Send a folder through email

What SendTheStuff will do with a whole folder

SendTheStuff will take the attachment cap out of the picture. Here's how a folder will travel:

• Drop the folder in. SendTheStuff will accept a whole folder on a computer, subfolders and all.
• Hundreds of files, one link. SendTheStuff will carry up to 1,000 files and 5 GB in one transfer, free.
• Files, one download each. SendTheStuff will hand over the files themselves, and the recipient will download them one by one, without the subfolders. When the structure matters, zip the folder first and send the zip.
• Any file type. SendTheStuff will take any file type, including the program files Gmail refuses inside a zip.
• No sharing settings to get wrong. SendTheStuff will give view-and-download access only, with no edit rights, and the link will stop after 14 days.

On a phone, SendTheStuff will take files rather than folders. Zip the folder in the Files app first, as shown below, and send the zip.

Why email won't attach a folder

Most email apps' Attach button opens a file picker, and a folder isn't a file. Some vendors say so outright:

• Outlook on the web and Outlook.com: Microsoft's help says "You can't attach a copy of a folder" in web-based versions of Outlook. It suggests sharing the folder from OneDrive instead.
• Apple Mail with Mail Drop: Apple says Mail Drop may not send a message with an uncompressed folder attached.
• Outlook for Mac zips it for you. Attach a folder, click Compress when asked, and it compresses the contents of the folder into a single .zip file.

So the folder has to become a file first, or it has to stay somewhere online and travel as a link. Which one works depends on how big the folder is.

Zip the folder, then attach it

A zip packs the folder, with its subfolders and file names, into one file that any email app can attach. Computers and iPhones can make one without extra software.

On Windows 11:

1. Find the folder in File Explorer and right-click it.
2. Select Show more options > Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder. A zip with the same name appears next to the folder.
3. Attach that zip to your email like any other file.

On a Mac:

1. Control-click the folder in the Finder and choose Compress from the shortcut menu.
2. A zip with the folder's name appears beside it. Select several items at once, and the zip is called Archive.zip instead.
3. Attach the zip to your email.

On an iPhone:

1. Open the Files app and go to where the folder is.
2. Tap More > Select, choose the files, then More > Compress.
3. Attach the zip from Mail or Gmail with its file attachment option.

When the zipped folder is still too big

Zipping bundles a folder, but it doesn't always shrink it much. How much it saves depends on what's inside.

Plain text and CSV files shrink a lot. Word, Excel and PDF files shrink a little, and photos and videos barely shrink at all, because they're compressed already. Microsoft says a zipped folder of JPEG pictures comes out about the same as the original collection of pictures. In a test for this guide, a folder of 25 JPEG photos shrank by just 1.8%.

So check the zip's size before you write the email. If it's over 25 MB, it won't go as an attachment:

• Gmail removes it and inserts a Google Drive link instead.
• Outlook.com refuses an email over 25 MB, text included.
• Yahoo Mail stops at 25 MB for all attachments together.

At that point, a link is the way: the folder stays online, and the email only carries the link.

Sharing a folder as a link: mind the permissions

Cloud storage can share a whole folder as one link, without zipping. The catch is that folder sharing is built for working together, so the defaults can give away more than you meant to.

• OneDrive, shared from Outlook on the web or Outlook.com. Microsoft says that, by default, recipients will be able to edit the files in the folder. To stop that, select Manage Access > Recipients can view.
• Google Drive. Files and subfolders inside a shared folder inherit those same sharing permissions. Make someone an Editor, and Google says they can open, edit, delete, or move any files within the folder. Share it as a Viewer to be safe.

Both use your own storage. The folder stays there, counting against your space, until you remember to delete it.

A folder's routes, side by side

Why the usual workarounds fall short

• A zip is still an attachment. In Gmail, Outlook.com and Yahoo Mail it has to fit under 25 MB, and media folders barely shrink.
• Gmail blocks some zips outright. It refuses its banned file types when found within archives (like .zip or .tgz files). A folder holding an installer won't go.
• Shared folders hand out too much. OneDrive links made in Outlook let recipients edit by default, and a Drive Editor can delete your files.
• Shared folders use your space. They count against your OneDrive or Google storage until you clean them up.

Until SendTheStuff launches

Pick the route by the zip's size.

If the zip fits: zip the folder using the steps above, then attach it. In Gmail, Outlook.com and Yahoo Mail, keep it under 25 MB.

If it doesn't fit, with Outlook on the web or Outlook.com:

1. Drag the folder into OneDrive in your web browser.
2. In a new message, choose Attach, then Browse cloud locations, and pick the folder.
3. Select Share as a OneDrive link, then Manage Access > Recipients can view so nobody can edit it.

If it doesn't fit, with Gmail: upload the folder to Google Drive. Share it with the people you're emailing as Viewers, then paste the folder's link into your email.

What the recipient does with a zip

A zip arrives as one file. The recipient opens it to get the folder back:

• On Windows: right-click the zip and select Extract All, then follow the steps.
• On a Mac: double-click the zip, and the folder appears beside it.
• On an iPhone: in the Files app, tap the ZIP file, and a folder with its files appears.

A shared OneDrive or Drive folder opens in the browser instead, and they can download files from there.

When it doesn't work

• The attach button won't take the folder. Email apps want files. Zip the folder first, or share it as a link.
• Gmail won't attach the zip. It may hold a file type Gmail bans, such as .exe, .bat, .js, .dmg, .apk, .msi and .iso. Share it as a link instead.
• Gmail won't attach a password-protected zip. Its help lists "Password-protected archives with archived content" among what it blocks. Send it as a link, and share the password some other way.
• Mail Drop won't send it. Apple says Mail Drop may not send an uncompressed folder. Zip it first.
• The recipient changed or deleted your files. They had edit access to the shared folder. Switch them to view only, and restore the files from OneDrive's Recycle bin or Google Drive's Trash.