How to send large files from a Windows PC

Ways to send large files on Windows, compared

How to send large files from a PC with Transfr

1. 1

   Step 1

   Open transfr.me in your browser

   Edge, Chrome or Firefox all work. Go to transfr.me; there is nothing to download.

2. 2

   Step 2

   Drag from File Explorer

   Select files or whole folders and drop them on the page. Folders keep their structure. Up to 100 GB per transfer.

3. 3

   Step 3

   Pick Email or Link

   Email sends the download message to up to 10 people. Link gives you a URL to paste in Outlook, Teams, Slack or WhatsApp.

4. 4

   Step 4

   Set expiry and security

   Choose 1 to 7 days (up to 60 on Pro), add a password, limit downloads, or turn on end-to-end encryption.

5. 5

   Step 5

   Keep the PC awake until the upload ends

   For long uploads, plug in the laptop and set the screen and sleep timers to longer under Settings > System > Power. If the network drops, Transfr retries automatically.

How to transfer large files from PC to PC

Both PCs in the same room

• External SSD or USB drive: usually the quickest for hundreds of gigabytes. Format it as exFAT or NTFS: FAT32, still common on cheap sticks, refuses any single file over 4 GB.
• Nearby sharing: turn it on in Settings > System > Nearby sharing on both PCs, then right-click a file > Share. Handy for a few files; it relies on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and can be slow for very large ones.
• Network share: share a folder on one PC and open it from the other over your home or office network. Good for repeated copies between your own machines.

PCs in different places

Use a link. Upload on the first PC, open the link on the second and download. You only upload once, even for several recipients, and the files are deleted when the link expires, so nothing lingers in a cloud folder.

How to send large files from PC to iPhone

Windows has no AirDrop. Upload the files from the PC, then open the link in Safari on the iPhone: documents go to the Files app, and videos can be saved to Photos from there. iTunes or the Apple Devices app can also sync media over a cable. For the reverse trip, see send large files from iPhone; for Android phones, Quick Share or a link both work, see send large files on Android.

File transfer from Windows to Mac

Macs read NTFS drives but can’t write to them without extra software, so an exFAT drive is the safe choice for a physical copy. Over the internet, a link works the same on both systems. Mac users can then follow our Mac guide to send files back.

Tips that save time on Windows

• Don’t zip media to make it smaller. Windows’ “Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder” barely shrinks videos, photos or PDFs. It does help to bundle thousands of small files. Read should you zip files before sending.
• Watch long paths. Very deep folder trees can exceed the classic 260-character path limit when a recipient extracts a zip on Windows. Shorten folder names before sending big projects.
• Check your real upload speed. Many home connections upload several times slower than they download. See why is my upload so slow.
• Pause cloud sync during a huge upload. OneDrive or Dropbox syncing in the background competes for the same upload bandwidth.

What your recipient sees

The link opens a download page listing every file with its size. Images, videos in browser-friendly formats, audio, PDFs and Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) can be previewed before downloading, which saves your recipient from pulling 20 GB to check one spreadsheet. They can then download everything as one zip, folders kept, or file by file. If you turned on comments, they can pin feedback to a page, an image area or a moment in a video.

Secure file transfer on Windows

For client or HR files, enable end-to-end encryption in Transfr: the files are encrypted in your browser before they leave the PC, and the decryption key lives in the link and is never stored on our servers. Add a password shared by phone and a one-download limit. Files are stored in Western Europe by default, or in the region you pick. More in secure file transfer and password-protected transfers.

Need to email the link from Outlook? Our Outlook guide explains the 20 MB and 35 MB limits and how to paste a link instead.