How to Send Files on Messenger: The Complete Guide

Have you ever needed to quickly send a photo, document, or other important file to a friend on Facebook Messenger, only to find that the mobile app doesn‘t let you attach anything?

You‘re not alone! The ability to directly attach files is shockingly missing from Messenger‘s mobile experience. But don‘t worry – you can still easily send any type of file through the desktop website version.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through exactly how to send files on Messenger step-by-step. I‘ve been a hardcore Messenger user for years, so I‘ve mastered the best tricks for smoothly sharing files from my phone or computer.

By the end, you‘ll be a pro at sending everything from photos and videos to PDFs and PowerPoint decks through Messenger desktop. Let‘s get into it!

Why Files Can‘t Be Sent from the Messenger Mobile App

As a fellow Messenger mobile user myself, it threw me off the first time I tried attaching a photo to send to a friend, but couldn‘t find any option to do it.

I dug around every nook and cranny of the mobile app trying to find a way to attach files. But the cold hard truth is – the developers of Messenger‘s mobile app have not yet implemented the ability to attach and send files.

According to Facebook, the mobile Messenger experience was intentionally designed around messaging, calling and photo sharing. They wanted to keep it clean and simple.

So any other file types like Word docs, PDFs, PowerPoints and even videos need to be sent from Messenger on the desktop.

While the mobile Messenger allows you to take and instantly send photos within the app, all other files require you to hop on a computer.

Personally, I find this super inconvenient compared to WhatsApp or Telegram which let you easily attach any type of file directly from your phone. But it is what it is!

Luckily, as long as you have access to a desktop or laptop, sending files through Messenger that way works smoothly. It just requires a quick transfer of your files from your phone over to your computer first.

How to Get Your Files from Mobile to Desktop

Since the Messenger mobile app won‘t let you directly attach anything but photos taken in-app, you need to first transfer any files you want to send from your phone over to your computer.

There are a handful of easy ways to do this depending on exactly what device you have:

Email Files to Yourself

On both iPhone and Android, you can open files like photos, documents, videos etc in their default apps, hit the share button, and choose to email them.

Simply put your own email address in the TO field and hit send. You‘ll then get the file delivered straight to your inbox on desktop where you can download and save it.

Pro Tip: You can even email entire albums or collections of files from your phone this way with just a couple taps.

Use Cloud Storage Services

Another handy option is to upload your files from your phone to a cloud storage platform like Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud or OneDrive.

Just install the app for your cloud service of choice on your phone, upload the files you want to send, then open the cloud service on your computer and download the files there.

Cloud services make it easy to seamlessly transfer and sync files across devices.

Connect Your Phone Directly to Computer

You can physically connect your phone to your computer using the charging cable, which will give you direct access to its files for transferring.

On iPhone, your phone may automatically appear under ‘Locations‘ in the Finder app. You can browse its files and drag them over to save on your computer.

For Android, you may need to enable USB file transfer in settings first. Your phone will then show up as an external drive allowing file transfers.

Pro Tip: Keep a USB cable handy just for quick file transfers between your phone and computer.

Use Wireless File Transfer Apps

Finally, apps like Snapdrop allow you to wirelessly transfer files between devices on the same WiFi network.

Just install the Snapdrop app on both your phone and computer, connect to the same WiFi, and you can directly share files without any cables. Super handy!

So with those options, it just takes a couple quick steps to get any file from your phone over to desktop ready to send through Messenger. Pretty painless!

Step-by-Step Guide to Attaching Files in Messenger Desktop

Once you‘ve got the files sitting on your computer that you want to send, it‘s smooth sailing to attach and send them through Messenger desktop.

Here is the full play-by-play of how to attach any type of file on the Messenger website:

1. Open Messenger on Your Computer

First things first, open your preferred web browser on your computer and navigate to the Messenger website.

You can use any browser like Chrome, Firefox, Edge etc on either Windows or Mac.

When you land on messenger.com, you may get a popup asking you to log into Facebook in order to access Messenger. Enter your account info to continue.

2. Open the Chat with the Recipient

Once logged into Messenger on desktop, you‘ll see your recent chats along the left side. Click to open the one with the friend or family member you want to share files with.

Alternatively, you can use the search bar at the top to lookup your recipient if needed.

Pro Tip: Double check you‘ve opened the correct chat before attaching any files to avoid sending them to the wrong person accidentally!

3. Click the + Icon to Open More Options

With the chat open, you‘ll see the text box at the bottom with a rows of icons next to it. Click on the "+" icon on the far right side.

This will pop open a menu showing you some additional options, including "Attach File".

4. Click Attach File

In the menu that just opened, click on the paperclip "Attach File" icon.

This will launch a file explorer window so you can browse and find the file(s) you want to attach.

5. Select Your File(s)

In the file explorer that popped up, navigate to and select the file(s) that you want to send.

To attach multiple files, hold down Ctrl (on Windows) or Command (on Mac) while clicking to select them.

Pro Tip: Remember Messenger allows up to 25MB per individual file and 64MB total per message.

6. Click Open to Attach Your File(s)

Once you‘ve chosen your file(s) in the file explorer window, click the Open button at the bottom right corner.

This will attach those file(s) to your message. You‘ll see them appear in the text box.

7. Hit Enter to Send the Files

With your file(s) now attached, simply press Enter or click the arrow button to send the message and deliver those files!

