Differences between выслать and отправить

Question

Im wondering the correct usage of отправить and выслать (to send/dispatch).

I've seen the former in the context:

Отправить сообщение в сети (to send an online message)

and the latter:

Выслать в адрес письмо (send a letter to an address).

I've understood that they are not interchangeable. Отправить seems to appear often in context of electronic communications, whereas выслать more in concrete actions. A verb послать / посылать seems to appear in the place of выслать sometimes.

Are they both commonly used, and what might be the correct context to use them?

Answer 1

"Отправить" is a neutral verb, it can be used for electronic, snail mail, packages, people etc.

"Выслать" is similar, but not adopted for electronic communication. Still perfectly fine for snail mail and packages. Acceptable for formal documents sent in electronic format (ex: "Выслать приглашение"). Different meaning for people.

"Послать" is again neutral and, in communications context, is essentially a full synonym of "отправить". For people, the meaning is different again.

Answer 2

"Выслать" and "отправить" have a very similar meaning, but "выслать" is usually being used to imply a more formal action like "Выслать провизию"/"To send supplies", "Выслать в Сибирь"/"To exile someone to Siberia" while "Отправить" is being used to imply a more informal action like "Отправить подарок"/"To send a gift", "Отправить письмо"/"To send a letter".