Sometimes the client needs the actual document: an appointment letter, a benefits form, a leaflet about the service you have referred them to. You can attach files to a message you send from Case Management — but only by email, and the file really does leave the building, so it deserves a moment's thought before you send it.
Email only
The attachment control appears only when the channel is Email.
SMS and WhatsApp have no attachment control at all. If a text is too long it becomes a short web link — that is not an attachment, and you cannot use it to send a file.
Switch the channel away from email and any attached files are removed from the message.
If a document has to reach someone on a mobile-only channel, either email it as well or hand it over another way.
Attach a file
Open the client and select the Outreach tab.
Select New message, then choose Email.
Fill in the Subject — an email will not send without one.
Under Attachments, select Attach file and choose the file. The button reads Uploading... while it works.
Check the file appears in the list with its size. Use the x beside it to remove one.
Finish the message and select Send.
The helper text under the control states the limit: Up to 25 MB in total. That is the combined size of everything attached, not an allowance per file. A single message accepts up to 10 files.
If you choose a message template that has files attached to it, those files load automatically when the channel is email. You can remove any you do not want.
What the client receives
The files arrive as ordinary email attachments — the client opens them in their own mail app, with no link to click and no Joy page to sign in to. Inside Case Management the same files appear as download links on the message in the Outreach timeline, so the team can see exactly what was sent.
Before you attach anything
Two limits worth knowing, because the message compose screen is more relaxed than the rest of the app:
Check what the file is. The record and note attachment control restricts you to PDF, Word, Excel, CSV, text and image files. The message compose screen does not enforce that list, so it is on you to attach something the client can actually open — and nothing you did not mean to.
Email is not a secure channel. Anything you attach goes to the address on file, unencrypted, and cannot be recalled. Apply the same judgement you would to any other email about a client.
If a file will not attach
Attachments too large — Attachments can be up to 25 MB in total. Remove a file or send a smaller version.
Upload failed for [filename] — the file did not reach storage. Try again; a large file or a poor connection is the usual cause.
Could not attach file — another upload error, with the reason shown. If it keeps happening, quote that reason to support.
Nothing you have typed is lost when an upload fails — the message stays open, so you can retry or send it without the attachment.
Attachments on messages versus attachments on records
They are different jobs and the limits differ:
A file on a message goes to the client, up to 10 files and 25 MB in total, with no check on the file type.
A file on a record, note or consultation stays inside Case Management for your team, up to 20 files and 25 MB in total, and only in the accepted formats.
To keep a document on file rather than send it, attach it to a record instead — see How to attach a document to a record, note or consultation. Calendar appointments do not take attachments at all; attach the document to a record on the client and refer to it from the booking.