That‘s seriously all there is to it. The attached file(s) will now be on their way to your recipient through Messenger‘s desktop chat.

Pretty straightforward right? It takes just seconds to attach files from your computer and shoot them off to any friend or family member on Messenger desktop.

Types of Files You Can Attach and Send

One of the best things about sending files through Messenger on desktop is that you can attach and send virtually any type of file format.

It truly does not discriminate! Here are some of the common file types it supports:

• Documents: Docx, PDFs, text files, Excel sheets etc.

• Photos: JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, RAW photo formats and more.

• Videos: MP4, MOV, AVI, MPEG, WMV, virtually any standard video file.

• Audio: MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A – you can send songs, podcasts and other audio files.

• Archives: ZIP, RAR for compressing and sending large groups of files.

• Other: You can even send executable files (EXE, APK etc), though the recipient may get a warning on download for security reasons.

According to Facebook‘s Help Center, the only major type of files that can‘t be sent are app packages larger than 25MB like iOS (IPA) or Android (APK) app install files.

So beyond that exception, you‘ve got free rein to attach and send pretty much any desktop files through Messenger. Super handy for transferring stuff between computers!

Handy Tips for Smooth File Sending

Now that you know how to send files through Messenger desktop, here are some pro tips and best practices to make sure the file transfer process goes smoothly:

Double Check Your Recipient

Before hitting send, take a quick second to verify you‘ve opened the chat with the correct recipient. Accidentally sending private files to the wrong person is no bueno.

Provide Context for Your Recipient

Rather than just bombarding someone with random files out of the blue, give them a heads up by adding a message to provide some context around what you‘re sending and why.

For example: "Hey! Here are the photos from our trip last weekend. Sent the original uncompressed JPEGs so you have high res versions."

Split Up Large File Transfers

If you hit Messenger‘s 25MB per file or 64MB per message limits, you can always split your files across multiple messages.

Just send one batch, follow up with any extras in a second message.

Compress Files to Reduce Size

Similarly, if trying to send very large files, use an app like WinZip or WinRAR to compress them into a ZIP or RAR archive which takes up much less space.

Resend Failed Attachments

On the rare occasion a file send fails, just double check the size limits and retry sending. Internet hiccups happen!

Send From a Trusted Device

Be cautious about sending sensitive files from a shared or public computer. Always best to attach files only from your personal, password-protected devices.

Verify Files After Receiving

Once you download files received via Messenger, take a quick peek to make sure they transferred fully and properly.

Following those tips will ensure seamless file sharing experiences via Messenger desktop!

Messenger vs Other Chat Apps for Sending Files

Since Messenger doesn‘t allow attaching any files directly from mobile, it‘s a bit more limited than other popular messaging apps.

For comparison, WhatsApp has very seamless cross-device file sharing. You can attach and send files like photos, documents, spreadsheets etc easily right within WhatsApp mobile.

Same goes for Telegram – you can instantly share any type of file from both the mobile and desktop apps. Very seamless experience.

So while Messenger forces you to use desktop for attachments beyond photos, other messaging apps provide a much smoother cross-device file sharing experience overall.

Messenger definitely works great for transferring files between desktops and laptops conveniently. But falls short when needing to go from mobile to desktop compared to the competition.

Just something to keep in mind when you need to frequently share files from your phone!

Security Tips for Sharing Files via Messenger

Whenever you use Messenger or really any chat apps to transfer files, it‘s smart take a few basic security precautions:

• Avoid sending confidential/sensitive documents – Keep financial, medical or other private files off messaging platforms when possible.

• Only send to trusted recipients – You can‘t retract sent files, so be very mindful who you share with.

• Delete files immediately after sending – Don‘t keep documents containing private data in your message history.

• Check backgrounds before attaching – Glance around to make sure inappropriate files aren‘t seen when attaching in public.

• Use privacy features – Enable disappearing messages which auto-delete sent files after a period of time.

• Encrypt sensitive data – Use programs like VeraCrypt to encrypt confidential files before sending via messenger.

• Send from personal devices – Only attach confidential files from your own trustworthy smartphones or computers.

• Assume permanence of sent files – Recipients can download, copy and re-share anything you send through Messenger.

Following reasonable security habits will help keep your sensitive data secure when taking advantage of Messenger desktop for quick file transfers. Exercising caution goes a long way!

Let‘s Recap How to Send Files on Messenger

Just to recap the key steps covered in this guide:

📲 Transfer files you want to send from your phone to your computer

💻 Open Messenger in your desktop web browser and log in

📎 Open the chat with the recipient, click the + icon, choose Attach File

📄 Select the file(s) in the file explorer window and hit Open

✉️ Hit enter to send the message with attached file(s)!

Pretty easy right?

While the Messenger mobile app limits you, the desktop experience makes attaching and sending any file a breeze.

Conclusion

Hopefully this guide provided you with everything you need to know to easily send files like documents, photos, videos and more through Messenger desktop.

While the lack of attaching options on mobile is inconvenient, simply transferring your files to computer first opens up Messenger‘s full file sharing potential.

With the steps and tips covered here, you can confidently use Messenger desktop to send virtually any type of file to friends and family (just maybe not super confidential stuff!)

So next time you need to quickly get an important photo or document over to someone, fire up Messenger on your computer and shoot it their way in seconds. No more file sharing frustration!