Email Attachment Problems

First, ensure that you have attached the file to the e-mail properly. In your e-mail program, look for the "Attach" button. In Microsoft Outlook and other software-based e-mail programs, this looks like a paper clip. Click this button, and a list of your computer's files should come up. Locate the file you need and select it. Then press "OK."

If the file you are trying to send is quite large -- such as a video, a music file or a PDF with many pages -- many e-mail programs will have trouble sending it. The size of an attachment may be limited, and even if your file is under the limit, it will take the program a long time to send your e-mail. This may cause the program (or your Internet browser if using web-based e-mail) to crash and/or slow down your computer's other functions. Try using a smaller file, splitting a multi-page file into several documents or compressing the file using a ZIP file program.

If you are sending an unusual type of file, the recipient may not have the program necessary to open the program. For example, a file from a Windows-only program may not be usable on a Mac. When trying to open this file, the recipient will be asked to choose the program to open from a list. Open the attachment on a computer that has the necessary software installed.

If you or your recipient use a firewall, you may have problems with e-mail attachments. Firewalls are designed to increase online security, and they may confuse your legitimate e-mail with one designed to infect a user's computer with a virus. If this happens, the firewall may need to be disabled before you can send and receive attachments successfully.

If you are still having problems sending a file through e-mail, try uploading it to a file-sharing site like YouSendIt.com. Photos and video can be shared on social media sites like Flickr, Picasa and Facebook. After you've uploaded your files, simply e-mail a link and downloading instructions to the recipient.