# Working with Attachments

<a href="/en/gr/24287/">Attachments</a> are files connected to a specific document or object record. For example, you could attach a copy of a related email to a _Product_ record. Any user who can view the document or object record can also view and download its attachments.

The actions you take, including downloads, appear in the audit trail.



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      <p><strong>Note</strong>:  This article only refers to the <em>Attachments</em> section available on object records and documents. The <em>Attachments</em> section differs from <a href="/en/gr/15057/#attachment-fields"><em>Attachment</em> fields</a> on record layouts.</p>
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## Adding Attachments

To add attachments to a document or object record:

1. For documents and binders, open the Doc Info page and expand the _Attachments_ section in the fields panel. For object records, open the record detail page and then expand the _Attachments_ section.
2. Drag and drop files from your computer into the blue area or click the **Upload** icon. If you upload multiple files, each file becomes an individual attachment.
3. Optional: Click **Add Description** to enter searchable details for the attachment.

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      <p><strong>Note</strong>: Vault prevents you from uploading attachments with a duplicate filename if the existing attachment’s checksum calculation has not yet finished.</p>
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## Performing Attachment Actions {#working-with-attachments}

To take any actions on an attachment, navigate to the document or object record and expand the _Attachments_ section. Then, you can:

* View an attachment by clicking on its file name.
* Download a single attachment by clicking the **Download Attachment** icon. You can select any attachment version to download.
* Download all attachments by clicking the **Download All Attachments** icon. Vault creates a ZIP file with the latest version of each attachment. If your Vault uses <a href="/en/gr/24287/#version-specific">target version-specific attachments</a>, the downloaded file contains the attachment versions associated with the document version from which you initiated the download.
* View an attachment's version history by choosing **Version History** from the attachment's **Actions** menu. If an attachment has multiple versions, you can view any version by clicking the version number link in the dialog.
* Edit the attachment's [description][1] by clicking the **Edit** icon.
* Delete an attachment by choosing **Delete** from the attachment's **Actions** menu.

## Versioning Attachments {#versioning}

Attachments support simple versioning using integer version numbers (1, 2, 3) beginning with one (1). When you add a new file to a document or object record that already has an attachment with the same filename and extension, Vault treats the uploaded file as a new version. To avoid creating identical versions, Vault assigns files a checksum value. If the checksum, file extension, and file name match, Vault ignores the new file and does not version the attachment.

If you upload an attachment with the same file name but a different file extension, Vault uploads this as a completely new attachment. For example, _MyAttachment.pdf_ and _MyAttachment.png_ are two different attachments.

Vault never checks previous versions of the attachment. For example, if you upload an attachment with the same file name, file extension, and checksum as a previous version of the attachment, Vault uploads this as a new version of the existing attachment.

Vault applies the same <a href="/en/gr/18753/#name-format-options">name format options</a> that you select for documents to attachments.

## Searching Attachments

Attachments won't appear in the Library, custom document tabs, or custom object tabs, but you can include them in document or object record searches. To do this, you must use <a href="/en/gr/442/#advanced_search">Advanced Search</a>.

### Searching with Version-Specific Attachments

When <a href="/en/gr/24287/#version-specific">version-specific attachments</a> are enabled and you include attachments in your search, Vault only returns the latest document version you can see. If a matching attachment exists on an earlier document version but not on the latest version you can access, Vault won't include the document in the search results.

## Reporting on Attachments

You can <a href="/en/gr/3606/">create standard and multi-pass reports</a> on objects and documents with attachments. These reports contain an _Attachments_ column that displays each attachment, if available, on the object record or document.

By default, the report filters the results to show the latest version of attachments. You can remove this filter to show each attachment version in the results. Or use the _Version_ filter to include or exclude specific versions.

You can also include columns to view additional details on attachments, such as _Version_, _Is Latest Version_, _Size_, _Last Modified Date_, and _Format_.

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      <p><strong>Note</strong>: These reports are available only if an Admin creates an <em>[Object] with Attachment</em> or <em>Document with Attachment</em> report type with <em>Attachment</em> as a down object.</p>
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## About Attachment Descriptions {#descriptions}

Attachment descriptions appear alongside the filename to provide additional information to viewers. When searching, Vault looks at the description, as well as the filename. When versioning an attachment, Vault copies the description. The latest version's description is editable, but descriptions from older versions are read-only.

[1]: #descriptions