How to send photos and videos in a text

In this article, you'll learn how to add photos and videos to a text you send from Conversations. A picture of the finished job, the dumpster size you're quoting, or the spot where you'll park often says more than a paragraph would.

To open a conversation:

  1. In the menu, click Conversations.
  2. Click the person you want to text.
Note: Photos and videos go out on texts only. You can't attach them to an email or a Facebook message. If the thread is set to email or Facebook, switch it back first. On a computer, click the round channel button at the left of the message box and pick Message. In the phone app, tap + and pick Text at the top of the menu. Until you do, Camera and Photos and videos are greyed out. In the phone app, switching a thread off text drops anything you'd already attached and says "Pictures go out by text only."
Note: On the free plan, texts are handed to your phone's own messaging app, and the CRM can't attach pictures to them. Camera and Photos and videos stay greyed out on a text.

Attach a photo or video from the + menu

  1. In the open conversation, click + beside the message box.
  2. Pick one:
  • Camera takes a new photo. The phone app asks for camera permission the first time.
  • Photos and videos lets you pick from your library. You can select more than one at a time.
  1. Each one you add shows as a small thumbnail above the message box. It stays dimmed while it uploads.
  2. Type a message if you want to say something with it. You can also send pictures with no words at all.
  3. Click Send (the arrow).
Opening the + menu to attach a photo

If you click Send while a photo is still uploading, the CRM says "Still attaching" and asks you to give the photos a moment. Wait for the thumbnails to finish, then send again.

Tip: Large photos are shrunk automatically before they're sent so carriers will deliver them. Each file can be up to 25 MB.

How videos are sent

A short clip goes out inside the text like a photo. A video over 5 MB is too big for carriers, so the CRM sends it as a link instead. You don't have to wait for it to finish uploading: click Send, and the message shows Pending upload in the thread until the video lands. The CRM then sends the text on its own, with a short link your customer taps to watch the video.

Drag and drop on the web

On the web you can skip the menu and drag files straight in.

  1. Open the conversation.
  2. Drag a photo or video from your computer onto the thread. The thread shows Drop to attach.
  3. Let go. The file shows as a thumbnail above the message box, the same as if you'd picked it from the menu.
  4. Add a message if you want, and click Send.

Drag and drop is a web feature. In the phone app, use + instead.

Remove an attachment before you send

Changed your mind about a picture? Click the × in the corner of its thumbnail. It comes off the text and nothing else is touched.

A conversation with the message box and the + button
A conversation with the message box and the + button

How many you can send

You can add up to five photos and videos to one text. Once you hit five, the CRM won't take more. On a computer the Camera and Photos and videos options grey out. In the phone app you'll see Up to 5 attachments, and the library picker only lets you choose as many as still fit. Remove one with the × if you want to swap it for another, or send these and start a new text for the rest.

If a file won't attach

A file over 25 MB, or one the CRM can't read, comes back with "Couldn't attach that file." Try again with a smaller file. If a text fails to send, the pictures and your words are put back in the message box so you can send again.

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