Sending a Word Document As an E-mail Attachment

Another option is to send a Word document as an attachment to an e-mail message. The advantage of doing this is that the formatting of your Word document remains intact. However, the recipient must have Word to open the document.

Follow these steps to attach a Word document to an e-mail message and send it:

1. Create or open the document that you want to send as an e-mail attachment.

2. Choose File, Send To, Mail Recipient (As Attachment) .

   

   The File, Send To command also includes a Send to Mail Recipient (For Review) command. This command sends the document as an attachment, automatically creates the subject line Please review 'document name ,' and inserts the text Please review the attached document in the body of the message. It also attaches a high-priority indicator to the message (a red flag) that will appear next to the subject line in the recipient's e-mail program.

   
   

3. A message window in your default e-mail program opens. Note that the attachment is listed in the Attach line in the Outlook message shown in Figure 22.8 (your e-mail program may use a slightly different label). Fill in the rest of the e-mail header information, and type the e-mail message. If your e-mail program lets you send HTML messages, you can choose to modify the message formatting.

   Figure 22.8. The Word document is attached to the e-mail message.

   

4. Click the Send button (or whatever button your e-mail program provides for sending messages).

Your computer connects to the Internet, if you aren't already online, and then it sends the message and its attachment. Figure 22.9 shows a message with an attachment as it will appear on the receiving end. Most e-mail programs use a paper clip icon to indicate that a message has an attachment. Use the command for saving an attachment in your e-mail program (usually something like File, Save Attachments) to copy the attached Word document to a folder of your choosing on your computer or network. You can then open it in Word in the usual manner.

Figure 22.9. Most e-mail programs use a paper clip icon to indicate that a message has an attachment.