One of the aspects that many users look for in a file sharing solution, apart from the ability to transfer data fast and securely, is that it can handle large amounts of data. It is also important to know how to send large files over the internet. In this article, we will take a look at the ways in which you can send large files, as well as the services that support this option. Although popular email services like Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo offer the possibility to send large files, if the recipient doesn’t check their emails for a while and large attachments are received, their inbox may reach its maximum capacity, which would prevent further emails from being received. That is why, in order to be able to send large files, you need a more powerful solution. We will go through the tools and methods that will allow you to send large files. Some of them are free, while others require are available for a small fee.
What options to send large files are available?
There are multiple options to send large files, but in order to help you to choose the best option for each case, we will let you know which method is the most suitable in different scenarios.
FTP Tools
Although cloud storage solutions have become very popular, File Transfer Protocol or FTP services are still relevant and many people are still using them. If you prefer not to have to spend a lot of time compressing large files before transferring them online, you can try to use FTP clients such as Cyberduck and FileZilla. It is important to keep in mind that when you use FTP tools, the transfer process is not that simple and it can also be a slow process. This is why cloud solutions have become the favorite options.
Cloud Storage Services
Cloud storage services have made possible what seemed impossible before. They allow you to send large files of about 1 GB. You can find a wide selection of solutions including apps, websites and software that support file storage on their services. While some of them offer temporary storage, others provide long-term storage for your data. Let’s take a look at each case.
Temporary Storage File Transfer Services
In most cases, these services are third-party file transfer websites or apps that are not associated to a specific email service. By default, they can store data online for a determined period of time, which is usually only a couple of weeks. After that, the files are deleted automatically. In the case of free cloud services that offer temporary storage, it is likely that a file size limit is also applied, but this can be increased when you upgrade to a paid plan. Some of the services that fall in this category are WeTransfer (web app), Sendspace (web and Android App) and DropSend (web, iOS and Android apps), the latter offers high AES encryption. These solutions are focused on allowing you to send large files, but they don’t support features that allow file modifications or cloud syncing. Upgrading to the paid plans also allows you to get long-term storage from these cloud solutions.
Long-term storage file transfer services
This refers to cloud storage services in the true sense of the term. Services of this type include well-known names such as Google Drive, which provides up to 15GB of free storage and supports Gmail. You also have Dropbox, which offers 2GB storage for free and it works with a variety of email clients. Apart from allowing you to transfer large files, these services are capable of storing data for a long period of time. They offer online file editing, as well as automatic syncing.
What do you need to be able to send large files?
There are some requisites that should be met in order to be able to send large files. The first thing you need to do to be able to use the tools that we previously mentioned to share files, is to compress the data. Compressing the files will speed up the data transfer process. To compress the data, it is advisable to use the built-in file compression utilities available on Mac and Windows. You can use “RAR” instead of “ZIP”, if you are compressing video or music files. RAR files are not corrupted and there is no loss of data during compression.
How to use different file transfer tools
Instructions for Temporary Storage File Transfer Services
- Go to the service’s website. Check their terms and conditions and if there are no issues, agree to them.
- Select a file (keep the size limit in mind) and click on “Add files”. It is possible to drag and drop the selected file and you can also add more than one file.
- Enter your email address and the email address of the recipient. Some services such as WeTransfer, can send a file to multiple recipients simultaneously.
- If you want, you can enter a text in the “Message” field. This can be a description of the file or special instructions for the recipient.
- Select how you want the file to be transferred. You can choose to transfer it via email, using the download link or clicking on the share type button, which contains three dots and that appears to the left of the Transfer button.
- If you select the “link” option, you will see a message letting you know that the file will be stored online for seven days. Then you just need to click “Transfer” to share the file selected.
- Remember that if you opt for a paid plan, you can get additional features including increased file size limit and long-term storage, as well as additional security options.
How to use long-term storage file transfer services
- Sign in to your account
- Click on the NEW button (if you are using Google Drive) and upload any large file. When the file gets uploaded to your Google Drive account, you need to right-click on it and select the sharing option that is suitable.
- Click on “Share” to compose an email message and enter the email address of the recipient. They will receive an email with a link that takes them to see or download the file that you sent.
The process is very similar with other cloud storage services such as Dropbox. Bear in mind that Google Drive only works on Gmail accounts. If you want to use a different email service, you would need to use another cloud storage solution to send large files.