Send Document as Email: MS Word

Whether your colleagues are in the next office or in another country, sharing files isn't very difficult with MS Word. You can turn a document into the body of an email message or you can send a file as an attachment to an email message. You don't even have to leave Word to send the message!

When you send a document as the body of an email message, it doesn't lose it's formatting. It is sent in HTML (hypertext markup language) format, the same way web pages are formatted for universal viewing.

What makes this particularly useful is that when you receive a document in HTML format, you can edit it using the original program used to create it -- whether Word for a document, or Excel for a spreadsheet, or PowerPoint for slides.

The act of collaborating on a writing project requires you to share documents with other users. No longer do you have to take time to find a floppy disk, address a mailing envelope and pop it in the mail -- and then wait for days for the package to be delivered. Now you don't even have to open your email client, start a message, and browse for the file you want to attach.

Follow the steps below to email a document from Word:

1. With the document open on the screen, click the Email button. This opens the email header at the top of the document.
    
2. Fill in addresses for the To: and Cc: boxes. If you're sending to more than one individual, separate the names with semicolons, but don't add spaces between the semicolons and the next email address. The document's name appears by default in the Subject box, but you can type something else, if you like.
    
3. Click Send a Copy to send the document on it's way.

When you send the document, the email header closes, and the document remains on the screen. Within minutes, the email will arrive at its destination, with the document as the body of the message.

To use this feature, you must have Outlook 2000 or later or Outlook Express 5 or later as your default email program. The computer must be attached to a network or connected to the Internet via a modem to send and receive email.

Use these steps to send a document as an email attachment from Word.

1. Have the document you want to email open on screen.
    
2. Choose File | Send To and click Mail Recipient (As Attachment). You can also click a button for this on the Reviewing toolbar, if it's available.

If you don't see that choice on the menu, choose Tools | Options and click the General tab. Click to select Mail as Attachment and click OK.

Word opens your default email package and sets the current document as an attachment to the email. Address the message as usual and send.

(c) Carol Bratt, all rights reserved. Used with permission. Duplication is forbidden without express consent of author. Visit Carol's web site to learn more tips like this one!