Sending and Receiving Email cross platform. Mac to PC and PC to Mac.

There has been a problem of sending and receiving emails that contain .jpg images. It was assumed that it was Apple’s fault but after doing a bit of testing I think it is both Apple and Microsoft that share the blame.

The problem usually arises when sending with Apple Mail from a Mac to a Windows PC and usually to the Windows 10 Mail client or Windows Live Mail 2011.

On the Mac most people just drag the image they wish to send into the window that is created when you create a new email. Choose Actual size. The image is termed “inline” or embedded right in the message. There is another option to “Attach an image” but this does not solve the problem. Using either method and sending an email to someone using Windows 10 Mail or Windows Live Mail will result in the .jpg image being resized and named with a long string of letters and numbers.

Not very useful for sending images for Themes or Competitions!!

There are a couple of solutions to the problem depending if you are the sender or receiver.

Mac to Mac is no problem. PC to Mac is no problem. The problem shows up Mac to Windows PC using Windows Live mail or Windows 10 Mail. It might also occur using Outlook on Windows but I have not tested that yet.Mac Solution:
Create your email and address it and title it as usual.
Insert your image(s) with drag and drop or attachment.
Drag an empty folder into the message just below the last image.
Or between the last image and your signature
Be sure you select “Actual size” on the right hand side just above the body of the message.
Send the message as usual.

Here is a screen shot of this method.

On a Windows PC with Live mail or Win 10 mail they will see the images as attachments with the correct names. They will also see an empty folder with the title empty.zip if your folder was titled “empty”. They can then save the images and throw away the empty.zip file.

Windows machines using Live Mail on Win 10 Mail

If you get messages from Mac users and you notice the name is not correct, all is not lost. (This is why I think it is Microsoft’s fault as well).

Depending on the email program you are using on Windows, find the setting for viewing messages as “Plain Text”. Upon selecting plain text and ok you will see the content of the mail change to plain text with the files in the attachment window at the top and the names when you right click to save them should be the originals.

Plain text also improves the security of your emails

Here is an example for Windows Live Mail and the Web site explaining more. It also works for Thunderbird and I suspect most programs have this option in various locations. https://www.emailquestions.com/threads/increase-your-email-security-by-reading-all-email-in-plain-text.2657/