Handling paperwork online
Uploading a supporting document
What you will be able to do In 6 minutes, you'll know how to upload a supporting document, pick the right file, and check that the submission is properly confirmed.
Uploading is a word that stops a lot of people. It means one simple thing: sending a file that's already on your device to a website. It's the opposite of downloading, where a file comes down onto your device. The move has three parts. You touch the button meant for it. You choose the right file among those on your device, and that's often the trickiest part, because file names can look alike. Then you check that the page confirms the submission, next to the name of the document that was requested. That last check is the one most often skipped, and it's the one that stops you from walking away thinking your application is complete when it isn't. The accepted formats and file size are always written on the page: usually a few megabytes per file, in PDF, JPG, or PNG. We're going to have you practice on a screen we designed. Nothing here is real, so no document actually gets 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 website for your application shows "Upload your supporting document," and that word means nothing to you.
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.
The button that sends
Your turn A document is requested. Touch the button that sends a file from your device to this website.
The "Upload a file" button opens your device's files, so you can choose the one the website will receive.
The right file
Your turn Your files are shown. Touch the one that is your proof of address for the current month, within the announced limit.
"proof-of-address-july.pdf," 0.9 MB, saved yesterday: the name, the date, and the size all line up.
Too heavy, now what
Your turn The website rejects the photo of your tax notice. Touch what you do.
We open the photo, save it at medium size to bring it under 2 MB, then upload it again.
What the page actually says
Your turn Both documents are supposed to be submitted. Touch the one that hasn't arrived.
The "Tax notice" line shows "No file submitted": that's the document still missing.
The proof that it went through
Your turn Both documents are now submitted. Touch what you do before leaving the page.
We save or print the confirmation page: it carries the date and the list of documents the website received.
The sheet to keep
- Uploading means sending a file already on your device to a website. Downloading does the opposite: the file comes down onto your device.
- The button often reads "Upload a file," "Add a file," "Submit," or "Browse": it's the same action.
- Before choosing a file, read three clues on its line: its name, its date, its size.
- Accepted formats and file size are written on the page, usually a few megabytes in PDF, JPG, or PNG. A size rejection is fixed by saving the file again at a smaller size.
- A document is never cut up to lighten it: an incomplete document gets rejected too.
- Nothing is submitted until the page says so: reread the status shown under each document before you leave.
- The confirmation page, saved or printed, is proof that your documents arrived, and on what date.
The reflexes in this skill
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.
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.
Two questions to check
Nothing is graded, and nothing is saved anywhere except in your own browser.
The word "upload" shows on your screen. What does it actually mean?
See the answer
Send a file already on your device to a website
Uploading goes from your device to the website. Downloading goes the other way, the file comes down onto your device. The two words look alike, the two actions are opposite.
The website rejects your file because it goes over the announced size limit. What do you do?
See the answer
I save it at a smaller size, then upload it again
A file's name changes nothing about its size, and a document cut in two isn't complete anymore, so it gets rejected. Saving the photo or document again at a smaller size solves the problem.
I've done it
Check this box once you can do this skill on your own.
Your progress stays in your own browser.