---
title: "Attachments and Voice Messages"
description: "Let customers send images, PDFs, and voice messages to your agent on the web widget, Public Chat, and WhatsApp."
---

With **attachments** turned on, customers can send your agent images, PDFs, and voice messages. The agent reads images and PDFs and transcribes voice messages, then answers as usual.

## Turn attachments on

Attachments are **off** by default, for new and existing agents.

1. **Open the setting**

    In your agent, select **Settings** and go to the **AI** section.

2. **Turn it on**

    Under **Attachments**, switch on **Accept attachments** and save.

The setting applies to every channel. When it's off, the web widget and Public Chat hide the upload and recording buttons, and files sent on WhatsApp aren't opened.

## What customers can send

| | Web widget and Public Chat | WhatsApp |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Images** | JPEG, PNG, WEBP | JPEG, PNG, WEBP |
| **Documents** | PDF | PDF |
| **Voice messages** | Recorded in the chat, up to 5 minutes | Voice notes and audio files |
| **Size** | Up to 10 MB per file, 3 files per message | Up to 20 MB per file |

In the chat, customers use **Attach a file** (the paperclip) to add files, and **Record a voice message** (the microphone) to record. Large photos are resized in the browser before they're sent. Customers can play back a recording before sending it, or discard it.

## AI model support

Not every [AI model](/docs/agents/ai-models) can read every file type. Voice messages always work, since they're transcribed first. If your agent's model can't read images or PDFs, the **Attachments** setting shows a note such as "This model can read images and voice messages, but not PDFs.", and customers can't send those files.

## How the agent uses attachments

- The agent uses an attachment only to help with a question it can answer for your business. If a file is unrelated, the agent says what it can help with instead of describing the file.
- Text inside images, documents, and voice messages is treated as something the customer said, never as instructions to the agent.
- When a teammate is handling the conversation, files are shown to the teammate in the [Helpdesk](/docs/human-handoff/tickets) without being read by the AI.

## Credits

Reading images and PDFs, and transcribing voice messages, use [credits](/docs/billing/understanding-credits). Longer voice messages use more.

## Privacy

Files are stored privately, separately from your agent's knowledge. They're deleted when the conversation is deleted. See [Managing Conversations](/docs/human-handoff/managing-conversations#delete-a-conversation).

Having trouble? See [Troubleshooting attachments](/docs/troubleshooting/attachments-and-voice-messages).