Knowing how to write an email with an attachment can increase your productivity by improving how you communicate with others. Regardless of the email’s subject, including an attachment correctly can directly impact the way it is received. Emails with attached files are a valuable communication tool, but they require knowledge and etiquette. In this article, we discuss what an email attachment is, explain how to mention and include it in the email and provide tips and examples to use as a guide.
What is an email attachment?
An email attachment is a file that one person sends to another with an accompanying email. Its purpose is usually to enhance the value or benefit that the email offers the reader by providing additional content that you can’t express in the body of the email. The attachment can have different formats and sizes, with the most typical attachments being large text files, various types of documents, spreadsheets, scanned files, forms, pictures and videos.
Should you mention the attachment in the email’s body?
Like with most other forms of communication, you need to follow some rules and guidelines when communicating by email. When it comes to email attachments, it is recommended that you mention the attached file somewhere in the email’s body before sending it, in both formal and informal situations.
Although it is usually easy to recognize an email that has attachments—since it comes with an extra icon next to the subject line that indicates the presence of an attachment—some recipients do not open emails with attachments unless they know exactly what they are and where they come from. Usually, the reason for this is to avoid exposing themselves to a potentially malicious attachment, such as a computer virus, that could affect their device or other files.
How to write an email with an attachment
Consider these five steps when composing and sending an email containing an attachment:
1. Determine what files you wish to send
Before writing the email, you should know exactly what file you are about to send and where it is located on your device’s hard drive or memory drive. Knowing what file or files you are about to send is important because you need to mention them in the email’s text, and knowing their location can help you quickly locate and attach them before sending the email.
2. Write the email’s subject line
The next step is composing the email’s subject line. As many potential recipients tend to disregard emails with attachments unless they know what the attached files are, the email’s subject should reflect the fact that it contains one or more attached files and provide information regarding what they are.
3. Compose the email’s body
If the attachments are the only reason you need to send a message, the email’s body can simply be a brief description of the attached files. If the attached files are only a part of what the email aims to transmit, they need to be mentioned somewhere in the body, ideally with a short sentence that specifies what they are. Sending an email with attachments and no text is not recommended, as the recipient or their email provider may confuse them with spam.
4. Attach the files
After composing the email, the final step before sending it is attaching the necessary file or files. However, this step can take place at any time during the composing and sending process. Many senders prefer to attach the files before writing the email because it eliminates the risk of forgetting to attach them altogether.
5. Review and send the email
Once the email’s subject and body are written and the files are attached, you can do a quick proofread and send the email to the recipient.
In our MailPipe tool, you can do it easily and fast, take a look at this video:
The best of all is that you can send big size attached on your emails!
These steps to write an email are really simple and will help you to use correctly your email sender and to have a wider reach.