Every email provider has different rules for attachment size limitations, which means if a file exceeds the limit, you will be prevented from sending it. For example, the Gmail file size limit is a mere 25MB. This can be problematic when you have a file that needs to be sent and the recipient doesn’t use a service like Dropbox.
I often must send files exceeding that limit. Unfortunately, Gmail cannot be configured to allow you to bypass that limitation. However, all is not lost.
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Thanks to Google Drive, you can still send files larger than 25MB via Gmail (or any email client, for that matter). But don’t think you have to switch back and forth between Gmail and Drive to make this work, as Google has built the feature right into Gmail and it’s super simple to use. With this handy workaround, you can send files up to 10GB in size.
Yes, you read that correctly — 10GB.
If you need to send something larger than 10GB, you’re out of luck. You’ll have to snail mail a USB flash drive.
So, how is this done? Let me show you.
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How to send large files in Gmail
What you’ll need: All you’ll need is a valid Google account and either a web browser or the mobile app. (I’ll show you how to do this from both.) That’s it. You don’t even have to first upload the file to Google Drive — Google will do that for you.
That’s it. Let’s send some massive attachments.
The first thing to do is go to http://gmail.com in your default web browser. Once there, click Compose to create a new email.
The Gmail compose window includes several features you might not have noticed.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
At the bottom of the Compose window, you’ll see an icon for Google Drive. Click that icon and then, in the resulting popup, click the My Drive tab, navigate to the folder housing the large file you uploaded to Drive, and then click Insert. If you’ve not already uploaded the file to Google Drive, simply click the paper clip icon and then, from the resulting file picker, locate the file on your local drive that needs to be sent. Google will automatically upload the file to your Google Drive space and create a link for the recipient.
The Gmail compose window includes several features you might not have noticed.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
How to avoid the 25MB limit in the mobile Gmail app
This method is just as easy. All you have to do is launch the Gmail app and start composing a new email. In the Compose window, tap the paper clip icon and, from the drop-down, select Insert from Drive.
Attaching a file from Drive in the Gmail mobile app.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
From the new page, tap My Drive, navigate to the large file you want to send, select the file, and tap Select. The link will be generated automatically and added to the email. Finish composing, tap the Send button, and you’re done.
You can select files from anywhere in your Google Drive account.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
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And that, my friends, is all it takes to avoid the 25MB file limit in the web and mobile versions of Gmail. Enjoy sending those large files!