How to send email with pdf attachment in Python?

Question

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How to send Email Attachments with python

I would like to edit the following code and send an email with an attachment. Attachment is a pdf file, it is under /home/myuser/sample.pdf, in linux environment. What should I change below?

import smtplib  
fromaddr = 'myemail@gmail.com'  
toaddrs  = 'youremail@gmail.com'  
msg = 'Hello'  


# Credentials (if needed)  
username = 'myemail'  
password = 'yyyyyy'  

# The actual mail send  
server = smtplib.SMTP('smtp.gmail.com:587')  
server.starttls()  
server.login(username,password)  
server.sendmail(fromaddr, toaddrs, msg)  
server.quit()

Almost a question now. Could you explain why none of the results from the first page of googling "smtplib attach file" are suitable though? — Jon Clements, Aug 12 '12 at 09:43
Use the `email` module, examples in http://docs.python.org/library/email-examples.html — Martijn Pieters, Aug 12 '12 at 09:44
@alwbtc: The very first link of those search results (Jon Clements) gives the answer. Haven't you tried/researched anything? the email examples link above quotes several examples... :) — verisimilitude, Aug 12 '12 at 09:48
What is wrong with asking this question here instead of googling "smtplib attach file"? — alwbtc, Apr 12 '13 at 18:43
This is now one of the top hits when you google "smtplib attach file". :-) — dan8394, Mar 03 '15 at 09:53
Try this tutorial [email_attachments](http://www.sitekickr.com/coda/python/send-html-email-attachments.html). It is also using MIME as mentioned by other answers. — NIlesh Sharma, Aug 12 '12 at 09:47
For pdf attachments see this: https://stackoverflow.com/a/61418064/3167448 — Charlie Parker, Apr 24 '20 at 21:56

score 19 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

19

You create a message with an email package in this case -

from email.MIMEMultipart import MIMEMultipart
from email.MIMEText import MIMEText
from email.MIMEImage import MIMEImage
msg = MIMEMultipart()
msg.attach(MIMEText(open("/home/myuser/sample.pdf").read()))

and then send the message.

import smtplib
mailer = smtplib.SMTP()
mailer.connect()
mailer.sendmail(from_, to, msg.as_string())
mailer.close()

Several examples here - http://docs.python.org/library/email-examples.html

UPDATE

Updating the link since the above yields a 404 https://docs.python.org/2/library/email-examples.html. Thanks @Tshirtman

Update2: Simplest way to attach pdf

To attach the pdf use the pdf flag:

def send_email_pdf_figs(path_to_pdf, subject, message, destination, password_path=None):
    ## credits: http://linuxcursor.com/python-programming/06-how-to-send-pdf-ppt-attachment-with-html-body-in-python-script
    from socket import gethostname
    #import email
    from email.mime.application import MIMEApplication
    from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart
    from email.mime.text import MIMEText
    import smtplib
    import json

    server = smtplib.SMTP('smtp.gmail.com', 587)
    server.starttls()
    with open(password_path) as f:
        config = json.load(f)
        server.login('me@gmail.com', config['password'])
        # Craft message (obj)
        msg = MIMEMultipart()

        message = f'{message}\nSend from Hostname: {gethostname()}'
        msg['Subject'] = subject
        msg['From'] = 'me@gmail.com'
        msg['To'] = destination
        # Insert the text to the msg going by e-mail
        msg.attach(MIMEText(message, "plain"))
        # Attach the pdf to the msg going by e-mail
        with open(path_to_pdf, "rb") as f:
            #attach = email.mime.application.MIMEApplication(f.read(),_subtype="pdf")
            attach = MIMEApplication(f.read(),_subtype="pdf")
        attach.add_header('Content-Disposition','attachment',filename=str(path_to_pdf))
        msg.attach(attach)
        # send msg
        server.send_message(msg)

inspirations/credits to: http://linuxcursor.com/python-programming/06-how-to-send-pdf-ppt-attachment-with-html-body-in-python-script

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

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answered Aug 12 '12 at 09:44

verisimilitude

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I don't know if this changed since the answer. But now for me, the type that works is `MIMEApplication` for pdfs. – spalac24 May 22 '15 at 17:45
9

What is `file` in the code you gave? Is it a Python function? – Hamman Samuel Mar 03 '16 at 04:39
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When I do this, I'm getting the pdf code in the body of the email instead of as an attachment. Any reason why this would happen? – mnot Jun 24 '17 at 17:26
link is broken :( – Tshirtman Mar 29 '18 at 17:01
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Speaking for python3.7x, these MIME* classes can now be imported as: `from email.mime.text import MIMEText from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart` – user9074332 Nov 28 '18 at 20:54
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`file` gives an error. What is it? – Serdia Oct 25 '19 at 17:12
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I vote -1 because it is not clear what is file() – Arash Feb 18 '20 at 23:20
@HammanSamuel, @Serdia, @Arash: Sorry for typo. It should have been `open` instead of `file` – verisimilitude Feb 19 '20 at 06:50
what if I want to send an `svg` file? – Charlie Parker Apr 24 '20 at 19:44
Why are you importing so much stuff your not using? It makes your answer hard to understand what I really need. – Charlie Parker Apr 24 '20 at 20:44
@spalac24 can you provide your own answer please? Why did you use `MIMEApplication `? – Charlie Parker Apr 24 '20 at 20:45
key command: ```with open(path_to_pdf, "rb") as f: #attach = email.mime.application.MIMEApplication(f.read(),_subtype="pdf") attach = MIMEApplication(f.read(),_subtype="pdf")``` – Charlie Parker Apr 24 '20 at 21:59
Why do you open a socket? This is python, not C. It is not necessary to send an email so why would it be to send a pdf attachment? – theerrormagnet Apr 07 '21 at 10:17

score 6 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 12 '19 at 14:48

6

The recommended way is using Python's email module in order to compose a properly formatted MIME messages. See docs

For python 2
https://docs.python.org/2/library/email-examples.html

For python 3
https://docs.python.org/3/library/email.examples.html

edited Dec 12 '19 at 14:48

torswq

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answered Aug 12 '12 at 09:44

Andreas Jung

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this link is now broken – Tshirtman Mar 29 '18 at 17:01
what if I want to send an `svg` file? – Charlie Parker Apr 24 '20 at 19:44

How to send email with pdf attachment in Python?

2 Answers2

Update2: Simplest way to attach pdf

Linked