Attached files RedactBox can't open

Most attached files convert without you noticing. A few cannot: they are locked with a password, they are a type RedactBox cannot read, the conversion fails, or they are too large to store. This article covers each case and what to do about it.

A file that has not been converted is not in the export. It does not go out unredacted, but it does not go out at all, so each one needs a decision before you send your response. Until it converts, it can be left out but never kept.

Where you will see them

• On the file's row under its message: Needs a password, Couldn't convert (Couldn't prepare for a PDF), Can't open this type or Too large to store. The row offers Leave out only. Hover over the status for the reason, which starts Not in the export:.

• On the file's tab, which says what happened and what you can do. Editors can download the original file there with Download.

• In Tools › Attachments. Click a file to open its panel; Redacting this file says what went wrong.

• In Search & Redact, above the results: N attached files couldn't be searched. A match inside them would not show. Show files lists them by reason.

• On Stats: N files in the export could not be prepared, so cannot be redacted yet. See Reading the Attachments section on Stats.

Needs a password

A PDF: unlock it

If you know a PDF's password, you can unlock it in RedactBox. RedactBox uses the password once, for that one file, and does not keep it.

1. Click the file's row to open its tab. It reads This PDF is password-protected. Enter its password to unlock it, or leave it out.

2. Type the password in the field. The eye button shows what you typed.

3. Click Unlock. The file moves to Preparing and opens on its tab when it is ready to redact.

The same form is in Tools › Attachments, in the file's panel under Redacting this file.

If you would rather open it with its password on your computer, click Download next to the password box.

If the password is wrong, the file stays at Needs a password and says That password did not open this PDF. Check it and try again.

• Too many tries. After several wrong passwords it says Too many tries. Wait a few minutes, then try again.

• No password will do. This PDF can't be unlocked. It may be damaged, or locked in a way RedactBox can't open. The file then reads Couldn't prepare; ask the sender for an unlocked copy.

• Editors only. Viewers see Someone who can edit this project can enter its password to unlock it.

A PDF that only restricts printing or editing is not locked in this sense. It opens freely and converts as normal.

A Word document or spreadsheet

Unlock is for PDFs only. For a locked Word or Excel file:

1. Ask the sender or the mailbox owner for a copy without the password.

2. Upload that copy to the project as a document, and redact it there.

3. Choose Leave out on the locked file.

Couldn't convert or Couldn't prepare

RedactBox tried three times and could not convert the file. A PDF is not converted but prepared, so its row says Couldn't prepare; everything below applies to it in the same way. Its tab gives the reason, for example This PDF is damaged and can't be opened. Tried 3 times. or Converting this file took too long. A file whose PDF would run to more than 3,000 pages or 100 MB, or a spreadsheet of more than a million cells, is too large to convert.

1. Click Try again on the file's tab or in its panel in Tools › Attachments. A one-off problem often clears on a second run.

2. If it fails again, click Download on the file's tab and open the file on your computer.

3. If it opens, save it as a PDF yourself (for a big spreadsheet, just the sheets you need), upload that as a document, and leave the original out.

4. If it does not open anywhere, leave it out and record why.

Only editors see Try again. If it says That did not start. Try again., wait a moment and click it once more.

Can't open this type

RedactBox can't convert some types of file at all, such as zip files, winmail.dat files from Outlook and Apple photos (HEIC). Tools › Attachments lists them under Set aside › Can't open yet, which says RedactBox can't open these yet. Download them from their message to check. Click a file there and its panel offers Download.

1. Click Download in the file's panel or on its tab, and check what is inside. (It is also in the email itself: see Viewing attachments in an email.)

2. If it holds nothing within the request, choose Leave out.

3. If it does, save the contents as a type RedactBox can read (a PDF, a Word document, a picture), upload them as documents, and leave the original out.

Too large to store

RedactBox does not keep a copy of an attachment over 50 MB, so it cannot be converted, previewed or downloaded. Find it in the original mailbox and handle it as you would a file that couldn't convert.

Too large to export with redactions

A very long document can convert, and be redacted, and still be left out when you export. Where the limit falls depends on how much is on each page: a document of well over a thousand pages of dense text can reach it. The Export screen gives the reason, ending It was left out of this export. Split it into smaller files, redact those and export again.

1. Download the file and split it into parts on your computer.

2. Upload the parts to the project as documents and redact them.

3. Leave the original out.

Finding out in Triage

You do not have to approve a message to see whether its files will convert. In Triage, a file the browser cannot show reads Needs converting to preview, with Convert now and Download. Converting does not add it to the export, and a file that fails shows Couldn't convert there and then. See Previewing attached files before you decide.

At export

The Export screen names every attached file the export left out: N attached files are not in this export. Open it to see them grouped by reason, such as Needs a password, so RedactBox could not open it. The .zip gives their number but not their names.

A file you kept that then failed reads, for example, Kept · Couldn't convert on its row. It is still not in the export.

Leaving a file out is a decision

• Leave out removes the file from the export everywhere it is attached, and Tools › Attachments shows who decided and when.

• Write it down. If a withheld file could hold the requester's data, say so in your response, with the reason.

Example: three stubborn files in a SAR

1. Search & Redact for "Maisie" says some attached files couldn't be searched. Show files lists them, these three among them.

2. Consent form - signed.pdf needs a password. The school office knows it, so the reviewer enters it and clicks Unlock. It converts and is redacted like any other file.

3. Behaviour log export.pdf couldn't be prepared: it is damaged. Try again fails the same way, so the reviewer asks the office for a fresh export, uploads it as a document and leaves the original out.

4. Sports day photos.zip sits under Can't open yet. Downloaded from its tab, it holds class photos with no bearing on the request, so it is left out.

5. The Export screen lists the two files left out, with their reasons, for the reviewer's notes.