How to send large files in Gmail, beyond 25 MB

What is Gmail’s attachment size limit?

As of October 2026, Google’s help center states that personal Gmail accounts can send 25 MB of attachments per email. For Google Workspace accounts (work or school), the administrator sets the sending and receiving limits. When you go over the limit, Gmail removes the attachment and inserts a Google Drive link in its place. Gmail also refuses executable files such as .exe, to block viruses.

The 25 MB counts everything in the message, and attachments grow by about a third when they are encoded for email. So the largest single file you can attach in practice is closer to 18 MB than 25. A two-minute phone video or a long PDF of scans is usually over.

Gmail attachment, Drive link or transfer link?

Drive is a good fit for documents you keep working on together. For a one-off delivery, a video for a client or a batch of photos, a transfer link is lighter: nothing piles up in your storage, and the files clean themselves up when the link expires. We compare the two in depth in Google Drive vs a file transfer service.

How to send large files via Gmail without Google Drive

1. 1

   Step 1

   Upload your files to Transfr

   Open transfr.me in a new tab and drop your files or folder. No account needed, up to 100 GB per transfer.

2. 2

   Step 2

   Choose Link

   Select Link so Transfr gives you a URL instead of sending its own email. Set the expiry, and a password if needed.

3. 3

   Step 3

   Copy the link

   When the upload finishes, click Copy link.

4. 4

   Step 4

   Compose your email in Gmail

   Write your message as usual and paste the link in the body. Gmail shows it as a normal link, with no attachment to scan or block.

5. 5

   Step 5

   Send

   Your recipient clicks the link, previews the files in the browser and downloads them. If you added a password, send it in a separate message or text.

How to send a large video in Gmail from your phone

The Gmail app has the same 25 MB limit, and phone videos pass it within a minute or two of 4K footage. The link method works on mobile too:

1. Open Safari or Chrome and go to transfr.me. Tap to add the video from your gallery.
2. Choose Link, wait for the upload (stay on Wi-Fi for big files), then tap Copy link.
3. Switch to the Gmail app, write your email and paste the link.

The video is sent as the original file, not a compressed copy. More phone tips in send large files from iPhone and send large files from Android.

Why does Gmail ask me to change sharing settings?

When you insert a Drive file, Gmail checks whether every recipient can open it. If not, it asks you to change the file’s sharing before sending. Choosing “anyone with the link” makes the file public to whoever gets the email forwarded; restricting it to the recipients means they may need to sign in with a Google account. A Transfr link avoids this choice: it works for anyone who has it, and you control access with a password, an expiry date and a download limit.

Sending zip files and folders through Gmail

Zipping rarely gets a big folder under 25 MB, because photos and videos are already compressed. If the folder contains an executable, Gmail will refuse it as an attachment anyway. With Transfr you can send the folder as it is, without zipping it first; your recipient can download everything as one zip, folders kept, or file by file. See send a large zip file and send a folder without zipping.

Is it secure to send files from Gmail with a link?

• Gmail encrypts messages in transit when the other server supports it, but anyone who receives or is forwarded the email can open a plain link.
• Add a password to the transfer and share it by phone or text.
• For confidential files, turn on end-to-end encryption: files are encrypted in your browser and the key is part of the link; it is never stored on Transfr’s servers. See end-to-end encryption.
• Set a short expiry and, if one person should get it, a download limit of 1.

Using Outlook as well? The rules differ slightly: see send large files with Outlook, or the general guide to sending large files by email.