• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Mark Ratledge

Writer and WordPress Consultant in Montana

  • Home
  • About
  • Articles & Columns
    • Points in Case
    • Slackjaw
    • McSweeney’s
    • Medium
    • Random Tech
    • The Buffalo Post
    • Words on WordPress
    • Rocks and Bones
    • Mac Q & A on Macs and macOS
    • State of the Arts Tech Talk
  • WordPress
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Mac Q & A on Macs and macOS / Mac Q & A: Zipping File Attachments

Mac Q & A: Zipping File Attachments

November 28, 2010 by Mark Ratledge

My Mac Q & A Question: I try to send Pages files to a friend and they come out junk. What’s wrong? D.S., Missoula

I can’t tell exactly what you’re doing, but here are two things to try: the first is when you send attachments, always tick the box that says “Send Windows-Friendly Attachments” that you see below the file listing when you navigate through the folders to attach the file. That will attach the file in a certain way in order for it to survive being emailed without damage. I know you’re not sending to someone with a WIndows PC, but still, try always ticking that box.

The other thing to try is zipping the file attachments. Zipping is a way of compressing the files to make them smaller, but it also ensures that they get transferred OK via email.

The way you zip a file is click once on the file in the folder or on the desktop (or in a folder) to highlight it. And then right click; if you don’t have a two button mouse or are on a laptop, hold down the Control key and click. Then select “Compress…” from that popup menu.

That will make a compressed zip archive of the file. The new file will have the same name, but have a .zip suffix, and the file icon will be a square with a tiny zipper down the front.

Then email that zip file as an attachment and tell your friend to double-click on it. The zip file will decompress into the original file.


Related Posts:
  • Mac Q & A: Protecting Your Files With File Vault
  • Mac Q & A: OS X File Permissions
  • Mac Q & A: Converting a QuickBooks File
  • Mac Q & A: Moving Microsoft Outlook Email to Thunderbird
  • How To Move Personal Data

Primary Sidebar

Stack Exchange
profile for markratledge on Stack Exchange, a network of free, community-driven Q&A sites
I'm a "Top Rated Plus" consultant on Upwork

Copyright © 2026 · Mark Ratledge Privacy and Terms of Use