, but when I send my files as an attachment to my school my professor says my menu links and my photos don't show, the pictures have red X's and the menu links don't work when clicked, but my video shows.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Did you tell your prof to read "Red X appears instead of image?"


Posted by:

Shell Judkiins
27 Apr 2009

I did the Regedit and removed the temp as shown by John Bryntze comments. I checked to allow pictures to show automatically and I checked in IE advance, multimedia to allow pictures..Still has red X on one of our computers.


Posted by:

Lincon
06 May 2009

The solution posted by John solved my problem.
The solution can be found out in
http://www.john.bryntze.net/jbkb/index.php?title=Office-kb2_Outlook_display_image_red_X_problem


Posted by:

Mike E
09 May 2009

I have a similar problem but mine is not with e-mail / web. I own a copy of PaperPort Professional 11. Every time I load it a "How to" box appears om screen. Whenever I try to view the items within this section I can read the words but all the pictures are replaced by the dreaded Red X. Nuance have been unable to rectify this. Can you please off some hope? I run Vista Home Premium (with SP1) and Kaspersky Internet Security. The latter was turned off during the installation of Paperport.


Posted by:

Michael Z
15 Jul 2009

My issue is not in Outlook but after I save an email as a HTML file. I can see the images in embedded in the email, but after I save it I get the red X. Will the above solutions work for me as well?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Open up the HTML file, and see if the IMG tag contains the full URL to the image.


Posted by:

Jon E
24 Jul 2009

It has to do with the Outlook Temporary Items folder. Close Outlook before preceding to the steps below.

1. Locate the Outlook Temporary Items folder by opening the Registry and finding HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security. Double click on the OutlookSecureTempFolder key.
2. Right click the Value Data field and select Copy. It should be in the form of %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK6 where OLK6 is some randomly generated string that always starts with OLK.
3. Open Windows Explorer, paste in the Address field and press Enter (or select GO). You will be navigated to this folder.
4. Select All the files in this folder and Delete.
5. Launch Outlook. The images should now appear in the Email.


Once these temp files were deleted his images showed up.


Posted by:

Chelle
30 Jul 2009

I send email from various providers (AOL, Yahoo, Inbox.com) - using a 3rd party program (not Outlook Express). Most of the time the embedded images are received on the other end just fine. Every once in a while, some will say all they are seeing are the red x's, while others can see them just fine (in the same email). These problems are usually arising when mail is going through an email group (where images/attachments *are* allowed). I have checked all my settings to be sure that it's not removing them on my end - and I have pointed them to links on red x's (including your article). Different browsers are being used on the receiving end... so any other additional suggestions on what could be causing it, or ideas on what else we can try to stop this from happening - on top of what you have mentioned in your article?

Thank you.


Posted by:

David
19 Aug 2009

Hi. I have a red x problem, but it isn't when trying to view a picture. I am trying to write an email using Microsoft Outlook Web Access. The screen to add an address and subject pops up just fine, but the area where I am supposed to write the message (also in the pop up window) has the dreaded red x.

Do you have any ideas?

thanks!
david


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