A couple of days ago, I received an email from someone who was sending me material for one of the websites I maintain for an outside company. In the email, they stated, “Here’s the bio you need.” Unfortunately, they had forgotten to attach the bio to the email. I wrote them back and teased them, “I’m sure you MEANT to attach the bio!”

This is not an uncommon occurrence. We are often busy and we want to get our emails sent out but we forget when we have to attach something. It’s usually not a major deal it’s just aggravating, sometimes frustrating and on a rare occasion, embarrassing.

Here are some hints on how to avoid this particular problem:

1. If you use Microsoft Office Outlook as your email client, always use the phrase “attached to” in the body of the email. Example: “Attached to this email is the bio you need from me.” Now, when you go to send the email, if you forgot to attach whatever was needed, Outlook will warn you that you didn’t attach anything. Pretty swift!
2. If you use Gmail in your browser, the same rule applies – use “attached to” and, if you forget to attach the file, Gmail will warn you. Unfortunately, this does not work if you’re using Gmail on your phone.
3. Regardless of which email provider you use, another way to avoid the separation of an email and its attachments, is to attach the file or files first – then fill in the message, subject and email address of the recipient.