Blog
What you learn from moving very large files around: formats, throughput, service limits, real costs. Articles written to be useful to someone who has a file to deliver today.
- WeTransfer vs SwissTransfer vs Smash: which one for which file size3 GB, 50 GB, 2 GB without queuing: the limits checked on 15 September 2026, the quotas you only discover too late, and what is left when a file outgrows all three.
- Video footage storage per hour: what a shoot day weighs, codec by codecFrom 16 GB to nearly 1.2 TB per hour depending on the codec. The manufacturers’ own tables, the maths for a full shoot day, and how to hand over footage without shipping a drive.
- Send a large video on WhatsApp: the 2 GB limit, and beyondWhatsApp squeezes videos to 100 MB and 720p, and caps documents at 2 GB. Checked on 15 September 2026: the method that keeps full quality, and what works past the limit.
- Send large files without an account: the services that ask for nothingWeTransfer now needs a free account to send. Checked on 31 August 2026: who asks you to sign up, who does not, and up to what size.
- 4K video file size: what one minute really weighsFrom 260 MB to over 13 GB per minute, depending on the codec. The bitrates manufacturers publish, the formula for sizing your own file, and how to send it.
- Send a video by email: why it fails, and what works insteadGmail and Outlook cap at 25 MB, and encoding adds a third. The real limits, the bounce message, and the method that works at any size.
- Attachment too large: why your email bounces, and how to send the file anywayGmail, Outlook, iCloud, Orange: the real limits, the error messages, and the method that works every time.
- Gmail attachment too large: the 25 MB limit, and how to send anyway25 MB to send, 50 MB to receive, and a switch to Google Drive that causes three problems.
- “The attachment size exceeds the allowable limit”: fixing the Outlook error20 MB on a POP/IMAP account, 10 MB on Exchange: three limits stacked on top of each other, and a registry key that is not enough.
- Mail Drop and iCloud attachments: 20 MB, 5 GB, and where it breaksThe exact figures, the four reasons Mail Drop fails, and what to do beyond 5 GB.
- Orange Mail: attachment too large, the 25 MB limit and the ways round it25 MB for the whole message, 30 MB with Gigamail — and a non-delivery report that turns up after the fact.
- Send a download link instead of a fileThe only method that gets through whatever the file size. How to get the link, and how to send it without breaking it.
- WeTransfer alternative: no sign-up and no subscriptionWhat the free tier actually covers, what the others cost, and what changes when you pay per send.
- Google Drive alternative for sending a big file15 GB shared with Gmail, access requests to approve, and a download quota that locks the file.
- OneDrive alternative for sending a large file5 GB free, external sharing often locked down by the company, and a link that asks for a Microsoft account.