Files — every attachment in one place
The library of files in Mail: every attachment of your mailboxes together, by kind, mailbox and person, with a search; opened straight from your mail server.
Updated 2026-11-08
Files shows every attachment of your mail on one page: invoices, photos, contracts, spreadsheets, archives. You do not need to remember which message a file came with — search for it here.
Where to find it
- In the folder rail on the left: Files (the paper clip), under All mail.
- Under the attachments of an open message: All files with … opens the library with only the files you exchanged with that person.
- The address is
/mail/files.
On a phone, open the folders with the ☰ button in the header and tap Files.
What you can do
| You want to… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Find a file | Type in the search field at the top. Every word must be in the file's name, the sender (name or address) or the message's subject: invoice hetzner finds Hetzner's invoices. |
| See only one kind | Press a chip: Pictures, PDF, Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Archives, Audio, Video, Invitations. The number on a chip is how many files of that kind you have. Only kinds you have are shown. |
| See only what you received or sent | All / Received / Sent under the chips. |
| See one mailbox | The Every mailbox list (shown when you have more than one mailbox). |
| See the files with one person | All files with … under an open message's attachments. Remove the filter with × on its chip. |
| Open a file | Click it. A PDF, a picture or a text file opens in a new tab; other files are downloaded. |
| Download a file | The arrow button on the file. |
| Go to the message | The envelope button: Mail opens with that message. |
| Grid or list | The two buttons at the top right. The grid shows small previews of pictures; the list shows more files at once. Your choice is remembered in this browser. |
The newest files come first. More files load by themselves as you scroll.
Where the files come from
Nothing of a file is kept on this site. Mail remembers only what your mail server says about each attachment (its name, type and size). When you open or download a file, or a picture's preview is shown, it is fetched from your mail server at that moment.
- New mail: its attachments appear in Files as soon as the mailbox is read.
- Mail that was already here before Files existed: it is added a few hundred messages at a time, at each reading of the mailbox. With a lot of mail this takes a while.
- Only "the mail" is listed: Inbox, Sent, All mail and your folders. Files of messages in the Trash or Spam are not shown.
- Mail keeps the headers of your newest messages only. Older mail that was never brought into Mail (see Organising mail) has no files here until it is.
When something does not work
- "The file could not be fetched from the mail server" — the message was deleted or moved on the server, or the server cannot be reached right now. Try again later, or open the message in your provider's own webmail.
- A picture shows an icon instead of a preview — the preview could not be made (a very large picture, a format the server cannot read, such as HEIC, or the server did not answer). Click it to open the file itself.
- A file I know is there is missing — the mailbox may still be adding older mail; wait for a few readings. Check the filters: a chip, Received / Sent or a person may still be on.
- There is no "Files" in the rail — an administrator switched the function off for the whole site.
Related pages
- Reading mail — the folders, the list, the open message, notes on a conversation.
- Organising mail — folders, rules, new senders.
- Questions and problems