Work through these in order; the first two account for nearly every case.
1. Was the file marked visible to the client?
Open the client's profile, then Documents, and find the file in Client files. A staff upload the client can see carries a blue Visible to client tag. No tag means the box Make this visible to the client in their portal was left unticked when it was uploaded, and the file is private to staff. It is not shown in the portal and cannot be reached there even with a direct link.
There's no switch to share a file after it's uploaded, so upload it again with the box ticked (and delete the private copy if you like). Files captured through an intake form (an insurance card photo, an ID) are tagged Intake form instead, and the client can see those too. Files tagged Imported from SimplePractice came in with an import and stay private to staff.
2. Is it the same client record?
The portal is tied to one client record: the one you granted access from. If the practice has two records for the same person, a file uploaded to the other one never reaches the portal. Check which record has Grant portal access used on it, and upload to that one.
3. Was the upload refused?
Chart uploads accept images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP), PDF, Word (.doc, .docx) and plain text, up to 15MB. Anything else is refused with "Unsupported file type. Allowed: images, PDF, Word, and text." A bigger file is refused with "File is too large (max 15MB)." Save it in one of those formats, or make it smaller, and upload again.
4. Is the Documents tab switched on?
Settings → Client Portal has a switch for each portal tab. If Documents is off, the client doesn't see any shared files, whatever their tags say.
5. Was the portal page already open?
If the client had Documents open in another window while you uploaded, the list refreshes when they come back to that window. A page reload does the same.
6. What View and Download do
In the portal each shared file has View and, behind More, Download.
- View shows the file in place: an image, or a PDF or text file, in a large dialog. On a phone a PDF or text file opens in its own tab instead.
- Download saves the file under its own name. The page stays where it is; nothing opens in a new tab.
- A Word file cannot be shown in the browser, so its row has only Download.
If View shows a blank pane for a PDF on a desktop while images work, have the client use Download instead, and let support know.
Still stuck?
Contact support with the client's name and the file name. Every portal view and download is in the HIPAA Audit Log (Settings → Account Activity, Client portal filter), so you and support can see whether the client reached the file.