Attachments

Attachments are nothing more than files that you 'attach' to your ordinary e-mail messages.

Most of your e-mails will be made up of words, but using attachments means they can include many other things, such as photos, reports or spreadsheets.

Why use attachments?

In real life you might attach a report, a spreadsheet, a photo, even a CD or DVD to a message you want to send.

You'd probably attach them with a paperclip or put them all together in an envelope with your original message.

Attaching them to the message makes sure they arrive together at the same time.

E-mail attachments

You can send and receive files attached to e-mail messages in just the same way.

They can be audio, video, pictures, documents or any other file type.

However, it is best to limit the size of the attachments, otherwise your e-mail message may take a long time to download.

Unless you have a broadband internet connection, most audio and video files are normally too big to send as attachments to your e-mail messages.

Try to limit the size of your attachments to a maximum of 100 KB, that way they will be easy to download by your recipients.

Spotting an attachment

You can tell when an e-mail has got an attachment when it arrives in your inbox, because it will have a special icon next to it.

This attachment icon can vary from an envelope, briefcase, folder, bag or paperclip, but they all mean the same thing - a file is attached.

The attachment icon will appear in your list of e-mails.

Before you open an attachment

Before you open any e-mail attachment you must make sure that your anti-virus software is on and up-to-date.

Most viruses are spread by e-mail attachment and opening a file without checking what it is or who it's from, is the easiest way to get a virus on your computer.

A good rule is to never open an attachment from people you do not know. And even if you do know the sender, make sure you check what the attachment is, and delete it if it's suspicious.

Opening an attachment

To open an e-mail attachment, all you have to do is double-click on the attachment icon in the e-mail message.

When you click on the attachment you will often be provided with two options that pop-up in a little box on your screen.

You will be asked to choose to open the attachment from inside the e-mail message, or to save the attached file to your hard disk before opening.

Saving the attached file to hard disk allows you to access the file even if you delete the e-mail message.

If the attachment isn't a file you want to keep then select the 'Open it' option and click 'OK'. If you delete the e-mail after this point, then the attachment will be lost as well.

Adding an attachment

Adding an attachment to an e-mail is very easy to do.

Once you've written your e-mail message and selected a recipient, just click on the 'Attach file' button on your e-mail program's toolbar. It will have an attachment icon like a paperclip or folder.

A menu will open that lets you browse through the files on your computer until you find the document or picture you wish to attach.

Simply select the file you want, click 'Attach' or 'OK' and the file will become attached to your e-mail message.

To check it has worked, your e-mail message will now have an attachment icon with the name of the file next to it. You can now send the e-mail with the attachment.

It is always a good idea to send files that use programs that most people have - like browsers. Otherwise, no-one can open the attachments you send out.