80

Gmail's maximum attachment size is 25 MB. How to send files bigger than that?

5
  • 5
    I am not sure that the problem is only at the send side. Probably also receiving attachments bigger than defined maximum size could be difficult.
    – Drake
    Jul 2, 2010 at 12:56
  • 1
    I've often wondered how much data mining some of these random dropbox (not Dropbox®) services do. I know I trust Google and Dropbox claims that their stores are AES encrypted with your password, but I'd look closely at the transfer site you are using if you value your privacy.
    – msw
    Jul 4, 2010 at 5:49
  • I prefer YouSendIt. Jul 11, 2010 at 9:18
  • try http://b2bfiles.net we use it over here at the studio
    – user11097
    May 26, 2011 at 1:17

31 Answers 31

91

Upload it to a website and send them a link. For example:

If you upload it to a public service (e.g. a Dropbox public folder) and it's important that it's kept confidential, encrypt it with 7-Zip.

6
  • 7
    Another website you can use is drop.io
    – unlobito
    Jul 2, 2010 at 3:26
  • 11
    Except that drop.io is discontinuing as of December 15th.
    – Yahel
    Nov 8, 2010 at 19:48
  • ifile.it now requires sign up
    – barlop
    Jun 11, 2012 at 0:42
  • Just one more +1 for Dropbox, basically you don't have to worry about resuming partially completed uploads, waiting for the upload to complete etc etc. Just plonk a file in the Drobox folder, Right click the file in Windows Explorer and select Dropbox->Get Link, paste the link in your email and it works!
    – Grynn
    Jun 30, 2012 at 11:17
  • Another good and free service is Copy.com, which gives 15GB of free storage (vs 2GB for DropBox). If you sign up via a recommender link, such as my link, then you get an extra 5GB free, for a total of 20GB.
    – Yosi Mor
    Aug 6, 2013 at 22:48
46

since you have an google account already, there is no need to add another hoster for your data: upload the file to docs.google.com as described here and share it.

1
  • 1
    +1 Completely agree with akira on this one. You can upload 1GB files to Google Docs even if the file is not a compatible document type. Selective sharing is simple or you can keep it private.
    – 666damo
    Jul 8, 2010 at 21:41
24

I've experienced this problem very many times. Thankfully, there are a few good solutions. They all involve using file-sharing services.

Some of the ones I'm about to list have already been mentioned, but I want to compare them in detail.

  • Hightail (previously YouSendIt) - upload via the website; up to 50MB; not a lot of control in the free plan; paid plans available
  • Dropbox - somewhat hard to set up (you have to install it once; afterwards, you can just upload via their site); up to 2GB; very private (to view, you have to give someone a username and password)
4
  • Mediafire.com is another simple site for this type of thing. Jul 7, 2010 at 21:32
  • 1
    Another one: filemail.com. Works well - have personally sent up to 350MB files.
    – Judy
    Jul 8, 2010 at 13:29
  • 1
    FYI drop.io has been bought by facebook blog.drop.io/2010/10/29/…
    – phunehehe
    Dec 4, 2010 at 10:37
  • drop.io looks ruined. The guy that founded it - Sam Lessin has put up a page like a 10 year old that you get redirected to when going to drop.io. It redirects to wlessin.com which says "i am sam lessin. I work at facebook. I used to write a lot and stashed my public writing here. I organized Y+30 in New York. I founded drop.io, created letter.ly, csvemail and a bunch of other projects to play with information. I am curious about a great many things."
    – barlop
    Jun 11, 2012 at 0:46
14

7-Zip also has the ability to save an archive into multiple chunks, and you can specify the size of the chunks.

6
  • 1
    Not practical if the recipient does not have 7-zip
    – JcMaco
    Jul 8, 2010 at 17:13
  • 1
    create a selfextracting archive.
    – akira
    Jul 9, 2010 at 3:40
  • You can't attach exe files in GMail
    – JcMaco
    Jul 10, 2010 at 1:04
  • rename them to .xyz
    – akira
    Jul 11, 2010 at 13:42
  • And on the receiver end? Corporate accounts (inboxes) are also frequently limited.
    – extraneon
    Jul 19, 2010 at 17:28
5

Don't do it.

It is:

  • Inefficient (MIME encoding bloats the files like 30%)
  • Insecure
  • Likely to cause problems for people (ie. you're going to hose your friend's work account who is on Exchange 2003 with a 200MB mailbox that's almost full).

There's just no good reason for file attachments larger than 25MB.

2
  • This is the correct answer to the question. Why did not anybody vote it up?
    – cweiske
    Apr 27, 2011 at 12:18
  • Because other answers are providing solutions. Apr 18, 2014 at 9:35
5

Try GE.TT

No Flash is required, Easy Transfer of files.

3

Lots of players in this space but http://wetransfer.com offers 2GB of space in exchange for your email address.

Its currently flash based only.

