Taming
1-3

Hand it a document

  • Level 1
  • 3 minutes
  • Free

Attach a file to a chat and ask Claude questions about it.

This lesson

  1. Read Now
  2. Try it
  3. Check

The idea

You don't have to copy and paste. Hand Claude the whole file, then ask about it.

Claude can read PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, plain text files and photos. You can attach up to 20 files in one chat.

Once the file is in, ask what you'd ask a colleague who'd read it. "What are the three main points?" "What's the deadline?" "What does this mean for a team of our size?"

Look

Here's where files go in

Simplified drawing of the Claude screen: past chats on the left with your name below them, your message and Claude's reply in the middle, and the message box with attach, voice and send near the bottom. Highlighted: the attach button.
Simplified drawing of Claude on a phone: a menu button for past chats and your initials at the top, your message and Claude's reply in the middle, and the message box with attach, voice and send at the bottom. Highlighted: the attach button.
  1. Attach. Adds a file or a photo for Claude to read.
  2. The message box. This is where you type. It's the biggest box on the screen.
  3. Send. Click or tap the arrow. On a computer, Enter works too.
A simplified drawing, not a screenshot. The buttons move around now and then. The big box you type in doesn't.
Do

Three steps. That's it.

  1. 1

    Click +

    Click the + button in the lower-left corner of the message box, then Add files or photos. Or drag the file into the chat.

  2. 2
    I'm a school nurse.What are threethings you could…

    Ask about it

    Type your question in the box, the same as any other request.

  3. 3
    123

    Read the answer

    Check anything important against the page it came from.

Your turn

Three bullets and a question

Pick a PDF that's fine to share: a published report, a product brochure, a policy everyone at work already has. Attach it, then type:

Summarize this in 3 bullet points for a busy [your role]. Then give me one question I should raise about it, and why.

Look at the question it suggests. That's often the most useful part.

One thing to notice

Long PDFs are read differently. Up to 100 pages, Claude reads the text and the charts and pictures. From 101 to 1,000 pages, it reads the text only. So if your answer hangs on a chart in a long report, ask about that page directly.

Quick check

One question, no gradeYou've attached a 40-page industry report. Which request gets you the most useful answer?

Next lesson · 1-4 · 3 minutes

Tables, not paragraphs

Next: Tables, not paragraphs

Checked against Claude on 2026-09-25.