This walkthrough helps you share files with the right people, follow the upload through completion, and confirm that recipients can open what you sent. It applies to both [Activity Chat](../activity-chat.md) and [Direct Messages](../direct-messages.md), with an important difference in where the files live.
This walkthrough helps you share files with the right people, follow the upload through completion, and confirm that recipients can open what you sent. It applies to both Activity Chat and Direct Messages, with an important difference in where the files live.
Choose The Audience Before The Files
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Use Activity Chat for shared work - Choose the activity and its active published topic when the material belongs with that activity. New local uploads are connected to Documents, and existing stored Documents can be shared from their current home.
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Use a Direct Message for the current participants - Choose the private conversation when only its present participants should receive the material. Direct Message uploads do not become shared space Documents.
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Review a group before sharing - Check the participant stack and retained history. Adding someone later may give that person access to earlier messages and attachments, so do not treat a Direct Message file as permanently limited to the people present when it was sent.
You need a ready composer before continuing. Activity Chat requires a published topic, while a Direct Message requires an active conversation topic. If either composer is unavailable, use the guidance in the linked overview before selecting files.
Check What You Plan To Share
Chat accepts common work formats through Upload a file:
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Images: jpg, jpeg, png, gif, and webp.
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Video: mp4, mov, and webm.
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Documents and office files: pdf, txt, doc, docx, rtf, odt, xls, xlsx, ods, ppt, pptx, and odp.
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Data and project files: csv, tsv, md, json, yaml, and yml.
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Archives: zip.
File-size allowances depend on the kind of file and the current space's upload rules. Chat checks size before upload and shows the applicable limit when a file is too large. Use that feedback rather than assuming that every file type has the same allowance.
Before selecting anything, check the filename and extension. If the type is unexpected, the name does not match the content, or the material came from an untrusted source, confirm it before sharing.
Build And Review The Draft
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Open the intended conversation - Confirm the activity name or Direct Message participants one more time. A technically successful upload to the wrong audience is still the wrong result.
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Choose Upload a file - Open the plus menu beside the composer, select Upload a file, and choose one or more supported local items.
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Use browser image input when convenient - In a supported browser, focus the message field and paste copied images, or drag image files onto Chat. Use Upload a file for videos and other local file types.
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Add existing Documents in Activity Chat - Select one or more stored items in Documents and drag them into the Activity Chat composer. They join local uploads in the same draft strip without being downloaded and uploaded again. This path is not available in Direct Messages.
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Add context - Write a short message that tells recipients what the files contain, why they matter, or which version they should review.
The preview strip shows the items in the order they were added. It does not currently provide a reorder control. If order matters, remove items with the close control and add them again in the intended sequence.
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Remove mistakes before sending - Use the close control on any draft preview that is obsolete, private, duplicated, or intended for another audience.
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Check the combined count - One message can carry up to 20 attachments. Local files and stored Documents use the same allowance. If a selection exceeds the available places, Chat keeps only the items that fit and shows Attachment limit reached; remove an item or send the remainder in another message.
Send And Follow The Upload
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Send the message - Submit the draft after the audience, text, filenames, types, and count are correct. The composer clears as the send begins.
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Watch the pending card - A local upload appears in the feed with its filename, or with a combined file count when several items are transferring. The progress bar shows that the send is still underway.
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Wait through Finishing - Near the end, the card changes to Finishing while Visual Space completes storage, prepares previews, and creates the message. Keep the page open until the pending card becomes the sent attachment.
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Recognize completion - The pending card disappears and the message shows its gallery, video poster, or named file cards. Stored Activity Chat Documents do not repeat a local transfer, but they should still appear in the completed message.
Verify What Recipients Can Use
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Open visual media - Select an image to open the larger gallery and move through the visual items in that message. A single video starts from its poster and can open into playback; video inside a mixed gallery follows the gallery view.
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Preview supported files - Select a card for pdf, txt, md, json, yaml, or yml to open the original for preview. A generated card image may appear when one is available.
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Download other files - For office files, spreadsheets, presentations, tabular data, archives, and other supported non-previewable formats, use the card's Download action.
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Confirm access in context - In Activity Chat, verify that the message is in the intended activity and that its shared file context is correct. In a Direct Message, verify that the participant stack still matches the intended private audience.
A visible card is the best completion checkpoint, but it is also worth opening or downloading one important item yourself. That catches an accidental filename, unsupported preview expectation, or access problem before others rely on the message.
The seeded conversation shows the completed visual attachment result and keeps the link's visible address beside its preview.
Share A Link When A File Is Not The Right Fit
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Paste the address into the draft - Chat keeps the URL readable and may add a compact preview after the message is sent.
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Inspect the visible domain - A preview title or image is not proof that the destination is safe. Pause when the domain is misspelled, unexpected, or unrelated to the conversation, and confirm it with the sender before opening it.
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Drop a View Later item in Activity Chat - As an optional browser workflow, drag an eligible View Later item onto the Activity Chat composer. Chat inserts the item's label and link as message text; it does not create an attachment or mark the eventual message for View Later.
Links do not replace the attachment check. If recipients need a durable shared file, use the correct Activity Chat Document path or a supported local upload instead of relying on an address they may not be able to access.
Recover From A Failed Send
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Read the error - Check for a size-limit message, an unsupported selection, a storage warning, or a connection failure before trying again.
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Select the files again - The current failed-upload path removes the pending card and does not offer a separate retry control. Reopen Upload a file, or repeat the supported paste or drop action, after correcting the problem.
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Send a smaller group - If the failure involved many items, retry with fewer files so the result is easier to verify and remains within the 20-attachment allowance.
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Recheck the destination - Before the new attempt, confirm the activity or Direct Message participants again; recovering from a transfer failure should not bypass the audience check.
You are finished when the sent message replaces its pending state, every intended attachment has a recognizable preview or file card, and the material opens or downloads for its intended audience. For more detail about file presentation and link previews, see Files, Links, and Previews. If an eligible Activity Chat message should become longer-lived published material, continue with Publish a Chat Message.
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