1
  • Yes. I like we transfer. However I don't like their new iphone app.
    – JustJohn
    Dec 13, 2018 at 23:52
3

If you're on a mac I really like CloudApp. Drag the file to the menu bar icon and the URL is automatically copied to your clipboard. Paste it in the email and send.

http://www.getcloudapp.com/

2

Sendbigfiles.com Simple and Free!

2

Another favorite option is File Apartment at fileapartment.com. Easy to use, fast, no software to download or registration, up to 1 GB, free option, safe, and secure.

1

You can try Ipswitch Sendable. There's a free trial that allows you to send up to 250 MB, and paid services with limits of 5GB and 15GB per file / month.

1

You can send files up to 2GB at Sprend and it'll also send an email-address notifying where to download the file.

1

Upload the file to Rapidshare and send the link (generated by Rapidshare) to the recipient.

1

I like DropSend.

1
  • 2
    looks like without a "drop" or a "box" in the name of the service one is doome to failure these days. :)
    – akira
    Jul 2, 2010 at 21:50
1

JustAttach was what we went with. We could install it on our own servers. Uses Java for reliable uploads, easy to include links in email. There is also a product called Repliweb.

1

You can split the file using tools like GSplit. But, we still have the pain of uploading. To avoid that trouble, the only way is to host your local PC as a server using tools like HFS. (Google it. I am a new user and unable to add more than a link in a post. Sigh).

Anyway, running server requires some level of configuration and your Internet connection must be quite good to yield proper transfer rate.

1

I use http://www.filesharehq.com - free account for sending and storing 500MB and I can use ftp to load files.

0

"Microsoft is also leveraging SkyDrive to make it easier to share photos. Users frequently encounter problems with attachment limits either on the sending or receiving side, Mehta said.

Microsoft is skirting around that problem by automatically creating a SkyDrive folder with photos as someone sends an e-mail with photo attachments. Rather than attaching multimegabyte photos with the message, Hotmail will instead send a thumbnail of the photos while the full-size photos are sent to SkyDrive"

Microsoft Rolls out Hotmail Enhancements --> www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/196490/microsoft_rolls_out_hotmail_enhancements.html

"Send virtually all the photos you want to without having to worry about attachment limits or clogged inboxes, either at your end or on the recipient's end. Hotmail works with Windows Live SkyDrive, your free online storage space from Windows Live, so you can send up to 200 photos of up to 50 MB each (10 GB total) in a single message. It's as easy as sending regular attachments, but we give you the option of uploading them to SkyDrive. This means the people you're sending photos to get an email containing a preview of the photos, along with links to launch a slide show or download the photos to their hard drives — all in a single .zip file instead of painstakingly downloading them individually. Or they can even import them straight into Windows Live Photo Gallery. Sharing lots of large photo attachments has never been more easy or painless."

What's new in Hotmail

0

There's a few services out there that let you upload a file, and then give you credentials that you can send to people, and then they delete the file after a couple of days.

I used to know most of the players in the space, but it's been too many years -- the only one that I can remember is the one that the company I worked for did (WhaleMail, now owned by Semantic, it looks like)

I have no idea what the current terms / limits / etc are.

0

Try wuala.com. You can share 1G+- off the bat and if you share space in your system 24/7 you can get a proportional amount of space on their cloud for free up to 100G !

0

Winrar also has the ability to save an archive into multiple chunks, and you can specify the size of the chunks.

0

There is also MyNetworkFolders which provides 1 GB free storage with browser, WebDAV, desktop and iPhone clients.

0

I would suggest that the best thing to use would be a file optimization program, such as NXPowerLite. This will remove all the file bloat and leave you with a file size reduction of 60-70% without any difference in look/feel.

Works for me!

0

Try FileDropper. It's a great service. It's free, the upload max is 5GB, and it's dead simple to use.

0

I like http://www.toldacuccot.hu/en — works like YouSendIt.com etc. but without being hassled to start paying. Up to 500Mb per file, and you can send several files at once without having to .zip them beforehand.

If you can arrange to be online at the same time as your recipient, file transfer via Skype is often a quick and easy way to send stuff around, although it quickly gets difficult if there are multiple recipients.

Also, never underestimate the bandwidth of a padded envelope full of DVD-Rs and a stamp. :o)

0

After trying a lot of uploading services, I've finally pick out mediafire.com . It's pretty fast for every country and easy download / upload / share.

You can try http://www.mirrorcreator.com/ to upload to multiple host at the same time.

0

You can try TransferBigFiles as described in this article : How to send large files through a website.

All transfers go through HTTPS using SSL encryption. The free package offers

  • 1 GB Storage
  • Up to 100 MB per file
  • Files kept for 5 days
0

Sending large files via email is not the best option IMHO.

In fact, there are plenty of services to send large files.

I'm personally in love with FileDropper and Dropbox, but - again - there are lots around. Check here if you want a solid reference: http://www.masternewmedia.org/how_to_send_large_files_without_email/

0

With my customers, I need to receive their stuff: I use Expedimedia.com to Send and receive large files. It is great because my clients do not have to register. They also have a free trial account. Their service is in French and English.

0

Here is another good web based service:

LinkAttach

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.