How To Send Attachment With PHP Mail – A Simple Example

Welcome to a tutorial on how to send an attachment with PHP mail. Looking to attach a file with the default PHP mail function? It is possible, but there is just one problem…

Yes, and that is a rather confusing not-so-straightforward process  – Read on for an example!

ⓘ I have included a zip file with all the source code at the start of this tutorial, so you don’t have to copy-paste everything… Or if you just want to dive straight in.

 

 

REAL QUICK TUTORIAL

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Download & Notes	Mail Attachment	Useful Bits & Links
The End

 

 

EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Click here to download all the example source code, I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

QUICK NOTES

If you spot a bug, please feel free to comment below. I try to answer questions too, but it is one person versus the entire world… If you need answers urgently, please check out my list of websites to get help with programming.

 

 

 

MULTI-PART EMAIL WITH ATTACHMENT

<?php
// (A) MAIL SETTINGS
$mailTo = "john@doe.com";
$mailSubject = "Test Attachment";
$mailMessage = "Test Message";
$mailAttach = "capybara.jpg";

// (B) MAIL HEADERS
$boundary = md5(time()); // Random boundary
$mailHead = implode("\r\n", [
  "MIME-Version: 1.0",
  'Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="'.$boundary.'"'
]);

// (C) MAIL MESSAGE
$mailBody = implode("\r\n", [
  // (C1) THE MESSAGE
  "--$boundary",
  "Content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8",
  "",
  $mailMessage,

  // (C2) ATTACHMENT
  "--$boundary",
  'Content-Type: application/octet-stream; name="'.basename($mailAttach).'"',
  "Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64",
  "Content-Disposition: attachment",
  "",
  chunk_split(base64_encode(file_get_contents($mailAttach))),
  "--$boundary--"
]);

// (D) SEND
echo mail($mailTo, $mailSubject, $mailBody, $mailHead)
  ? "OK" : "ERROR" ;

For you guys who just want to use this as a “plugin”, go ahead – Just plug in your own mail settings in (A) and end-of-story.

 

 

THE EXPLANATION

For you guys who want more technical information – We are only formatting the email according to RFC1341 multipart.

1. In the mail header, we have to define Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="BOUNDARY-STRING".
2. Then for each section of the email:
   • We start with --BOUNDARY-STRING.
   • Followed by whatever Content-XXX headings.
   • Then an empty line break, and the content itself.
3. Lastly, close the email with --BOUNDARY-STRING--.

That’s all – If you want to add more attachments, it is only a manner of adding more --BOUNDARY-STRING segments.

 

 

 

INFOGRAPHIC CHEAT SHEET

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

• Mail – PHP
• Send Email with Attachment in PHP – Codex World
• PHP: Sending Email (Text/HTML/Attachments) – WebCheatSheet