PDF or HTML for a report?

PDF if the layout matters and people may print it. HTML if it will mostly be read on screen — it reflows on a phone and can carry interactive charts. Hosting both is a perfectly reasonable answer.

Will the report open in the browser?

PDFs and HTML both open directly, with nothing to download. Word documents download instead, since browsers can't render them.

Can I fix a mistake after sending the link?

Publish the corrected version to the same address. Everyone who has the link now sees the fix, and earlier versions are kept.

No. Anyone with the link can read it, and links get forwarded. Reports containing client or commercial information need somewhere with access control.

Host a report and share it as a link

Put a report online at its own address so readers open a page rather than downloading a file — and so a correction reaches everyone at once.

You can host:

Drop your report here

Any other file works too — up to 25.0 MB, or 100.0 MB for a whole site

Free to use, live at your-name.99helpers.site in about ten seconds.

Why this is harder than it should be

A report is written to be read, and an attachment puts three steps between the reader and reading it: download, find, open. A link puts zero. It also means the version people have is the version you have, which matters the moment you spot an error on page four.

Attachments get read less

Every step between arriving and reading loses readers. On a phone, a PDF attachment is often enough friction to mean 'later', which frequently means never.

A correction means re-sending everything

Fix a figure and you send a second attachment, then explain which one to use. Half your readers keep the wrong one.

There's no obvious link to cite

When someone wants to reference your report in a document or a message, an attachment gives them nothing to point at.

How it works

1
Choose the format for how it'll be read
PDF opens in the browser and keeps your layout exactly. HTML makes a report that reflows on a phone and can include interactive charts. Both work; the audience decides.
2
Name it after the report
q3-market-analysis rather than report-final-v4. It's what people will see in their address bar and what they'll copy into a message.
3
Publish and share the link
Corrections go to the same address, so everyone holding the link gets the fixed version without another email.

Worth knowing

An HTML report reads far better on a phone than a PDF laid out for A4.
Charts and interactivity work if the report is HTML — JavaScript runs normally in the visitor's browser.
Reports with client data shouldn't be hosted publicly; anyone with the link can read them.
Keep the address stable across editions if the report is recurring, or use a dated address per edition if people need to cite a specific one.

Questions

PDF or HTML for a report?: PDF if the layout matters and people may print it. HTML if it will mostly be read on screen — it reflows on a phone and can carry interactive charts. Hosting both is a perfectly reasonable answer.
Will the report open in the browser?: PDFs and HTML both open directly, with nothing to download. Word documents download instead, since browsers can't render them.
Can I fix a mistake after sending the link?: Publish the corrected version to the same address. Everyone who has the link now sees the fix, and earlier versions are kept.
Is it private?: No. Anyone with the link can read it, and links get forwarded. Reports containing client or commercial information need somewhere with access control.

Try it with what you have right now

Drop it in at the top of this page and see the link for yourself. You only make an account once it's ready to go live.

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