diff --git a/src/download.rs b/src/download.rs
index 0cdee50..0cb7690 100644
--- a/src/download.rs
+++ b/src/download.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,10 @@ pub async fn download(
     let row: PgRow = rows
         .try_next()
         .await
-        .map_err(|_| error::ErrorInternalServerError("could not run select statement"))?
+        .map_err(|db_err| {
+            log::error!("could not run select statement {:?}", db_err);
+            error::ErrorInternalServerError("could not run select statement")
+        })?
         .ok_or_else(|| error::ErrorNotFound("file does not exist or has expired"))?;
 
     let file_id: String = row.get("file_id");
@@ -45,7 +48,8 @@ pub async fn download(
     let (content_type, mut content_disposition) = get_content_types(&path, &file_name);
     let is_text = file_kind == FileKind::Text.to_string() || content_type.type_() == mime::TEXT;
     let response = if is_text && !download {
-        let content = fs::read_to_string(path).await.map_err(|_| {
+        let content = fs::read_to_string(path).await.map_err(|file_err| {
+            log::error!("file could not be read {:?}", file_err);
             error::ErrorInternalServerError("this file should be here but could not be found")
         })?;
         let encoded = htmlescape::encode_minimal(&content);
@@ -57,7 +61,8 @@ pub async fn download(
             content_disposition.disposition = DispositionType::Attachment;
         }
         let file = NamedFile::open(path)
-            .map_err(|_| {
+            .map_err(|file_err| {
+                log::error!("file could not be read {:?}", file_err);
                 error::ErrorInternalServerError("this file should be here but could not be found")
             })?
             .set_content_type(content_type)
@@ -67,7 +72,10 @@ pub async fn download(
     if delete_on_download {
         deleter::delete_by_id(&db, &file_id, &config.files_dir)
             .await
-            .map_err(|_| error::ErrorInternalServerError("could not delete file"))?;
+            .map_err(|db_err| {
+                log::error!("could not delete file {:?}", db_err);
+                error::ErrorInternalServerError("could not delete file")
+            })?;
     }
     response
 }
diff --git a/src/multipart.rs b/src/multipart.rs
index b30f527..a823c07 100644
--- a/src/multipart.rs
+++ b/src/multipart.rs
@@ -39,9 +39,10 @@ pub(crate) async fn parse_multipart(
                 }
                 original_name = file_original_name;
                 kind = Some(FileKind::Binary);
-                let mut file = fs::File::create(&filename)
-                    .await
-                    .map_err(|_| error::ErrorInternalServerError("could not create file"))?;
+                let mut file = fs::File::create(&filename).await.map_err(|file_err| {
+                    log::error!("could not create file {:?}", file_err);
+                    error::ErrorInternalServerError("could not create file")
+                })?;
                 size = write_to_file(&mut file, field, config.max_file_size).await?;
             }
             "text" => {
@@ -50,9 +51,10 @@ pub(crate) async fn parse_multipart(
                 }
                 original_name = Some(format!("{}.txt", file_id));
                 kind = Some(FileKind::Text);
-                let mut file = fs::File::create(&filename)
-                    .await
-                    .map_err(|_| error::ErrorInternalServerError("could not create file"))?;
+                let mut file = fs::File::create(&filename).await.map_err(|file_err| {
+                    log::error!("could not create file {:?}", file_err);
+                    error::ErrorInternalServerError("could not create file")
+                })?;
                 size = write_to_file(&mut file, field, config.max_file_size).await?;
             }
             "delete_on_download" => {
@@ -157,9 +159,10 @@ async fn write_to_file(
                 )));
             }
         }
-        file.write_all(chunk.as_ref())
-            .await
-            .map_err(|_| error::ErrorInternalServerError("could not write file"))?;
+        file.write_all(chunk.as_ref()).await.map_err(|write_err| {
+            log::error!("could not write file {:?}", write_err);
+            error::ErrorInternalServerError("could not write file")
+        })?;
     }
     Ok(written_bytes)
 }
diff --git a/src/upload.rs b/src/upload.rs
index f4bdf45..75bfc08 100644
--- a/src/upload.rs
+++ b/src/upload.rs
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ pub async fn upload(
         Ok(data) => data,
         Err(err) => {
             if filename.exists().await {
-                fs::remove_file(filename).await.map_err(|_| {
+                fs::remove_file(filename).await.map_err(|file_err| {
+                    log::error!("could not remove file {:?}", file_err);
                     error::ErrorInternalServerError(
                         "could not parse multipart; could not remove file",
                     )
@@ -96,8 +97,10 @@ pub async fn upload(
     .bind(delete_on_download)
     .execute(db.as_ref())
     .await;
-    if db_insert.is_err() {
-        fs::remove_file(filename).await.map_err(|_| {
+    if let Err(db_err) = db_insert {
+        log::error!("could not insert into datebase {:?}", db_err);
+        fs::remove_file(filename).await.map_err(|file_err| {
+            log::error!("could not remove file {:?}", file_err);
             error::ErrorInternalServerError(
                 "could not insert file into database; could not remove file",
             )