## TL;DR

The attachment failed because the file is too large, in an unsupported format, or the upload was interrupted. Convert the receipt to JPG, PNG, or PDF under the size limit and upload again; if the browser upload stalls, try the Emburse mobile app.

## Error

```text
Emburse: receipt attachment failed
```

## Steps

1. Check the file: note its format and size. Expected: you can see whether it is an unusual format (HEIC, TIFF) or oversized.
2. Convert to a supported format: export HEIC photos as JPG, and keep the file under a few megabytes by resizing to about 2000 pixels on the long edge. Expected: a compliant JPG, PNG, or PDF.
3. Re-attach the converted file to the expense line. Expected: the upload completes and the thumbnail appears.
4. If the web upload stalls, attach via the Emburse mobile app instead. Expected: the mobile upload succeeds where the browser stalled.
5. Confirm the receipt preview is legible (merchant, date, total readable). Expected: the attachment passes a visual audit check.

## When to use

- Emburse shows an attachment failure on a receipt upload.
- The file came from a phone in HEIC format or is very large.

## When not to use

- The receipt attaches but the OCR reads it wrong (see the OCR-correction skill).
- The whole expense will not save (check required fields, not the attachment).

## Tool compatibility

- Emburse Expense web and mobile apps.

## Variant phrasings

### Could not attach receipt

Same failure, generic wording.

### Receipt upload error in Emburse

The upload-dialog phrasing of the same problem.

## Why it happens

Phone cameras default to HEIC and high resolutions that expense tools may not accept, and large files time out on slow connections. Converting to a standard format at moderate size avoids all three failure modes.

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_IRAFWaAAt9cUSwWyu98LgA