Help center support eXpress

We've collected answers to popular questions to make eXpress easy and convenient to use. Didn't find the answer to your question? Contact our support team.

Working with Files

Sending Files

Users can exchange files in chats. Files can even be sent to yourself.

How to Send a File?

To send a file, select a chat and click the paperclip icon in the message input field. In web and desktop apps on PC, files can be dragged and dropped directly into the chat area for sending. In the mobile app, permission to access files is required to attach a file.

Viewing Sent Files

Which Formats Can Be Viewed in the App?

On iOS, the standard system viewer is used. On Android and Web/Desktop, a built-in image viewer and a special built-in library are used for viewing documents. To view an image or video, tap on it. To view a document, tap the View button in the message with the attachment.

Platform File Formats
Web/Desktop
  • Documents: docx, xlsx, pptx, pdf, txt.
    Web and desktop applications use an exclusively built-in viewer for document preview.
  • Images: bmp, gif, animated gif, jpeg, png, webp
  • Videos: mp4, m4v, mov, webm
  • Audios: recorded voice messages only
Android
  • Documents: pdf, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, txt, html, htm.
    In the Android app, documents can be viewed not only in the built-in eXpress viewer but also in the standard system app that supports the given format. To do this, disable the Use internal document viewer option in the mobile app settings. If role model rules or confidential mode are enabled, prohibiting file downloads to the device, the built-in viewer is used.
  • Images: bmp, gif, animated gif, jpeg, png, webp
  • Videos: mp4, m4v, mov, webm
  • Audios: recorded voice messages only
iOS/iPadOS
  • Documents: pdf, pdf/a, doc, docx, xlsx, xls, pptx, ppt, jpg, heif, bmp, tif, png, svg, emf, gif, pages, keynote, numbers, rtf, txt, html, xps.
    The iOS app uses the standard operating system document viewer. If role model rules or confidential mode are enabled, prohibiting file downloads to the device, the built-in viewer is used.
  • Images: bmp, gif, animated gif, jpeg, png, webp
  • Videos: mp4, m4v, mov, webm
  • Audios: recorded voice messages & mp3, wav, and any else audio formats, supported by iOS

What Happens If the Format Cannot Be Viewed?

If the app does not support viewing (e.g., unsupported codecs or formats), the file will need to be downloaded to the device and viewed in a third-party app.

The Mobile App Constantly Requires Downloading Files. Can I Set It to Download Automatically?

Yes. Open Settings (avatar button) > Chat and channel settings and enable the Media autoloading setting so that files sent in chats are immediately available for viewing and forwarding without having to download them first. Note that this setting downloads files not to the gallery or the “Downloads” folder, but to the encrypted app cache.
⚠️ If files are frequently exchanged in your chats, the app cache will take up a lot of storage space on your device. In this case, disable media autoloading (Read more).