funny videos. massive spreadsheets. pdf contracts longer than the lord of the rings.
what do these things have in common?
They are absolutely colossal email attachments. and can cause you to hit the gmail attachment size limit.
If you’re just submitting a simple document or a couple of images, you don’t have to worry. but in some cases, you may end up flirting with gmail’s upper attachment size limit.
yes, there is a gmail attachment size limit. not even google offers unlimited and infinite capacity.
how to attach files in gmail
attaching files to gmail is easy.
opens a compose window. down at the bottom you will see an icon with a clip.
click that icon and you can search your device for all the files you want to attach.
You can also drag and drop files from your desktop directly to your email, just like magic!
how to attach an email in gmail
did you know you can also attach entire email conversations to another email in gmail?
It’s an early style technique that’s admittedly a bit outdated, but it can work well if you want a recipient to catch up on a conversation you had with someone else.
again, you’ll need to open a compose window.
From there, you can navigate to your inbox on the left. find the email conversation you want to attach, click it, and then drag it into the body of your email. gmail makes this process intuitive, so you should have no problem completing it.
what is the size limit for gmail attachments?
gmail’s attachment size limit for incoming emails is 50mb. that means you can accept email from other people up to 50mb.
but when it comes to uploading files and sending an email, the upper limit is 25mb.
but that 25mb limit is based on the actual size of your email message, not the size of the file on your disk. when you upload a file to gmail, your attachment needs to be re-encoded in a new format (mime).
Because of this, the size of your attachment can almost double. that means the “real” gmail attachment size limit is approximately 12.5mb on disk.
yes.
Fortunately, there are a few ways around this limit.
how to get around gmail’s attachment size limit
Alright, here are four easy ways to get around the gmail attachment limit:
option 1: use google drive
the easiest and most affordable alternative strategy is to send your files via google drive.
when gmail detects that you are trying to upload something too big, it will automatically add it to drive. once it has finished uploading, you will receive a download link in your email automatically.
This is very convenient and works well in most circumstances. That’s partly because you already have a Google account, which means you’ll have access to 15GB of disk storage space by default, for free.
however, this can also be a hassle if you’re trying to manage multiple files or want to stay organized for the long haul.
You can also access Google Drive independently and upload your files there as you see fit, using folders or whatever other structure you need to stay organized.
When you’re ready, you can open an email compose window and upload from the drive using the triangle drive icon at the bottom of the screen.
option 2: make your files smaller
If your files were obese, you would help them lose weight, right?
An easy way to get around the attachment size limit is to quickly reduce the size of your files.
on your desktop, you can easily compress files. highlight all desired files, then right click and highlight “send to”. then send all these files to a compressed (.zip) folder.
this will reduce the functional size of your attachment, often below gmail’s attachment size limit.
You can also reduce the size of your files by lowering the quality, although this is not always in your best interest. Nobody likes blurry photos!
if you are reducing the size of a photo, you can do it in microsoft paint or a similar program, artificially reducing the dimensions. If you’re reducing the size of a video or pdf, you can lower the quality settings in your editing program of choice.
option 3: send your files to multiple emails
If you run into a size limit issue because you have multiple files to attach, there’s an obvious solution you might be forgetting: Send your files separately, in different emails.
yeah, it’s a bit painful. it takes more time to assemble and ship. it takes longer to open and is more difficult to organize. but in a pinch, it works.
I would still recommend the google drive option for 95 percent of these scenarios. it’s much simpler and you don’t need to make a lot of effort to do it as it happens automatically by default.
option 4: submit using a different platform
If none of these options appeal to you, you’ll need to send your attachments using a completely different platform.
for example, you can upload your files to a project management platform or share them via an internal company server.
or you can try wetransfer.com, a service that allows you to send large files easily and conveniently.
improving your email experience
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