A method and an apparatus for providing a portion of an electronic mail message based upon a transfer rate, a message size, and a file format are presented. The method includes determining whether it is desirable to provide less than all of an electronic mail message and determining a format associated with the electronic mail message in response to determining that it is desirable to provide less than all of the electronic mail message. The method also includes selecting a portion of the electronic mail message using the determined format and providing the selected portion of the electronic mail message.