How to send PDF documents from your mobile

You and your smartphone are practically inseparable: you use it to keep in touch with your friends, play games, watch videos, listen to music and work. To be sure, however, you have only recently started using your phone for the latter purpose, which is why you still have some doubts about writing, processing, and most importantly, sharing documents.

The PDF file format is the one you “come across” most often and frequently you happen to wonder what are the most immediate methods to send this type of documents from your device. Well, today I decided to write this tutorial just to answer these questions of yours.

If you are wondering how to send PDF documents from your mobile phone in an easy and effective way, you should know that there is a wide range of solutions that you can use: ranging from instant messaging services to file sharing services, passing through some integrated functions. “Standard” in operating systems. In the next chapters I will go to recommend the solutions that I consider simpler and suitable for this purpose, showing you step by step how to attach documents in PDF and how to send them. Happy reading and good work!

Index

• How to send PDF documents from your mobile
  • WhatsApp (Android / iOS)
  • Messenger Lite (Android)
  • Gmail (Android / iPhone / iPad)
  • Dropbox (Android / iPhone / iPad)
  • Google files (Android)
  • File (iOS / iPadOS)
• Other solutions to send PDF documents from your mobile

How to send PDF documents from your mobile

Since you are interested in knowing how to send PDF documents from your mobile , I propose below some of the most convenient applications for sharing files of this kind. Since several of the latter are particularly popular, you may find them already installed on your smartphone and, therefore, you do not need to download them from your device’s store.

Anyway, if not and you have some doubts about how to install them, check out my tutorials on how to download apps on Android and how to download apps on iPhone .

WhatsApp (Android / iOS)

You may not have known that, but the hugely popular WhatsApp instant messaging app (which is available on Android devices , including those without access to Google services in APK format and on iPhones ), allows you to attach various types of documents, including those PDF . Sharing this type of file in this way is really very simple.

In fact, you just need to start the aforementioned application, go to the Chat tab and select one of the active conversations, by tapping on it (or press on the white balloon or the icon with the sheet and the pencil to create a new chat with a contact).

Once the chat screen is open, on the typing field at the bottom, if you use Android , press the paperclip icon on the right, then on the Document item and select the PDF file you want to send (if you are first asked for the permission to access the files stored on the device, press the Allow item ). Finally, press the appropriate button shown below to confirm.

To do what I have just explained to you on the iPhone , once you have opened the chat screen in which you want to send the document, tap on the typing field at the bottom, then press the (+) button located at the bottom left, select the file from the list by pressing on its preview and confirm by tapping the appropriate button (in this case you may be asked to access the files in memory, you will then have to confirm the operation). For more details on these procedures, I refer you to my tutorial on how to send PDFs with WhatsApp .

Messenger Lite (Android)

Messenger Lite is the lighter version (and therefore suitable for less performing devices) of the famous Facebook instant messaging service and, among its various features, it also allows the sending of documents (as regards the “standard” version of this application, i.e. Messenger , at the time of writing it is not possible to send documents).

Messenger Lite can only be downloaded on Android devices (it can also be obtained from alternative stores ). Once you have started the app in question and logged in, tap on the card with the cartoon icon at the top left if you want to send the file in an already started chat; otherwise, click on the two men icon at the top and select the name of the contact with whom you want to start a new conversation from the list.

Therefore, once you have the chat screen in front of you, press the (+) button at the bottom left, then on the File item and, if necessary, press the Allow button to give the application permission to access your memory. device. Finally, select the document you want to send by clicking on its preview and confirm by clicking on the Send item . You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?

If you want to use this service on iOS or iPadOS , connect to the messenger.com website via a browser and, having done this, you will have to press the A A icon in the top left and then on the Request desktop site item .

Once logged into the service, select one of the available chats in the list and press the photo button at the bottom left. Then tap on the Browse item and select the document you want to send from the list . Finally, confirm by pressing the paper airplane icon . If you want to know more about the app I just told you about, I refer you to my tutorial on how to install Messenger .

Gmail (Android / iPhone / iPad)

Google’s Gmail email service is a great way to share various types of files. The related application can be downloaded on Android devices , iPhone and iPad and allows you to do everything in a handful of taps. To do so, open Gmail and tap the Write button at the bottom right.

Otherwise, if you want to reply to an email that has been sent, tap on the preview of the latter that you find on the home screen of the application, then scroll down the screen and press the Reply button (or the Reply to button all , if it is an email addressed to more than one user and you want your message to be sent to all).

At this point, tap on the “To” field at the top and type in it the address of the recipient to whom you want to send the message (if you are replying to an email that has been sent to you, the recipient will already be displayed automatically and you will not have to then take this step). Then, if necessary, type the subject of your message in the appropriate field and where the wording Write email is shown, type the text of your message.

Finally, to attach a document to the latter, tap on the paperclip icon located at the top right, then select the Attach file item (or if the file is present on Google Drive press on the entry insert From Google Drive ) and select from the memory of your device the PDF document that you can send by clicking on its preview .

To conclude and then send the email you composed, click on the triangle button located at the top right. That’s all! Do you still have any doubts about using the application I recommended? Then consult my tutorial on how Gmail works , you will find in it all the answers you are looking for.

Dropbox (Android / iPhone / iPad)

How do you say? Is the PDF file you intend to send particularly large and you weren’t able to share it with the systems I just suggested? In this case, the ideal solution could be to use an application designed specifically for file sharing, such as Dropbox .

By uploading a file to the latter, in fact, you can then automatically find it on all the devices from which you access the same service (the same is also available via web browser application and in desktop client format for Windows, macOS and Linux ).

