Email Attachments

Email attachments are one of the best reasons to have an email account. Virtually any file that is on any computer (or device such as a smartphone or tablet) can be moved to any other computer or device as an email attachment.

You can submit assignments as email attachments, collaborate with colleagues in creating a document, and move documents between the multiple computers and devices that you might use throughout the week.

All email clients support the use of attached files. Explore your email clients toolbar icons and menu items, looking for the Attach button or menu option. If it isn't obvious, check your Help files. Remember where this is located. We will need it in a few moments.

First, we will need a little document to attach to the email message. Open your word processor and create a little document with several lines of text. Save the file to your computer desktop or another location where you can easily find it. We will use it in a minute.

Attaching a File

Open your email client. Open a new email message and address it to my email address with a CC your own address. In the Subject line type email D - file attached. In the message body, type a short description of the file.

To: bobjost@gmail.com

CC: your email address

Subject: email D - file attached

This message has a file attached in the following format (.doc, .rtf, .txt, etc.)

Click the Attach icon or menu item that you found earlier and a dialog box will appear. Click the Browse button and navigate to the location where you saved that document a minute ago. Select the file and click on Open.

Click the Upload button. The name of the file will appear on the lower half of the dialog box. Click Done.

Note: Some email clients use slightly different keywords for this process. Most are close enough that you can easily figure it out.

Send the message.

The next time you check your email, you will find the message and attached file in your inbox.

I will respond by sending an email message with another attached file within 24 hours.

Record the email D completion date in your logbook.

Opening Attached Files

Now... Let's see what it looks like when we receive an attached file. Open the message that you just sent and received. You should notice a little paperclip or document icon somewhere in the message.

Doubleclick the file name or icon. A dialog box may appear asking you what you want to do with the file. You could select the an application to open the file or you could Save the file to your desktop or another location on your computer. If you give it a new file name, it won't overwrite the original file.

Minimize the web browser and find the file on the desktop. Doubleclick on the file name and an exact copy of your original file will appear on the screen.

Attached files alone are worth having an email account. Your documents can be accessible from any computer on the web with this feature.

You can practice sending email attachments with different file formats by sending messages and attachments back to your own address. Do this several times to insure that you are comfortable with sending, receiving and opening attached files.

Netiquette Issues

There are several key issues that you need to be aware of when sending attached file. The first is file size. You want to keep attached files as small as possible. A heavily formatted document with lots of graphics is going to take much longer to send and receive, especially if the recipient is using a dial-up connection or wi-fi / cellular connected device.

The second is the type of document. If the person who receives the file does not have the software that created the file they may not be able to see it. The RTF (rich text format) document type is available in the Save As options of every word processor and results in a file that will be readable on all computers.

RTF is the preferred file format for attached documents. Another benefit of using the RTF file format is that it can not harbor and transfer viruses.

Keep in mind that you can only send individual documents and not entire folders unless they have been zipped or stuffed.

It is also considered common email courtesy to include a note in the message body describing the document and the identifying the file format being used.

Next: Email Shortcuts and Management Skills