Gmail Users Can Now Receive But Not Send Bigger Attachments

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One irritation with Gmail and every other email platform is limits on attachment sizes, although from a tech standpoint, these limits are necessary. Massive files clog email servers, and if everyone were able to send as much attachment data as they wanted in every email, it would get very cumbersome. Now Gmail has doubled the size of attachments that can be received by its users, although it hasn’t changed the cap on attachments that can be sent.

Gmail attachment size goes to 50MB on the receiving end

Google made the announcement about the new Gmail cap for receiving emails on its G Suite blog on Wednesday. The tech firm said all users can now receive emails that are up to 50MB in size, including attachments. In other words, that person who likes to send you large picture files will be able to do so more easily. Instead of the email getting bounced back to them or, what’s worse, you just not receiving it without them knowing, it will actually come through.

The new cap on the size of received email will go into effect for all Gmail accounts soon, as Google is pushing it out gradually. In order for the change to go into effect on mobile devices, users will have to update their Gmail app to the newest version. The company said it will take one to three days for the feature to be visible, and it’s being pushed out on both Rapid release and Scheduled release.

Cap on sending stays the same

It’s important to note that Google is leaving the cap on sent emails the same at 25MB, which means that you can’t actually attach a larger file to your email and have it go through. In other words, users of other email services that allow for bigger files to be sent will be able to send you bigger emails, but Gmail users can’t send larger files by attaching them.

Instead, you’ll have to keep using Google Drive to send those bigger files. It’s pretty easy to do though. When composing an email, just click the paperclip icon, which you would click to send a regular attachment anyway, and then choose “Insert from Drive.” This will let you choose the file you want to send. If the file is bigger than 25MB, it will ask you how you want to send it.

Another option is always to send your files in a zipped format, but the person you’re sending them to will need software to unzip the files. That said, this method isn’t that difficult either. Winzip, 7zip and other free apps available in the Windows or Mac app stores make it easy to unzip files.

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