Writing and staying in touch
Attaching a photo or a document
What you will be able to do In 5 minutes, you will know how to attach a photo or a document to a message, from your phone or your computer.
An email can carry much more than text: a photo, a scanned document, a file can travel with it, like an envelope that also holds a postcard. This step is called attaching a file, and almost everywhere it relies on the same small icon, a paperclip. On a phone as on a computer, tapping this paperclip opens a door to your photos and files, so you can pick one and attach it to the message. We will practice on a screen we have drawn, first on a phone, then on a computer. Nothing here is real: no file is really sent.
Simulated screen
I practice
This screen was drawn by us. Nothing is sent, nothing is installed, and no real brand is shown.
The situationThe doctor asks you to send a photo of your prescription by email before tomorrow's appointment.
The interactive exercise needs JavaScript. The written step by step, just below, says exactly the same thing.
The written step by step
The same steps, in words, to read or print. This sheet works even without the exercise.
Finding the paperclip
Your turn You are writing a message. Tap what lets you attach a file to it.
The paperclip, often near the subject field or at the bottom of the screen, opens the choices for attaching a file.
Choosing a photo, not a document
Your turn You already took the photo yesterday. Tap what lets you pick it from your photos.
"Choose a photo" is the option that opens the gallery where all your photos already taken are kept.
Spotting the right photo
Your turn Your gallery opens. Tap the photo that shows your prescription.
The photo taken yesterday at 6:42 pm, described as "a document on a table top", is the right one.
Checking before sending
Your turn The photo is attached to the message. Check its name, then tap what sends everything.
The file's name and size are shown before sending. Once checked, the "Send" button sends the message with its photo.
The same step, on a computer
Your turn On a computer, the paperclip also exists. Tap what opens your folders so you can choose a file.
On a computer as on a phone, the paperclip opens access to your files so you can attach one to the message.
Choosing the file in your folders
Your turn A folder window opens. Tap the document that is your prescription.
The file named "doctor-prescription.pdf", modified yesterday, is the one to tap to attach it to the message.
The sheet to keep
- The paperclip is the universal step for attaching a file: it opens access to your photos or your documents.
- On a phone, you choose between a photo already taken, a document already saved, or a new photo to take on the spot.
- On a computer, the paperclip opens a folder window in which you browse before choosing a file.
- A folder is not a file: it must be opened before you can choose what it contains.
- The attached file's name and size are shown before sending: this is the moment to check it is the right one.
- Most mail services refuse files that are too heavy, usually above 20 to 25 MB.
The reflexes in this skill
I make a copy of what matters
Photos, documents, contacts: anything that exists in only one place can disappear along with the device. A copy somewhere else turns a breakdown into a minor inconvenience.
I stop before I click
Urgency is the sign of a trap. A message that counts down the hours is trying to stop you from thinking. Putting your phone down for two minutes costs nothing, and it is almost always enough.
Two questions to check
Nothing is graded, and nothing is saved anywhere except in your own browser.
You want to send a photo already taken yesterday. What do you tap after opening the paperclip?
See the answer
Choose a photo
The photo already exists in your gallery since yesterday: "Choose a photo" opens exactly that gallery, no need to take a new one.
On your message screen, how do you know a file is properly attached before sending?
See the answer
The file's name and size are shown in the message
The file's name and size appear in the message area: that is how you check, before sending, that it is really the right file.
I've done it
Check this box once you can do this skill on your own.
Your progress stays in your own browser.