How to send large files for free

Sending attachments via email is quick and easy, but what if the files get too big?

Many email clients impose size limits on the files they send, and even those that are delivered can clog up the recipient’s inbox. The good news is that there are several ways to share large files with colleagues, clients, or friends without paying a dime.

Sending files using the file transfer service

The most obvious way to send a file that is too large for email is to use a dedicated file transfer site, of which there are many. They allow you to upload a file to a single website so that your recipient can download it either via email or a link that you can share with them.

WeTransfer is the most famous of these sites. It’s free, you don’t need to register, and you can send up to 2 GB at a time. You can upload and send files as often as you like and up to 20 people at a time.

The download link is sent via email and is valid for seven days. File uploads can be a little slow during peak hours, so the company recommends uploading files in the morning or after work to avoid peak hour overloads.

If you need to send anything larger than 2GB, Send Anywhere is a similar service, but allows you to share up to 10GB via a link or files of unlimited size using the default system, which requires recipients to connect a 6-digit access key. their documents.

If you’re looking for something a little more secure, check out Hightail. Formerly known as YouSendIt, it requires you to sign up for a free account, making it more difficult than WeTransfer and MailBigFile for one-time transfers. Each file is also limited to 100MB in the free plan, so it’s not suitable for large transfers.

However, Hightail offers secure data encryption, receipt verification, and access to mobile and desktop apps. If you’re worried about particularly sensitive files, this might be the one for you.

All of the above allows you to send files for free, but also offers paid plans that usually allow you to use larger files, long-term file storage, and other benefits.

Send large files with cloud storage

If none of this works – or if file size limits aren’t an issue – then it’s easiest to just use a cloud storage service to share files.

Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive allow you to share the files you upload and don’t require the recipient to have their own account, although you will need an account to send them.

All offer some level of free storage, though Google is the clear winner with their 15GB free plan – you’re limited to 5GB with OneDrive or 2GB with Dropbox.

All three offer web access and apps for desktop, iPhone, and Android, so there are plenty of ways to upload and share files, and there’s no size limit on individual files as long as you’re within the total storage limit.

All three also offer paid plans if you find that these storage limits are not enough and the prices are often surprisingly low.

Even Apple’s iCloud is getting in on the action and actually offering its own dedicated file-sharing tool: Mail Drop.

Built into the Mail app, it works by using iCloud to upload a file to the web and create a link that the recipient can use to download and access the file. Even if the recipient doesn’t use Mail or doesn’t have an Apple device at all, they can still access the file.

If the recipient is using Mail, the file will be automatically downloaded as an email attachment and they won’t even notice anything different from a normal attachment. Visit our sister site Macworld to learn more about Mail.