Blog · 24 August 2026

Gmail attachment too large: the 25 MB limit, and how to send anyway

25 MB to send, 50 MB to receive, and a switch to Google Drive that causes three problems.

Gmail's exact limits

On a Google Workspace account, the administrator can lower these values — never raise them beyond what the recipient's server accepts.

Why a file smaller than the limit gets refused

This is the point the official help pages skip over, and it is almost always the explanation. An email can only carry text. A file — video, photo, PDF, archive — therefore has to be converted into printable characters before it leaves: that is base64 encoding, which writes three bytes as four characters. The file grows by about 33 % in transit.

In other words: to fit inside a 25 MB limit, your file must not exceed about 18 MB on disk. For a 20 MB limit, count on 15 MB. And that limit applies to the whole message — the text, your signature, the inline images and every attachment added together, not just the file you have dragged in.

One last factor, this one invisible: the lower of the two limits decides, yours when sending and the recipient's when receiving. A corporate server often caps at 10 MB. Your message leaves, appears to be sent, and then a non-delivery report comes back an hour later.

The automatic switch to Google Drive, and its three traps

Past 25 MB, Gmail does not block: it uploads the file to your Drive and inserts a link instead. It is convenient, and that is where the trouble starts.

1. The access permission. The link points to your Drive. If sharing is not open, the recipient hits an access request that has to be approved by hand. Many “sent” files have never been read for that reason alone.
2. The 15 GB quota. That storage is shared between Gmail, Drive and Google Photos. Three videos sent this way fill it — and once it is full, you stop receiving email altogether.
3. The file stays online. Indefinitely, in your Drive, until you remember to delete it. A year later the link still works and you no longer know who has it.

Freeing up space in Gmail: the search that actually helps

If your quota is full, type this into the Gmail search bar:

larger:10M

Gmail then shows every conversation over 10 MB, newest first. It is the quickest way to recover several gigabytes in a few minutes. Use larger:25M to get the biggest ones first.

Sending several gigabytes from Gmail

As soon as the file goes past a few hundred megabytes, Drive is no longer the right answer: your quota will not keep up, and the recipient risks the access request.

toobigtoshare does exactly the opposite. You drop the file, up to 2 TB. You get a link. You paste it into your Gmail message like any other link. Whoever receives it clicks and downloads: no account, no access request, no Google sign-in. Nothing comes out of your 15 GB, and the file disappears by itself after 3 days.

Send the file with toobigtoshare — up to 2 TB, no account, a link to paste into your email.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Gmail attachment limit?

25 MB when sending from a personal Gmail account, 50 MB when receiving. Above 25 MB, Gmail removes the attachment and automatically replaces it with a Google Drive link.

Why does Gmail refuse a 20 MB file?

Because the attachment is base64-encoded, which makes it about 33 % heavier: 20 MB on disk becomes nearly 27 MB inside the message, past the 25 MB allowed. The text, the signature and the inline images count towards the same limit.

How do I send a video of several GB with Gmail?

Not as an attachment. Either through a Google Drive link, within the free 15 GB shared between Gmail, Drive and Photos, or through a transfer service whose link you paste into the message — toobigtoshare accepts up to 2 TB with no account.

Is the Google Drive link sent by Gmail accessible to everyone?

No, not necessarily. If the recipient does not have permission to open the file, they have to request it and you have to approve it. Gmail offers to set the access at send time, but the step is easy to miss.