# Why won't Text send attachment? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458 "2019-12-27T17:08:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/1 "2019-12-27T17:08:31Z")
I’ve been having fits trying to send a Text attachment. It’s a 1 page PDF, 385kb Sets there for 15 mins “sending” Then comes back, press to try again Same BS for another 15 mins. Finally get pissed off enough to delete the fucking thing. Can’t find any error messages to troubleshoot What’s happening? ---
**Author:** ![Dickerman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Dickerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dickerman)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/2 "2019-12-27T17:19:16Z")
Is “Text” the name of an app on some OS, or something else? In any case, you might want to include more information. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/3 "2019-12-27T17:21:10Z")
Could be a limitation with your device, or your service, or the application. Hard to know when you’ve described none of those things. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/4 "2019-12-27T17:28:15Z")
If by “Text” you mean MMS, that has a size limit of 300KB. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/5 "2019-12-27T17:56:20Z")
Yes it’s the default Android Text App. 300k attachment limit? Man thats almost useless. My one page PDF 385kb Thank you for your help ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/6 "2019-12-27T18:10:11Z")
That’s what email is for. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/7 "2019-12-27T18:27:47Z")
I’ve been told that young people rarely email. I’m an old fart and use email. But prefer Text ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/8 "2019-12-27T18:36:42Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve been told that young people rarely email. > > I’m an old fart and use email. But prefer Text Young people aren’t texting each other PDF files. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/9 "2019-12-27T18:47:31Z")
I checked. Android calls their App _ **Messages** _ But it sends Texts ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/10 "2019-12-27T19:14:01Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I checked. Android calls their App _ **Messages** _ > > But it sends Texts Also known as _text messages_. They are a specific type of message. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/11 "2019-12-27T19:29:42Z")
The Messages App needs a lot of work. It should have rejected the attachment because it’s too big. A simple error message similar too email. Wasting 15 mins “sending” and then instructing me to try again is not acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/12 "2019-12-27T19:31:01Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The Messages App needs a lot of work. > > It should have rejected the attachment because it’s too big. A simple error message similar too email. > > Wasting 15 mins “sending” and then instructing me to try again is not acceptable. It’s a problem with your carrier, not the app. Your carrier didn’t send back a message saying “hey this is too big.” ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/13 "2019-12-27T19:43:16Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > It’s a problem with your carrier, not the app. Your carrier didn’t send back a message saying “hey this is too big.” Pretty sure the app could be programmed to check stuff like “size of attachments” ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/14 "2019-12-27T20:58:18Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > If by “Text” you mean MMS, that has a size limit of 300KB. There is no fixed limit for MMS attachment size. Internally it is an email message, and can handle pretty much anything any other email message can. (My carrier limited at 600KB last I looked). It may be that the phone is set for a larger message than the carrier will accept: it may be that it takes that long for the carrier to reject the message. It may even be deliberate: because of a spam problem, the carrier may have decided to delay responding to messages it’s going to reject. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/15 "2019-12-27T21:12:18Z")
[RCS](https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/what-is-rcs-messaging/) may be your solution. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/16 "2019-12-27T23:11:22Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [RCS](https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/what-is-rcs-messaging/) may be your solution. Android Messages now has RCS. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/17 "2019-12-27T23:52:46Z")
Consumer Cellular may not support RCS. I get unlimited texts. I’m not sure if they support the newest tech. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2019, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/18 "2019-12-28T00:11:19Z")
The recipient also needs RCS–and it’s a clunky way to send a .pdf anyway. I would suggest texting a link to the document in cloud storage. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/19 "2019-12-28T00:31:21Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Pretty sure the app could be programmed to check stuff like “size of attachments” The size limit is based on the carrier. Android allows users to set the MMS attachment limit to whatever their carrier’s limit _is_, but otherwise it wouldn’t know unless you tell it. > [@aceplace](#): > > What’s happening? MMS requires mobile data or wifi. Perhaps you reached your data limit? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2019, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458/20 "2019-12-28T00:43:46Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Pretty sure the app could be programmed to check stuff like “size of attachments” > [@aceplace57](#): > > Consumer Cellular may not support RCS. > > I get unlimited texts. I’m not sure if they support the newest tech. “Unlimited Texts” likely only applies to SMS. A file attachment is sent via MMS and uses your data plan. You may want to try sending a test message with a smaller attachment. Have you sent a file attachment before? If not, try sending a small 50-100kb file attachment and see if it even works. You might not even be set up for it; may need to edit the APN, etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-text-send-attachment/845458.md?page=2)