You try to send a set of photos, a video, or a big drawing, and the message either bounces, sits in the Outbox forever, or arrives with the attachment stripped out. Email was never built to move large files. Sending a link instead takes about the same number of clicks and works every time.
Try this first
- Save the file to OneDrive or SharePoint if it is not there already. In Word, Excel or PowerPoint, click File, then Save As, and pick OneDrive or your business's SharePoint site rather than the desktop or a folder on the computer.
- Attach it the easy way. In a new email, click Attach File on the Message tab. Files already in OneDrive or SharePoint appear at the top of the list under Recent items. Pick one and Outlook offers to send a link instead of a copy. Choose the link.
- Or create the link yourself. Open the OneDrive or SharePoint folder in a browser, right-click the file or folder, choose Share, then Copy link. Paste that into your email.
- Set who can open it before you send. On the Share window, click the settings line above the link. Choose Specific people where you can, so only the recipient can open it. Choose Anyone with the link only when they cannot sign in and the contents are not sensitive.
- Decide whether they can edit. Turn off editing unless you actually want them changing your copy. There is usually a tick box for it on the same screen.
- Send several files as one folder rather than a dozen separate links. Put them in a folder in OneDrive, right-click the folder, and share that.
Why a link beats an attachment
Attachments have size limits at both ends, and the recipient's limit is the one that catches you out. Most business mail systems refuse anything much over 20 to 25 MB, and some are set far lower. Your side may accept the message quite happily and then it bounces hours later at theirs. A link is a few hundred characters, so it always gets through.
There are other advantages. If you correct the file after sending, the person opening the link gets the corrected version rather than the old one. You can see who has opened it. And you can switch the link off later if you sent it to the wrong person, which you can never do with an attachment.
If that didn't fix it
Some things need us. Ask if you hit any of these:
- The recipient says the link will not open, or asks them to sign in and they cannot. Some businesses block sharing from outside, and there are settings on our side that control what you are allowed to share and with whom.
- You need to send something genuinely enormous, such as a full video project or a database export.
- You need the file to expire on a set date, or to be password protected.
- You cannot see OneDrive as an option when saving.
A word on file transfer websites
Free file transfer and file conversion sites are convenient and they are the wrong tool for client data. When you upload a file to one, you are handing a copy to a company you have no agreement with, often storing it overseas, sometimes keeping it indefinitely, and occasionally scanning the contents. Free PDF converters and compressors are the same story. For a holiday photo, no harm done. For a client contract, a tender document, staff records or anything with personal information in it, do not.
Your OneDrive or SharePoint is already paid for, already covered by your business's own controls, and already keeps a record of who opened what. There is no reason to use anything else.
If a customer insists on their own transfer portal, that is fine, that is their choice about their own data. It is uploading your business's or your clients' information to a random site that causes the problem.
Still stuck?
Log a ticket at portal.yougrowit.com.au or email support@yougrowit.com.au. If it is stopping you working right now, call 03 9028 4358.
Support hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm Melbourne time, excluding Victorian public holidays.
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