The service can be used free of charge for a single user with the possibility of synchronizing files on up to 3 devices (with a total shared storage space of 2GB ). The subscription plans allow you to use Dropbox by more users, with more storage space than the one mentioned above and have costs starting from 9.99 euros per month (if you want to know more about it I recommend reading my tutorial on how Dropbox works ).

To use the Dropbox app, first of all, open it by pressing the white open package icon on a blue background and log in with your Google or Apple account (or you can directly create a new account on the platform in question by pressing on the Register button ). Once this preliminary step has been completed, press the Skip button at the top and tap the word Upload file (you can find it in the File tab at the bottom).

Then select the PPF document you want to upload to the cloud from the memory of your device, by tapping on its preview , and wait for the upload to be complete. Subsequently, to share the file just uploaded, press the ⁝ button located on the right, corresponding to the name of the latter and then choose the Share item from the menu that is shown below. Then click on the Email, name or group field and give the application permission to access your contacts by tapping the appropriate button .

You just have to type in the email addresses or names of your contacts and, finally, press the Share button . Otherwise, if you simply want to get the download link of your file (so that anyone who has it can then download it) go back to the previous menu, that is the one you can recall by pressing the ⁝ button on the right, next to the name of the document and then select Copy link from the menu that is proposed to you.

Now you can paste the link you just copied into any email or message on various instant messaging services. By opening the link you will then be redirected to the download of the PDF document that you have stored on the cloud.

Google files (Android)

The Google Files application is the handy file manager developed by the Mountain View giant and available “as standard” on many Android smartphones (if you have deleted it on your device you can get it again by visiting this section of the Play Store); with it you can open, move, copy, rename, delete and, of course, also share the files stored on your device.

To send a PDF document with this application, open it by tapping the blue folder icon that you can find on the home screen or in the app menu.

Once you have the interface of the same in front of you, you can search for the file you are interested in in various ways: type its name in the field that you can recall by pressing the magnifying glass button at the top right or press the Documents icon and other files on the home screen, or you can manually explore your device by tapping the Internal Memory icon at the bottom (always on the app home screen).

Once you have found the file you are interested in, press the ⁝ button located on the right, corresponding to the name of the latter and, from the menu that is shown to you, select the Share item . Finally, select the sharing service you prefer from the list shown below by clicking on the relevant icon (you will be shown all those installed on your device, eg. WhatsApp, Gmail, Telegram and so on).

In this way you will be redirected to the chosen application and you can directly send the message to which the file you have selected is attached. If you want, you can also send more than one file at the same time.

To do this, simply perform a long tap on the preview of the first one you want to send and then press on those of all the other files to be sent. To conclude, then, tap on the left arrow icon shown at the top right (you will then have to repeat the step shown above).

File (iOS / iPadOS)

Are you using an iPhone an iPad and need to send a PDF document ? In that case you can take advantage of the file manager File . It is a rather essential application that allows you to move, copy, rename, share and access the files you have saved in memory or on various cloud storage services such as iCloud Drive , OneDrive , Dropbox and so on).

The application I am talking about should be pre-installed on your “iPhone by”, if you have previously deleted it, just visit this page of the App Store to recover it. To send a PDF file, therefore, open the aforementioned app (by tapping on the blue folder icon that you can find on the home screen or in the app Library) and type the name of the latter in the search field located at the top. Alternatively, you can also press on the word Browse at the top and explore your device by pressing on the iPhone item that you see in the left menu.

Once you have found the file you want to share, perform a long tap on its preview and, from the menu that is shown to you, select the Share item . All you have to do is select the name of the contact or the application to use to send the PDF (to do so, click on the relative icons ).

From the last selected menu you can also choose the sharing option related to AirDrop , that is the technology that allows you to immediately share a file with other Apple devices that I have told you about in detail in this guide .

Other solutions to send PDF documents from your mobile

As I mentioned at the beginning, there are various methods to share PDF documents from your smartphone and the ones I have recommended so far are just some of the possible solutions you can adopt to do this. below you will list other rather comfortable ones that can do for you.

• Snapdrop ( Online ) – is an online service that uses the local network to exchange files of all kinds between two devices connected to the same wireless network, therefore also very quickly and safely.
• Microsoft Outlook ( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – the e-mail service developed by Microsoft allows you to send emails with attachments to a variety of files of different types, including PDFs and is free (with the possibility of making in-app purchases ). To send a document in this way, once you are in front of the composing screen of an email, press on the paperclip button which is placed at the bottom left. Then tap on the item Choose from files, then on the wording Device, select the file you want to send from the memory of your smartphone and finally press the button of the paper airplaneat the top right. If you need more help going through these steps, check out my guide on how to email PDFs.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader ( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – Adobe Acrobat Reader, is available in app format and is one of the most popular solutions for viewing PDF files (the application is available for free in “basic” format, while for some additional features, such as the ability to merge files and edit them, you need to take out a subscription starting at € 9.99 per month). Once you have started the application and opened the file you are interested in, to send it, press the arrow button located at the top right and select the item Send a copy. Then choose the sharing service you prefer from the menu shown below.
• Google Drive ( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – Google Drive cloud storage service is a particularly good solution if you want to share large PDF files or entire folders including these files. To make the PDF document you want to share available to other users you will first have to upload it to your online storage space and then get the download link of the same by following the steps I showed you in my tutorial on how to share files with Google Drive .

If you want to exchange files between two Android devices, don’t forget the possibility of using Bluetooth, without installing special apps, as explained in this tutorial.