How to send large files without having to attach them to your email

By David Strom

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Have you ever tried to send a large file as an e-mail attachment? It isn't an easy thing. Even sending smaller files is an issue these days. There is the whole virus thing -- because many viruses are transmitted as e-mail attachments, and most people delete attachments from unknown senders -- or they should. Also, many people use e-mail services that limit the size of their inbox, or the size of the attached file. And sometimes that huge file can take forever to download, particularly if your Internet connection is congested. Yet another reason to use high-speed Internet here – you can send more stuff, more quickly.

So what to do? There are two basic choices that you have. If you want to see them in action, check out our video tutorial here where we demonstrate both methods.

If you are working on a Word or Excel spreadsheet, you can use a relatively new service that is free from Google called Google Docs. This is also useful if you and your correspondents are collaborating on these documents, such as the two of you are contributing to the same proposal and you want to see each other's changes as the document progresses. This service is completely free, and there is no limit on how many files. But the files can't be bigger than 500 KB, which isn't very big.

To get started, all parties must have an account with Google, which doesn't cost anything outside of the few seconds it takes to sign up. Go to docs.google.com and enter this information. Once you sign in, you are presented with a blank screen. Click on "Upload" to upload a file from your computer, and you will be asked to browse your files to pick the document, and give it a new name if you wish. Once you upload it, you will see the contents of your file in your Web browser. Click "Collaborate" at the top right-hand corner and now your screen should look like this:

You'll see boxes to invite collaborators, or people that can make changes to the document, or viewers, people that can just see the document but not make changes. Enter the appropriate e-mail address and those people will be notified with a short e-mail message, and get a link to get to the document that you have stored on the service. If they don't have Google accounts, they will be asked to set them up.

Click "Save and Close" at the top right corner and now your screen should look like this:

You'll notice that you have a column called "Owner/Collaborators/Viewers" that shows you who created the document and who has access to see or change it. If you want to invite others to view or change your documents, you can do it from this screen by clicking on the appropriate links to the right of the people listed for each document.

Google Docs is a great way to work together on a document or spreadsheet, and supports some pretty complex formats and features. It does not currently work with Mac's Safari browser, but does work with Internet Explorer on Windows and Firefox on both Windows and Mac OS.

The second options works if you aren't using Word or Excel, or if you don't need to collaborate on the documents and just want to send something to someone that is a big file. There are several Internet services available, some of whom don't charge anything for their basic services. They don't use e-mail, other than to notify your correspondents that the file is available, and they are mostly free of charge. These services have names like DropLoad, DropSend, YouSendIt, SendThisFile, Leapfile and Streamload. They are all similar in terms of how they operate.

First, like Google, you have to register with the service and at least give them your e-mail address, so they can set up an account. Next, you choose a password, something that you should remember or write down someplace where you keep track of such details. Finally, you can begin the service and start sending files to your correspondents. You choose the file that you want to send from your hard disk, upload it to the service, and then type in the recipient's e-mail address. The screen shot below compares two of the services just to show you how it is done:

The way all of these services – including Google Docs -- work is that they don't actually send the file itself. Instead, they send a simple e-mail message with a Web address that links you to the file, which remains on their servers. Your recipients click on this address, and the file is downloaded to their computers. Some of the services will store the files for a limited time, such as a few days, so keep that in mind when you set these things up.

Before you sign up, you should check the maximum file size limit (some charge more for sending the really big files), and also determine if you are going to use them frequently, because some charge you based on the total monthly file transfer, similar to some Web hosting plans. And some offer more features if you sign up for a paid account – for example, SendThisFile.com offers password protection and the ability to send multiple files in a single message for its paid subscribers.

Also, think about whether you need encryption or not. Some of these services just send your files without it, and if you have confidential information, you might want to look into one of the for-pay services such as Leapfile. If you are really paranoid, another choice is to use the encrypted file transfer feature on Skype's Instant Messaging software. Skype offers encryption unlike other IM services such as AOL, and this will protect your transmissions of the most confidential information between you and your recipients. 

File transfer services comparison table