Email large videos from your iPhone

Why Mail and Gmail won't take your video

An email can only carry so much, and a phone video passes that fast.

• Gmail (the app or the website) lets a personal account send up to 25 MB of attachments in one email. Go over that and Gmail removes the video and puts in a Google Drive link instead. The video then lives in your Google storage, shared across Drive, Photos, and Gmail.
• The Mail app checks the video against the limit of the email account you're sending from. Apple's guide says that if the file is bigger than your account allows, you follow the onscreen instructions to send it using Mail Drop.
• The recipient's inbox has a limit too. Yahoo Mail refuses incoming messages over 25 MB, and Outlook.com caps a message at 25 MB. So even a video your provider lets through can bounce on the other side.

Mail Drop: how it works and where it stops

Mail Drop is Apple's built-in fix. When Mail offers it, your video uploads to iCloud and the recipient gets a download link in the email rather than the file itself. If you're already in Mail and the video fits, it's often the easiest option.

Its limits, from Apple:

• A message with its attachments can be up to 5 GB.
• Recipients have 30 days to download it, then it's gone.
• It won't send with an uncompressed folder attached, or if too many messages have been sent or the maximum number of recipients has been exceeded.
• It stops working when you reach its 1 TB storage limit, until older attachments expire.
• On iPhone it works from the Mail app, so it's no help if you use the Gmail or Outlook app.

Email the video, step by step

With Mail Drop, in the Mail app:

1. Start a new email in Mail, tap in the message body, and attach the video with Photo Library above the keyboard.
2. If the video is over your account's limit, Mail tells you, and you follow the onscreen instructions to send it using Mail Drop.
3. The video uploads to iCloud, and the email goes out with a download link in place of the video.

With a link, from Mail, Gmail or Outlook:

1. In Photos, share the video to a cloud storage app such as Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive. Under Options in the share sheet, pick Current so it isn't converted.
2. When the upload completes, copy a share link that anyone can open.
3. Paste the link into a new email in whichever app you use, add the address and send.

SendTheStuff's own upload tool is launching soon, for when you'd rather the video didn't stay in your cloud storage afterwards.

Mail Drop, Gmail and a link side by side

What your recipient sees

Either way, the email comes from your own address, so it looks like any other message from you. With Mail Drop, it carries a link to the video on iCloud, which works for 30 days. Tell them, so they don't leave it too late.

With a cloud storage link, they land on that service's page for the video. If you shared it with anyone who has the link, they can download it straight away. If you limited it to specific people, they'll be asked to sign in first. Either way, suggest they download it rather than watch the preview, which can be lower resolution.

When it doesn't work

• Mail Drop didn't offer itself, or failed. Check that you haven't attached an uncompressed folder, that the video is under 5 GB, and that you haven't hit the 1 TB storage limit. If none of that fits, send a link instead.
• The email bounced even though it sent. Apple warns that the recipient's email app might have a smaller message size limit, and plain attachments hit the recipient's limit too. A link keeps the email tiny.
• Gmail swapped your video for a Drive link. That's Gmail's way past its limit. The video stays in your Google storage until you delete it, so remove it once everyone has downloaded it.
• The Mail Drop link stopped working. It lasted 30 days. Send the video again for a fresh link.
• A recipient hits a sign-in page. Your cloud link is shared with specific people only. Change it to anyone with the link and resend.