Share files in a chat

You can attach files to any chat message, either by picking something from Drive or uploading directly from your computer. Recipients can preview, download, or save the file to their own Drive.

Attach a file to a message

1. Open the chat room.
2. Click the paperclip icon to the left of the message box.
3. In the Attach file dialog, browse Drive and click a file to select it. You can select multiple files at once by holding Shift or Ctrl (Cmd on a Mac) while clicking.
4. Click Select to confirm. The files appear as chips above the message box.
5. Type an optional message, then press Enter to send.

To upload a file from your computer instead, click Upload from device in the bottom-left corner of the dialog. Your browser's file chooser opens, and the file is added to the chat when you send.

You can also paste an image directly into the message box. The image is added as an attachment without opening the dialog.

Remove a file before sending

Attachments appear as chips above the message box. Click the X on any chip to remove it before you send.

Eigen documents as links

When you select a document, spreadsheet, presentation, or other Eigen file type from the Attach file dialog, it is shared as a link rather than a copy. The recipient sees a chip labeled Open [filename] and can click it to open the file in a new tab. They need access to that file to open it.

Open or download a received attachment

Attachments in a message appear as chips. Click a chip to open a preview of the file.

Right-click a chip for an uploaded file, or press and hold it on a phone, to see what else you can do with that one file: Quick preview, Download, and Save to Drive…. An Excel or Word file also offers to convert it, a contact file offers Import to Contacts, a saved email offers Import to Mail, and a calendar file offers Import to Calendar. When you convert one, Eigen asks for a Drive folder first, saves the file there, and creates the converted copy beside it when you click Save and convert. The new spreadsheet or document opens straight away, so you leave the chat.

Save received attachments to Drive

1. Hover over the message that contains the attachments.
2. Click the Save attachments icon (a down arrow) that appears in the top-right corner of the message.
3. A dialog opens. Browse to the folder in Drive where you want to save the files, then click Save here.

If you'd rather download the files to your computer, click Download instead in the same dialog.