 It reads here as though Recanati is conflating a mental file on the one hand, with the information channel that carries its informational payload. Indeed Recanati goes on to argue that there are two sensible and “distinct notions of file” (p. 82). The first notion is simply a repository of evolving information that appears to be and may be about a single distinct object. The second notion of file, what Recanati calls the “proper notion”, involves both a specific relevant information channel, and the repository of information acquired via that channel.