Files Troubleshooting

File not opening, downloading or sending, shown as unavailable, can't be attached, stuck in antivirus scanning, or video plays with sound but no image — find your case in the contents below.

Unable to Attach an Image or Video to a Message in the Mobile App

Check the mobile app's access settings to the gallery.

Mobile	Steps
iOS	On iOS devices, you need to grant access to all photos: Settings > select the app > Photos > choose All Photos.
Android	On Android, go to Settings > Apps > select eXpress > Permissions > Files and Media (or Storage) > allow access.

Unable to Download a File: “File is Unavailable” Error

Has the File's Storage Period on the Server Expired?

To check if the file was deleted for this reason, contact your organization's support team.

For Administrators: Checking the File Storage Duration on the Server

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To check the storage duration, follow these steps:

• Determine the file's sending date.
• In the corporate server admin panel, under the File Service section, check if the cleanup of old files (retention) is enabled and how many days are set before automatic deletion.
• If more than the set number of days have passed since the file was sent, the cleanup deleted it automatically. Such a file cannot be downloaded.

Is the File Uploaded to a Large Chat with Participants from Different Servers?

The file may not be ready to download yet. In chats with participants from different servers, the file is first uploaded from another server to yours. You can download it only after that. Restart the mobile app or refresh the cache in the web/desktop app: press Ctrl + Shift + R (Cmd + Shift + R on macOS). If the problem persists, contact your organization's support team: they will check that the file service is working on the server.

For Administrators: Collecting Diagnostics

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Collect the mobile app logs or the web/desktop app network requests from the Network tab in the console. Add the File Service container logs on the sender's server to them and send everything to eXpress support.

Are There Network Restrictions in the Organization?

A file sent by an external user may be unavailable in your organization's local network. Files from public users are delivered to corporate users via third-party storage — the Yandex Cloud. If access to this cloud is restricted in your organization, a corporate user will not be able to receive a file from an external user. Registering the external user on the same corporate server will resolve this issue. For more information, contact eXpress support.

Unable to Send or Download Files in Any Chat

If many users encounter errors when working with any files that are not related to security restrictions — there is an issue with the corporate server. Contact your organization's support team or eXpress support.

For Administrators: Diagnosing File Service Issues on the Server

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Most often, such issues are related to a failure in the File Service on the server.

• Collect logs for the File Service on the server and send them to eXpress support for analysis.
• If necessary, restart the File Service container via the console and ask the user to try again.
• Check the ability to send and download files.

Unable to View an Attached File

In eXpress, you can view only some file types. The app will not show a preview or thumbnail of the file in chat if the file is corrupted or the app does not support its format. The same applies to a media file if the required codec is missing or its content is encoded incorrectly. For example, keyframes or metadata are positioned incorrectly in the video.

How to Resolve This?

If an error occurs when trying to view a file, restart the app: on your phone, swipe it from the list of open apps; in the web and desktop apps, press Ctrl (Cmd) + R.

If this does not help, in the web/desktop app, download the file to your computer and open it in a third-party application. In the mobile app, disable the Use internal document viewer option and try opening the file again.

Nothing Helped?

Contact your organization's support team or eXpress support.

Video Plays With Sound but No Image

Most often, this is what a video in HEVC (H.265) format looks like. The web and desktop apps display it only if the computer’s graphics card can decode HEVC. On a computer without such a graphics card, you hear only audio. The same applies on a virtual or remote desktop (VDI, RDP) without a graphics card.

Video in H.264 format plays with the image on the same computer.

How to Resolve This?

Download the video and open it in a third-party player, such as VLC.

To the video's author: save it as MP4 with H.264 video and send it again. Read more about formats in the question What Format Should I Send Video in so It Can Be Viewed on All Devices?

Why Was a Video From My Computer Sent to the Chat as a File?

If the computer can't play HEVC video, the desktop app sends it as a file. In the chat, such a message has no preview, so you'll have to download the video. From a computer whose graphics card decodes HEVC, the same video is sent as a video with a preview.

A video larger than 50 MB is always sent as a file — Why Is It Sometimes Impossible to View Videos on Web/Desktop?

For Administrators: HEVC Video on Virtual Desktops Without a Graphics Card

The web and desktop apps do not have a software HEVC decoder. App launch parameters and the HEVC Video Extensions package in the Windows image do not bring the image back. The Windows player uses this package; the eXpress app does not.

To make video viewable on virtual desktops, publish it in H.264 format.

After Viewing a File, the Desktop App Remains in Full-Screen Mode

To exit full-screen mode, press the Esc key. This happens if you click the full-screen mode button in the file preview window.

Unable to Forward a File from Another App to eXpress

If you are unable to forward a file, image, or document from another app to eXpress or vice versa on a mobile device, contact eXpress support for diagnostics.

"You Cannot Send Files to This Chat" When Trying to Send a File to a Chat with Disabled End-to-End Encryption

If the error “You cannot send files to this chat” occurs when trying to send a file to a group chat or channel with disabled end-to-end encryption, this means such actions are prohibited by the Trust and Local settings for the corporate data transfer system contour on the corporate server. To clarify the contour settings, contact your organization's support team.

Files Fail Antivirus Check or Get Stuck in Queue

Contact your organization's support to resolve issues with files related to antivirus and additional checks.

The App's Local Cache Is Taking Up a Lot of Space on the Device

If you do not need automatic downloading of all files sent in chats to the app cache, disable the Media autoloading feature in the chat and channel settings (in the mobile app).

To delete files that have already been downloaded, contact your organization's support or eXpress support: the method depends on the platform, and support will suggest the appropriate one. Your conversations won't be deleted — they are stored on the server.

Error "Following Files Have Forbidden Type" in a Branded App

This error means that your organization has decided to prohibit sending this MIME type through the desktop app.