Email attachment too large? Send your files by link
When an email attachment is rejected, sending a download link can avoid putting the file inside the message. The recipient opens the link and saves the file separately. First check whether a temporary link suits the job: someone who needs the material next week needs a different arrangement from someone downloading it today.
Check the limit that actually applies
Email does not have one universal attachment limit. Your sending account, the recipient's system and an organisation's security rules can impose different restrictions. Several attachments count towards the total, and email encoding can increase the message size beyond the sizes shown in your file manager.
For example, Google's Gmail Help lists a 25 MB attachment limit for personal Gmail accounts. Work and school limits are set by administrators. Gmail may replace an oversized attachment with a Google Drive link. That is a different workflow from uploading a file to a separate transfer service.
If a message bounces, read the error before trying again. A blocked file type, an unavailable mailbox or a security policy will not necessarily be fixed by using a link. For work files, check that the recipient is allowed to use an external download service.
Prepare a useful download, not just a URL
Give files recognisable names and remove unrelated material. If you are sending several versions, say which one the recipient should use. Keep your originals: a temporary transfer is not a backup.
FreeFilesShares accepts up to 100 files with a combined limit of 50 GiB per transfer, or 53,687,091,200 bytes. This is the total allowance, not a separate allowance for every attachment. Files in one transfer need different names.
Upload, wait, then write the email
- Open the file transfer page. On a computer, select your files or drag them into the upload area. On Android, use the document/text selection button for documents and the separate photo/video button for media. Available choices depend on the device and file picker.
- Selection starts the upload automatically. Keep the tab open until the ready message and download link appear; 100% progress may still be followed by final preparation.
- Copy the completed link into your email. Include the contents and the displayed expiry time. FreeFilesShares does not send the email for you.
- Ask the recipient to download and confirm receipt before expiry. They do not need an account or password.
A practical message is: “Here are the project files: [paste link]. Please download them before [displayed expiry date and time]. Save a local copy and let me know once you have everything.” Include the time zone if necessary.
Understand the link's limits
The link lasts 72 hours after the upload completes. It then stops accepting downloads. Physical cleanup normally runs about every 60 seconds, with retries if storage is busy or offline; this is not an exact deletion-time guarantee.
Anyone with the link can download. There is no password protection or end-to-end encryption. Use an approved alternative when those controls are required. Several files can be downloaded individually or as a lossless ZIP archive.
Questions before sending
Does a link guarantee email delivery?
No. Mail filters can block links or entire messages. Check with the recipient if the email does not arrive.
Is the video inside my email compressed?
The link itself does not contain the video. For the original-file workflow, see sending videos without recompression.
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