Having Fun with Attachments

Opening an Attachment

How can you tell if an email has an attachment? It will appear with a paper clip icon to the left of the name of the person who sent the email.

Warning: Many viruses are sent through attachments. The latest incidence is the Snowhite computer virus which comes in an attachment. If you receive a message with subject line "Snowhite and the Seven Dwarfs - The REAL Story!" do not open the attachment.

People using Outlook or Outlook Expresss are particularly vulnerable as these programs are configured by default to open attachments automatically. You can turn off the automatic open of attachments and it is highly recommended that you do that if you use these email programs. Mulberry does not open attachments automatically. (Mulberry is our site licensed and recommended email program.)

Class Exercise: Double-click on an email with an attachment to open the email message.

Just above the main body of the message is the word "Parts:" Click on the arrow to the right to reveal the parts of the email (The main message is part 1, the attachment is part 2.)

Double-click the attachment and you will get a dialog box that asks you to save the file to your computer. Browse to Desktop and choose "Save."

After you have saved the file, Mulberry might ask if you want to view the file with a particular program. This is your choice. Say OK.

If Mulberry didn't ask you what program to use or you told Mulberry to "Cancel," you'll need to choose a program to view the file. The program to use will depend upon the type of file sent to you. This is the part of the attachments that may not work. If you receive an attachment with a WordPerfect file, you might not necessarily be able to open it with Word. Failure to open an attachment may be due to your software, the sender's software, the version you have, they have, etc.

Attaching Files to a Message

To attach a file, worksheet, jpeg, GIF, etc. to draft messages so that they get sent along with the message, click the Attach button in the upper right of your draft window. Note location of the Attach button below.

An Open box is then displayed.

Indicate the folder or drive of the attachment and the file name. Click on the Open button. Now you will be returned to the email message. If you have other attachments to send continue this process. Notice that the number of parts of the message has changed from 1 to 2 and a paper clip icon representing an attachment has been added..

Click on the blue arrow and the Content-type, size, and name of the message and attachments are shown.
Click the arrow again and this information will be hidden.

Class Exercise: Create a message to yourself, attach and send the file that is currently on your desktop

Note: It is helpful if you identify to the recipient the the type of attachment that you are sending. i.e. "An Excel 2000 worksheet is attached." If the reader does not have the appropriate software to open your attachment on their office computer, they may be able to obtain the software from the Office Server or open it from another source. If nothing else, they will know why the attachment will not open.

When you are ready, go on to "Single and Group Address Books."