Why Have “Enable Links?”

[chrissa1]

I’m with AOL. On my emails where I have to click a link to view what I want to view, I have to click “enable links” before I can see what I want to see.

Why is this necessary?

Thanks.

[Buenchico]

An email can be used to spread malware via content that's not directly part of the email itself but is, instead, called up from a different server. Such content is sent directly to your computer from that server (rather than following the same path as the email itself) thus bypassing the virus checks that your email service carries out on each email you receive.

So many email services use a default setting which automatically blocks content (that's been linked to within an email) provided from a remote server. The recipient is then given the option to view that content if they're sure that they trust the sender of the email.

[chrissa1]

Ok. Thanks, Chris.