Thunderbird Email Lesson 6: Attach the Intended File

Your goal

Create a harmless text file, attach it, verify its filename, remove the attachment, and confirm that the original file still exists.

Before starting

Use your own authorized practice account or a harmless practice document. Identify the active application and the focused control before each command. Keep these instructions in a separate window. Never include passwords or private messages in your learning notes.

Follow the product and device version named in each procedure. A plus sign means hold the modifier while pressing the final key; “then” means release before continuing. These procedures are documentation-based and have not been tested here with the actual assistive software or signed-in reading accounts.

Add and verify a practice attachment

Start here: An open practice draft and a small, harmless file named email-practice.txt. Know the folder containing it.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+A in the composition window. Confirm that the file-selection dialog opens.
2. If you know the file’s full path, Tab to File name, enter that path, and activate Open. Otherwise use the dialog’s folder navigation to reach its containing folder, select the filename, and activate Open. Selecting a folder only navigates; it does not attach a file.
3. Back in the draft, locate the attachment area with Tab or Shift+Tab. Review the exact filename. If it is the wrong file, select that attachment and use its context menu to remove it. Confirm the attachment item has focus before deleting anything.
4. Reattach the intended file and save the draft. Before sending an actual document, open the original file separately and verify its contents as well as its name.
5. When receiving an attachment, identify its sender, message context, and filename before opening it. Use its available Save action if you want a local copy; note the destination folder and any rename you make.

Check your result

The draft lists exactly the file you intended. You can distinguish the attached copy from the original file on your computer.

If something goes wrong

If the file picker says the item cannot be found, check the path and extension. Cancel and locate the file in File Explorer instead of choosing another similarly named document. Large attachments may exceed your provider’s limit.

Try it yourself

Attach, remove, and reattach the practice file without deleting its original on disk.

Documentation: Attachment shortcut.

Your practice assignment

Create a harmless text file, attach it, verify its filename, remove the attachment, and confirm that the original file still exists.

Check your work before marking complete

• Identify the starting application, account, device, or keyboard layout used for this task.
• Demonstrate each part of the goal above and describe the result after each action.
• Return to the saved item, passage, or starting setting when the task calls for it.
• Explain one problem you encountered or could encounter and the recovery step you would use.
• Record whether you worked independently, needed a prompt, or used the written alternative.

If the application, membership, or device is unavailable: complete a written walkthrough of this exact assignment. Include the starting context, ordered actions, expected results, and one recovery step. Label it “written alternative — not tested on the device.” The completion record is self-reported, not an instructor-verified skills assessment.

Keep your notes locally, for example thunderbird-lesson-6.txt. No assignment upload is required. Use your anonymous Student ID to save lesson completion below; you can undo it.

Assignment upload (paused)

Open this lesson in Safari if a future upload feature requires a browser outside an in-app view.