How to Attach File from USB Drive to Email

How to attach a file from USB to email?

This question is commonly asked by new users. Sending files by email may sound tricky for them, especially if the file is located on a USB flash drive. But it’s actually pretty easy.

In this guide, I will show you how to attach file(s) from a USB flash drive to email — especially Gmail. There are two versions of the guides; PC and Android version.

Let’s get started!

How to attach files from USB drive to email on Windows PC

1. Plug in your USB drive to a desktop computer or laptop.

2. Now, open a web browser on your computer. It can be either Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Microsoft Edge, or else.

3. Then, go to the email service you used, for this guide I’m using Gmail. Log in to your email account and Compose a new mail.

4. On mail compose screen, type the email address you want to send, subject, and message.

5. In order to attach a file from USB, click the paperclip icon. Most email services are likely to use this icon to represent “attach” action.

6. A new window will be popping out and show Libraries to let you choose any files you want to send through email.

7. One the left panel, click on USB Drive. Its location usually separated from the “Local Disk” group.

8. Next, choose the file and click Open in order to start uploading it to email. You are also able to select more than one file by pressing CTRL+Click on files.

9. Wait until the upload process is finished. It is symbolized by a status bar filled when done.

10. After that, click Send to deliver the message to the assigned email address.

How to attach file from USB drive to email on Android

Android phones and Android tablets commonly have no traditional USB port. Therefore, you need a USB OTG cable or OTG adapter to link the USB flash drive onto it.

1. Once you have the OTG cable, connect the USB flash drive to the Android phone. The phone should detect a new device as external storage.

2. Open the email app on your phone and write a new email. To attach a file from the USB drive, tap on the paperclip icon, and select Attach File.

Although you can send multiple files, it limited to 20 MB in total. If all files exceed the limit, Gmail will use Google Drive’s quota instead.

3. Write the address, subject, and additional message, then tap on the Send button.

4. The sending process may take a while for an uploading purpose.

So, that’s how to attach files from USB drive to email. That’s very easy, right

You can even send an entire folder filled with multiple files by email. But if you want to send files faster, consider using Google Drive or Google Photos (for media) — they both offer a handful of useful features to make file-sharing easier.