Send large files by email

What SendTheStuff will do for an email that's too heavy

A big attachment fails because it travels inside the email. SendTheStuff will keep your files outside it, so the email only carries one line of text.

• Any email app. SendTheStuff will give you a link that works the same in Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, Apple Mail or a company mailbox.
• Many files, one link. SendTheStuff will take up to 1,000 files in a single transfer, so a batch of photos or a project folder arrives as one download.
• Files as you made them. SendTheStuff will not resize, convert or re-encode anything.
• Ready to paste. When an upload finishes, SendTheStuff will show the link with Copy, Email, Messages and Share buttons, so it can go straight into a new message.
• Nothing left behind. SendTheStuff's links will stop working after 14 days, and the files will be deleted. Your Google or Microsoft storage stays as it was.
• Room for big jobs. SendTheStuff will send up to 5 GB per transfer free, within 20 GB or 10 transfers per rolling 30 days.

The person you email will click the link and download the files in a browser, with no app to install.

Why big attachments get stopped

An attachment isn't sent as the file itself. Email is a text system, so every attachment is turned into text first, with an encoding called base64. RFC 2045, the standard behind it, puts the growth at about 33 percent. So with some providers, the size that gets checked is bigger than the size your computer shows.

Three separate limits can stop the same message:

1. Your email app's own cap. Classic Outlook for Windows refuses attachments over 20 MB by default on POP and IMAP accounts, before the server sees them.
2. Your provider's cap. Personal Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Outlook.com all stop at 25 MB. At work or school, an administrator sets the number.
3. The recipient's provider. It checks the message again when it arrives, and its limit can be lower than yours.

The smallest of the three wins. That's why an email can leave your outbox and still bounce back later.

The biggest email each service takes

The rules behind each number are on the Gmail limit page and the Outlook limit page.

Your email app's own way to send a big file

Most email apps can already swap a file for a link. Here's where each one keeps it.

• Gmail on a computer. Click Insert files using Drive at the bottom of the message, pick the file and send it as a Drive link. A file that isn't in Drive yet can be attached as usual. On a personal account, Gmail adds anything past 25 MB as a Google Drive link.
• Outlook.com. Select Attach, then Upload and share, pick the file, then Share link. The message carries a short link starting with 1drv.ms.
• The new Outlook for Windows. Attach the file, then choose Upload to OneDrive on the attachment.
• Classic Outlook for Windows. Attach the file, then choose Upload > OneDrive. Outlook's own size error suggests sending a link, too.
• Apple Mail on a Mac. Check that Mail > Settings > Accounts > Account Information > Send large attachments with Mail Drop is on. From an iCloud address, while you're signed in to iCloud, Mail sends large files this way on its own. From other addresses, it asks first.
• Yahoo Mail. Upload the file to a storage service you already use, copy its share link, then click Compose and paste it into the message.

Why the usual workarounds fall short

Each route above gets the file delivered. Each one also hands a chore to you or to the person you're emailing.

• The file sits in your storage. Google's space is shared across Drive, Photos, and Gmail. Once it's full, Gmail can't send or receive attachments, so every big Drive link brings that day closer.
• Recipients can hit a locked door. A Drive file shared only with named people sends anyone else to an access request instead of the download.
• OneDrive links have a ceiling. In Outlook.com, a linked file can be 2 GB at most.
• Mail Drop belongs to Apple's Mail. You need to be signed in to your Apple Account, it won't carry an uncompressed folder, and the download disappears after 30 days.
• Zipping rarely saves enough. Photos and videos are already compressed, so a zip of them comes out barely smaller.
• Splitting means homework. A long video cut into pieces arrives as several clips, and the person has to watch them in order.

Until SendTheStuff launches

A storage link is the nearest thing to what SendTheStuff will do. Here's the version that works with any email app:

1. Use your email app's own route from the list above, if it has one.
2. If it doesn't, upload the file to storage you already have, such as Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox. Several files go in one folder, so one link covers them all.
3. Set the sharing so anyone with the link can open it, then copy the link.
4. Paste the link into your message and send it as usual.
5. Once the person has the file, delete it from your storage and empty the trash to get the space back.

Sending a large file from your phone

Phone email apps have the same limits as their computer versions, with fewer menus.

• Gmail on Android. For a file already in Drive, tap Attach > Insert from Drive.
• Gmail on iPhone or iPad. For a file already in Drive, tap Attach > Google Drive.
• Mail on iPhone. Attach a photo or video with Photo Library. If it's over your account's limit, Mail offers Mail Drop instead. Apple's advice is to follow the onscreen instructions to send it using Mail Drop.
• The Yahoo Mail app. The Attachment Picker icon adds files, but the 25 MB cap still applies, so paste a link for anything bigger.

Videos are the usual culprit on a phone. For the iPhone side of it, see emailing large videos from an iPhone.

Which way fits your file

The right route depends on what you're sending and who's getting it.

• A document just over the limit. Zip it first. Plain text and CSV files often shrink a lot; photos and videos barely shrink.
• A batch of photos. Send one link to all of them rather than a string of emails.
• One big video. Send a link, since no zip will get it under the limit. The video page covers playback for the person you send it to.
• A whole folder. Zip it, or share the folder as one link. Mail Drop won't take an uncompressed folder.
• From a work mailbox. Your administrator sets the limit. Microsoft 365 mailboxes default to 35 MB for sending.

When the email still won't go

• Gmail bounces it with "Your message exceeded Google's message size limits." The message was over Google's size limit. Remove the attachment and send a link instead.
• Classic Outlook shows "The file you're attaching is bigger than the server allows. Try putting the file in a shared location and sending a link instead." Outlook's own cap stopped it. Use Upload > OneDrive, or send a link from elsewhere.
• Mail Drop won't send. Apple says it stops when too many messages have been sent or the maximum number of recipients has been exceeded. It also stops at its 1 TB storage limit, until older attachments expire.
• Outlook.com won't link the file. A OneDrive link there carries 2 GB per file at most. For a bigger file, use another storage service.

The recipient lands on an access request. The file is shared with named people only. Switch it to "Anyone with the link" and send the link again.