Send large files through Gmail

What SendTheStuff will do for your Gmail message

SendTheStuff will hold the file, so Gmail will only carry a short link. You won't need to put anything in your Drive or touch a sharing setting.

• Size: SendTheStuff will take up to 5 GB per transfer, free. A long video or a folder of raw photos will fit behind one link.
• Your Google storage left alone: SendTheStuff will keep the file on its own servers. Nothing will count against the 15 GB a free Google Account shares across Gmail, Drive and Photos.
• Opens for anyone: SendTheStuff will give one link that works for every person you paste it to. There will be no sharing prompt to answer before you hit Send.
• From the Gmail app too: SendTheStuff will run in your phone's browser. You'll copy the link and paste it into a new message in the app.
• Sent for you: SendTheStuff will also be able to email the link itself, to up to 10 addresses in one go.
• Cleans up after itself: each SendTheStuff link will work for 14 days, then the files will be deleted. You won't have to remember to empty your Drive.

How Gmail turns a big attachment into a Drive link

Gmail sizes up the total attachment size of one email, so three medium files can trip it as easily as one big one. The numbers for work, school and incoming mail are on Gmail's attachment size limit.

Past the limit, nothing bounces. The attachment is pulled out of your draft, and a Google Drive link takes its place. The file itself is copied into your own Drive, and the email just points at it.

That copy lives in your storage. A free Google Account's 15 GB covers Gmail, Drive and Photos together, and a 2 GB video stays in it until you delete it.

If the copy can't finish, Gmail shows "Couldn't send message". Google gives too little storage or a slow connection as examples.

The sharing prompt, and which option to pick

When you insert a Drive file your recipients can't open, Gmail stops you at Send and asks you to change its sharing. This is the step most people rush through. What you pick decides who can open the link.

Anyone with the link is the one that always works. Recipients don't need a Google Account, and you choose whether they can view, comment or edit. For a video or a finished document, view is enough.

The catch is forwarding. With that setting, anyone the email is forwarded to, or who is added to the thread later, gets the same permissions. If the file is private, like tax papers or contracts, think before you pick it.

More options lets you share the file with only the people on the email.

If the file stays private, not shared at all, recipients can't see it when:

• they don't have a Google Account;
• their email address isn't a Google account;
• they got the message through a mailing list.

Why the Drive link falls short

Gmail's Drive link gets the file there, but it moves the work onto you and your recipient.

• Storage you keep paying for. The file sits in your Drive until you delete it. Once your storage is full, you can't send or receive attachments at all, even small ones.
• A setting that's easy to get wrong. Leave the file private and a recipient on Outlook or Yahoo can't see it. Pick the open option and a forward reaches people you never meant to send it to.
• No end date. The link keeps working for as long as the file stays in Drive. With Anyone with the link sharing, anyone holding it can still open it months later.
• Splitting it up. Several emails, each under 25 MB, work for a batch of photos. They don't work for one large video.
• Shrinking the video. Compressing it to fit throws away the detail you wanted to share, and a long clip may still be too big.

Gmail's routes compared

Until SendTheStuff launches

Gmail's own Drive route works if you set the sharing right. Here's how on each device.

On a computer:

1. In Gmail, click Compose.
2. At the bottom of the message, click Insert files using Drive and pick the file. If it isn't in Drive yet, upload it there first.
3. Gmail offers Drive link or Attachment. Choose Drive link for anything over the limit.
4. Click Send. If Gmail asks about sharing, pick Anyone with the link, set it to view, and send.

Dragging a big file straight onto the message works too. Gmail uploads it to Drive and swaps in the link for you.

In the Gmail app on Android:

1. Add the file to the Google Drive app, and leave it on screen until the upload finishes.
2. In Gmail, start a new message and tap Attach > Insert from Drive.
3. Pick the file, then send and answer the sharing question the same way.

In the Gmail app on iPhone or iPad:

1. Add the file to the Google Drive app first.
2. In Gmail, start a new message, tap Attach > Google Drive and choose the file from that section.
3. Send it. If Gmail asks about sharing, pick Anyone with the link.

When everyone has downloaded it, delete the file from Drive to get your storage back.

Sending a video through Gmail

Videos are why most people land here. A phone video passes 25 MB after a minute or so, so even a short clip usually becomes a Drive link.

Gmail doesn't shrink the video to make it fit. It either attaches the whole file or hands it to Drive. So the quality is fine; the storage and the sharing are what trip you up.

A SendTheStuff link will keep the original as well, without using your Drive. It will also hold several clips from one day behind a single link. Until then, put the clips in one Drive folder and share the folder.

What your recipient sees

With a Drive link, they see a link to the Drive file in your email. What happens next depends on the sharing you picked.

• Anyone with the link: the file opens in their browser, and they can download it. No Google Account is needed.
• More options, recipients only: the file is shared with just the people on the email.
• Not shared at all: people without a Google Account, with a non-Google address, or reading through a mailing list can't see it.

A SendTheStuff link will open a plain download page instead, the same for everyone who has it.

When it doesn't work

• Gmail keeps turning your file into a Drive link. Everything attached adds up to more than 25 MB. That's expected; just set the sharing if Gmail asks.
• Gmail shows "Couldn't send message". The file didn't reach Drive. Free up storage, or wait for a steadier connection, and send again.
• A recipient is asked to sign in or request access. The file isn't shared with them. In Drive, change it to Anyone with the link and tell them to try again.
• Attachments stopped working altogether. Your Google storage is full, and a full account can't send or receive attachments. Delete old Drive files or big emails to make room.
• Someone on a mailing list can't open it. Private Drive files don't reach list members. Switch the sharing to Anyone with the link.