How to send large files by email in Gmail and Outlook
When an attachment is too big, send a link to the file. You can keep using the same inbox and leave the file itself out of the email.
By Ferndrop · Reviewed
To send a large file by email, upload it to a file-transfer or storage service, copy its sharing link and paste that into your message. The recipient downloads it from the link. You haven’t raised the attachment limit; you’ve avoided putting the large attachment inside the email.
Which route makes sense?
| Your situation | A sensible choice |
|---|---|
| The file is already in Drive or OneDrive | Share it there and check access permissions. |
| A one-off handover, up to 10 GB | Create an expiring Ferndrop link. |
| Both people are online, especially for a larger file | Try a direct browser-to-browser transfer. |
| You need ongoing edits and version history | Use shared storage or your team’s document system. |
Send a large file through Gmail
For a personal Gmail account, the total attachment limit is 25 MB. Work and school accounts can have different administrator-set limits. Google explains this in its attachment help page.
If the file is in Google Drive, compose your email, choose Insert files using Drive, select it and insert a Drive link. Gmail checks whether the recipients have access. Review the sharing setting rather than assuming a pasted link gives them permission. Follow Google’s Drive attachment steps.
If you use Ferndrop instead, finish the upload first and paste the copied download link into the message body. Don’t attach the original file as well. That would bring you straight back to the size error.
Send a large file through Outlook
Outlook’s limits vary across personal accounts, work accounts and app versions. Microsoft’s own large-attachment instructions recommend sharing a cloud link as one way around an attachment error.
For a file already in OneDrive, create a sharing link, review who can use it and paste it into your message. Your organisation may restrict external sharing. If this is a work document, follow that policy rather than moving it to a different service to get around the restriction.
A Ferndrop link works in an Outlook message too: copy it after the upload finishes and paste it into the email body. The recipient opens it in a browser.
Create a free transfer link with Ferndrop
- Select your files or folder on the home page. Stored transfers allow up to 10 GB total and up to 1,000 files.
- In Link options, choose the expiry and optionally add a password. Links last 48 hours by default, with a choice of 1 hour, 24 hours or 7 days.
- Choose Get a link. Keep the page open while the files upload; verify your email if requested.
- Copy the complete finished link, including the part after #, into your email.
- Send any password by a separate route. Tell the recipient the deadline.
There’s no account to create. New browser link uploads encrypt file contents and filenames before upload; the recipient’s browser decrypts them. The encryption guide covers what that protects and what it doesn’t.
A message you can adapt
Here are the original files: [paste your complete link]. Please download them by Friday afternoon, before the link expires. I’ll send the password separately.
Use a real date and time if the deadline matters. Avoid link shorteners or tools that cut off the end of the URL. The recipient needs the full Ferndrop link to open an encrypted transfer.
When it still doesn’t work
- “Access denied” on a storage link: check sharing permissions and the recipient’s email address.
- “Incomplete link” on Ferndrop: copy it again with the share button. Everything after # matters.
- An expired link: ask the sender for a new upload. Ferndrop can’t restore an expired transfer.
- A file above 10 GB: use Send directly while both people are online, or choose a service that stores transfers of that size.
Ferndrop link uploads and relay fallback share a 25 GB allowance per UTC day. Starts are also rate limited; cancelled reservations count until the daily reset. A direct connection has no daily byte allowance. Read the limits before planning a large batch.