---
schema_version: "1"
id: 6cb3b36d87ae0af72847ce600fb4bf1306857956ed32c6614fccedd97986f092
title: Add Attachments to a Visualforce Email Template
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---

# Add Attachments to a Visualforce Email Template

You can add attachments to your Visualforce email templates. Each attachment is encapsulated within a single `<messaging:attachment>` component. Code within `<messaging:attachment>` can be a combination of HTML and Visualforce tags.

The example in [Create a Visualforce Email Template](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/salesforce-pages-developers-guide/guide/pages-email-templates-creating.md) shows how to create a Visualforce email template by iterating through some data and displaying it to an email recipient.

1.  To create an attachment that contains the data from the example, use the `<messaging:attachment>` component. This attachment is an unformatted text file.

    <!-- otherprops: set_clipboard -->
    ```apex_page
    <messaging:emailTemplate recipientType="Contact"
    	relatedToType="Account"
    	subject="Case report for Account: {!relatedTo.name}"
    	replyTo="support@example.com">
    
    	<messaging:htmlEmailBody>
    		<html>
    			<body>
    			<p>Dear {!recipient.name},</p>
    			<p>Attached is a list of cases related to {!relatedTo.name}.</p>
    			<center>
    				<apex:outputLink value="https://salesforce.com">
    					For more detailed information, log in to Salesforce.com
    				</apex:outputLink>
    			</center>
    			</body>
    		</html>
    	</messaging:htmlEmailBody>
    
    	<messaging:attachment>
    		<apex:repeat var="cx" value="{!relatedTo.Cases}">
    			Case Number: {!cx.CaseNumber}
    			Origin: {!cx.Origin}
    			Creator Email: {!cx.Contact.email}
    			Case Number: {!cx.Status}
    		</apex:repeat> 
    	</messaging:attachment>
    </messaging:emailTemplate>
    
    ```

2.  To define the name of the attached file, set the `filename` attribute. While it’s good practice to define an easily identifiable name, it isn’t required. If you leave the name undefined, Salesforce generates a name for you. A file name without an extension defaults to a text file.

    To render the attached file as a CSV, add the .csv file extension to the file name.

    ```visualforce
    <messaging:attachment filename="cases.csv">
    	<apex:repeat var="cx" value="{!relatedTo.Cases}">
    		{!cx.CaseNumber}
    		{!cx.Origin}
    		{!cx.Contact.email}
    		{!cx.Status}
    	</apex:repeat> 
    </messaging:attachment>
    ```

    To render the attached file as an HTML file, add the .html file extension to the file name.

    ```visualforce
    <messaging:attachment filename="cases.html">
    	<html>
    		<body>
    		<table border="0" >
    			<tr>
    				<th>Case Number</th><th>Origin</th>
    				<th>Creator Email</th><th>Status</th>
    			</tr>
    			<apex:repeat var="cx" value="{!relatedTo.Cases}">
    			<tr>
    				<td><a href = 
    					"https://MyDomain_login_URL/{!cx.id}">{!cx.CaseNumber}
    				</a></td>
    				<td>{!cx.Origin}</td>
    				<td>{!cx.Contact.email}</td>
    				<td>{!cx.Status}</td>
    			</tr>
    			</apex:repeat> 
    		</table>
    		</body>
    	</html>
    </messaging:attachment>
    ```

    Although you can define only one file name for every `<messaging:attachment>` component, you can attach multiple files to an email.

3.  To render the attachment as a PDF, set the [`renderAs`](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/salesforce-pages-developers-guide/styling/pages-output-pdf-renderas.md) attribute to `"PDF"`. Before using this feature, review the [Visualforce PDF Rendering Considerations and Limitations.](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/salesforce-pages-developers-guide/styling/pages-output-pdf-considerations.md)

    ```visualforce
    <messaging:attachment renderAs="PDF" filename="cases.pdf">
    	<html>
    		<body>
    		<p>You can display your {!relatedTo.name} cases as a PDF:</p>
    			<table border="0" >
    			<tr>
    				<th>Case Number</th><th>Origin</th>
    				<th>Creator Email</th><th>Status</th>
    			</tr>
    			<apex:repeat var="cx" value="{!relatedTo.Cases}">
    			<tr>
    				<td><a href = 
    					"https://MyDomain_login_URL/{!cx.id}">{!cx.CaseNumber}
    				</a></td>
    				<td>{!cx.Origin}</td>
    				<td>{!cx.Contact.email}</td>
    				<td>{!cx.Status}</td>
    			</tr>
    			</apex:repeat> 
    		</table>
    		</body>
    	</html>
    </messaging:attachment>
    ```

    **note:** The `renderAs` attribute accepts any MIME type as a valid value. However, Visualforce supports only PDF rendering. Visualforce doesn’t generate other file formats. It only sets the `Content-Type` field of the HTTP response header to the specified MIME type. Some file formats, such as .xlsx, can fail to render.

4.  You can also style your attachment with images or style sheets. Styles are associated with attachments [the same way as they are in Visualforce email templates](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/salesforce-pages-developers-guide/guide/pages-email-templates-stylesheets.md), either as inline code or by using a custom component.

    Attachments rendered as PDFs can reference static resources through the [`$Resource` global variable](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/salesforce-pages-developers-guide/resources/pages-resources.md), so you can refer to an image or style sheet within the body of the PDF.

    For example, this attachment includes a logo in the PDF:

    ```visualforce
    	<messaging:attachment renderAs="PDF" filename="cases.pdf">
    		<html>
    			<body>
    			<img src = "{!$Resource.logo}" />
    			...
    			</body>
    		</html>
    	</messaging:attachment>
    ```

    This attachment references a style sheet that’s saved as a static resource:

    ```visualforce
    	<messaging:attachment renderAs="PDF">
    		<html>
    		<link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='{!$Resource.EMAILCSS}' />
    			<body>
    			...
    			</body>
    		</html>
    	</messaging:attachment>
    ```

    **note:** Referencing static resources on a remote server can increase the time it takes to render a PDF attachment.

    You can’t reference remote resources when creating PDF attachments in an Apex trigger. Doing so results in an exception.