The step that sends an image, video, audio file or document: the address rule, how the caption differs between channels, the file name, and what happens when the send fails.
Some questions are not answered with words: the price list is a PDF, the how-to is a video, the menu is a photo. The Media step sends a single file to the person — an image, a video, an audio file or a document. This guide covers the step's four fields, what the file address has to satisfy, and how the two channels handle the caption differently.
What it does
The step sends the file at the address you give into the person's conversation. You do not upload the file at send time: Meta downloads it from the address you typed and delivers it. That is why the address has to be publicly reachable.
Typical uses: a price list (PDF), a product photo, a short intro video, an audio greeting, a catalogue, a user manual.
The step works on both channels.
Settings
Kind
The type of file being sent. There are four options, and Meta handles the file according to this choice:
Image — a photo. Appears directly in the conversation.
Video — a video that can be played in the conversation.
Pick the kind that matches the real format. If you try to send a PDF as an Image, Meta rejects the file and the log records an error.
File URL
The file's web address. Two requirements: it must start with https and be publicly reachable. Addresses that need a login, point at an internal network or expire after a while will not work — Meta cannot download the file.
The address cannot be empty; if it is, the pre-publish check reports an error. An address that does not start with http(s) is flagged as an error too.
💡 Tip: Upload your files to the media library and use the address from there. "Share links" from cloud storage services usually point at a viewer page rather than the file itself, and Meta cannot download a file from such an address.
File name
The name the person sees. It may be left empty, in which case the name is derived from the last part of the address.
This field matters most for the File kind. Writing 2026-price-list.pdf instead of k7d93.pdf makes the file findable later.
Caption
The text sent along with the file, up to 1,000 characters. Placeholders work here.
The two channels send the caption differently:
WhatsApp puts the caption under the file (one message).
Instagram does not accept an attachment and text in one request: the caption goes out as a separate message.
⚠️ Note: Because the Instagram caption is its own message, it counts separately towards the consecutive-send limit. Stack a few media steps in a row and the message count climbs fast.
Its output
The Media step has one output, Next. It does not wait for anything from the person.
One important detail: the flow does not stop when the file fails to go out. If the window is closed, the address is broken or Meta rejects the file, the reason is written to the run log and the flow continues from Next. This is deliberate: a catalogue that could not be delivered should not cancel the tagging or the assignment that came after it.
An example
A furniture shop wants to send the assembly guide to anyone asking about measurements.
They add the keyword assembly to the Start step.
They greet the person with a Message step: "Sending the assembly guide right now 👇"
They add a Media step. Kind: File. URL: the address of the PDF in the library. File name: assembly-guide.pdf. Caption: "If you get stuck, write to us and we will work through it."
After it they add an Action step applying the guide-sent tag.
The result: the person gets the guide and the shop knows who received it.
Common mistakes
Pasting a cloud-storage share link. Those addresses point at a page, not the file. Meta downloads the page, treats it as the file, and the send fails. Upload to the library instead.
Choosing the wrong kind. Sending a video address as an Image does not work. The kind has to match the real format.
Making it the first step of a comment flow. By Meta's rule the first message out of a comment carries plain text only, so the file never goes out. The check shows this as a warning. Move the file to a step after the person has written to you.
Sending a very large file. Meta has per-channel size limits and rejects anything over them. Compress videos and optimise PDFs.
Cramming the whole explanation into the caption. A caption over 1,000 characters blocks publishing. Move long text into a separate Message step.
Building the flow as if the file always arrives. Even when the step fails, the flow continues from Next. If you plan to ask "did you get the file?", add a step that waits for the person's reply, or you will keep talking about a file that never arrived.
Limits
Caption at most 1,000 characters (and it cannot exceed the channel's text limit either).
File name at most 120 characters.
The address must start with http(s) and be publicly reachable.
Four kinds: image, video, audio, file. Size and format limits are on Meta's side and vary per channel.
Instagram sends the caption as a separate message.
Media is a step that sends messages: the file does not go out when the 24-hour window is closed.
Even if the file fails, the flow continues from Next and the reason stays in the run log.
Related concepts
If you want an image with a title, a subtitle and buttons, The Card step fits better. Where files are uploaded and how addresses are obtained is covered in Sending files and media. If files never arrive, the Files will not send guide walks through the causes in order.
One file sent at the right moment replaces five messages of explanation.