# Little red x's ...can't open **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-red-xs-cant-open/291113 "2005-02-21T04:07:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-red-xs-cant-open/291113/1 "2005-02-21T04:07:46Z")
What are the little red x’s that I receive often in my e mails? I click on them and nothing opens…I tell the sender I can’t open them and occasionally they will send me the same e mail without the red x…and then I can open the mail? ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-red-xs-cant-open/291113/2 "2005-02-21T09:11:21Z")
A red X like [this](http://www.infopackets.com/graphics/outlook+express+6+red+x.gif) in most Windows programs means a “broken image” - a direct link to a picture that can’t be found by your computer. If you get one in an email, then somebody’s trying to send you an image that you can’t get to for some reason (the link is dead, or they tried to include a picture with a local path that doesn’t exist on your machine, or something else.) ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-red-xs-cant-open/291113/3 "2005-02-21T10:57:39Z")
Just hope you dont get a broken image of the broken image icon. … No, wait a second… ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-red-xs-cant-open/291113/4 "2005-02-21T11:06:04Z")
I’ll take a guess that you are using Outlook Express in Win XP service Pack 2, and that you have he preview pane header turned off. This is a new feature in SP2. It deliberately blocks pictures in your emails, since spammers can use them to identify your computer. If you go **view-\>layout** and check the **‘show prieview pane header’** box, you will get a message at the top of emails that you can click to display the hidden images. Or you may go **view-\>blocked** images to display them. Personally, I find this feature annoying. I don’t know if it’s possible to turn it off altogether. ---
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-red-xs-cant-open/291113/5 "2005-02-21T18:22:16Z")
See title ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-red-xs-cant-open/291113/6 "2005-02-21T19:07:33Z")
Also, place cursor on them and right click. If “show image” is not grayed out in the context-sensitive menu, it means that your computer failed to download the image; try clicking on it and see if it will open the image. (If it’s any of the problems noted above, you’ll just get the red X back again.) AOL e-mail users might note that they have to activate download of attachments in many cases; the link to do so is in the upper right of your mail window.