Quick answer: Email tops out at 20 to 36 MB per message: Gmail, Yahoo and Proton Mail allow 25 MB, iCloud Mail 20 MB and Microsoft 365 35 MB by default. Chat apps range from 20 MB (Discord free) to 2 GB (WhatsApp documents, Telegram) and 4 GB (Telegram Premium). For anything bigger, send a download link: Share Large Video Files takes up to 20 GB per transfer, free and without an account.
| Service | Limit | Notes | Source | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gmail | 25 MB per email | Total of all attachments on personal accounts. Larger files are added as a Google Drive link. Receiving allows up to 50 MB. Google Workspace admins can set other limits. | support.google.com (Gmail help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Outlook.com | 20 to 25 MB per email | Microsoft's help pages give 20 MB per message and a 25 MB attachment limit for Outlook.com. Larger files can be shared as a OneDrive link. | support.microsoft.com (Outlook.com help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Outlook / Exchange Online (work accounts) | 35 MB to send, 36 MB to receive (default) | Default for Microsoft 365 mailboxes; admins can set anything from 1 MB to 150 MB. Encoding adds about a third to attachments. | learn.microsoft.com (Outlook / Exchange Online (work accounts) help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Yahoo Mail | 25 MB per email | Total of all attachments, for sent and received messages. | help.yahoo.com (Yahoo Mail help, opens in a new tab) | |
| iCloud Mail | 20 MB per email (5 GB with Mail Drop) | With Mail Drop on, large attachments are uploaded to iCloud and the recipient gets a link that works for 30 days. | support.apple.com (iCloud Mail help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Proton Mail | 25 MB per email | Outgoing attachments in total; incoming messages can carry up to 50 MB, and up to 100 files. | proton.me (Proton Mail help, opens in a new tab) |
Messaging and chat apps
| Service | Limit | Notes | Source | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp (photo and video) | Varies; compressed | Photos and videos sent from the gallery are compressed, and WhatsApp's help pages give different caps depending on app version and connection. Send as a document to keep the original. | faq.whatsapp.com (WhatsApp (photo and video) help, opens in a new tab) | |
| WhatsApp (document) | 2 GB per file | Any file type, sent without compression. | blog.whatsapp.com (WhatsApp (document) help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Telegram | 2 GB per file | Free accounts. Anyone can download larger files sent by Premium users. | telegram.org (Telegram help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Telegram Premium | 4 GB per file | Paid subscription. | telegram.org (Telegram Premium help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Signal | Not published | Signal does not state a maximum attachment size. Large videos may be compressed, and attachments are removed from Signal's servers after 45 days. | support.signal.org (Signal help, opens in a new tab) | |
| iMessage | Not published | Apple does not publish a limit for iMessage attachments; large videos are often compressed. Check on your own devices before relying on it. | No official figure | |
| Facebook Messenger | 100 MB per file | Raised from 25 MB, according to Messenger's own announcement. Photos and videos may be compressed. | facebook.com (Facebook Messenger help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Discord (free) | 20 MB per file | Raised from 10 MB in 2026 and checked before compression; the limit has changed several times, so check the FAQ if a file is close to it. | support.discord.com (Discord (free) help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Discord Nitro | 500 MB per file | Nitro Basic: 50 MB per file. | support.discord.com (Discord Nitro help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Slack | 1 GB per file | Up to 10 files per message. Free workspaces only show the last 90 days of messages and files. | slack.com (Slack help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Google Chat | 200 MB per file | Files attached from a computer, phone or Google Drive. Up to 20 photos or videos at a time, or one file of another type. Executable files are blocked. | support.google.com (Google Chat help, opens in a new tab) | |
| LinkedIn messages | 20 MB per message | Combined size of all attachments in one message. Documents (PDF, Office, TXT) and images only. Sales Navigator InMail allows 50 MB per attachment. | linkedin.com (LinkedIn messages help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Microsoft Teams (chat) | 250 GB per file | Files shared in chats and channels are stored in OneDrive or SharePoint, so their limit applies. Teams Free includes 5 GB of cloud storage. | learn.microsoft.com (Microsoft Teams (chat) help, opens in a new tab) |
Cloud storage and file transfer
| Service | Limit | Notes | Source | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive | 5 TB per file; 750 GB uploaded per day | The file must also fit into your free or paid Google storage (15 GB free, shared with Gmail and Photos). | support.google.com (Google Drive help, opens in a new tab) | |
| OneDrive | 250 GB per file | In a modern browser or the sync app. The file must fit into your OneDrive storage. | support.microsoft.com (OneDrive help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Dropbox | 2 TB per file (375 GB on the website) | Browser uploads above 375 GB may time out; use the desktop app. Files must fit into your Dropbox storage (2 GB on Dropbox Basic). | help.dropbox.com (Dropbox help, opens in a new tab) | |
| WeTransfer (free) | 3 GB per transfer | Free plan: 10 transfers or 3 GB in total per 30 days, and links last 3 days. | wetransfer.com (WeTransfer (free) help, opens in a new tab) | |
| Share Large Video Files | 20 GB per transfer | Up to 1000 files, no account, no compression. Links last 1 day. | Live setting |
How this table is maintained
Every figure comes from the service's own help page, linked in the Source column, and each row shows the date it was last checked. Where a service does not publish a limit, the table says so instead of guessing. Limits change, and work or school accounts often have their own rules set by an administrator, so follow the source link if your file is close to a limit.
Email limits apply to the whole message, and attachments grow by about a third when they are encoded for sending. In practice a 25 MB limit fits files of roughly 18 to 19 MB.
The data is available as a CSV file (category, service, limit, notes, source, last checked). You are welcome to reuse it; please cite this page. For a shorter overview with tips per app, read the file size limits guide.
Frequently asked questions
Which app lets me send the largest file?
Of the chat apps listed, Microsoft Teams (250 GB, stored in OneDrive or SharePoint) and Telegram Premium (4 GB) allow the largest single files. For email, every major provider stops at 20 to 36 MB by default, so large files are sent as a link instead.
Why is an attachment rejected even though it is under the limit?
Email encodes attachments before sending, which makes them about a third larger. A 20 MB file can therefore exceed a 25 MB limit. The recipient's provider may also accept less than yours.
Do chat apps reduce the quality of videos?
Usually, yes. WhatsApp, Messenger, iMessage and Signal compress photos and videos sent from the gallery. Sending the video as a document (WhatsApp) or as a download link keeps the original file.
How can I send a file that is over every limit?
Upload it to Share Large Video Files (up to 20 GB, no account) and paste the download link into the chat or email. The recipient downloads the original file.
How often is this table checked?
Each row shows the date it was last checked against the service's own help page. Services change their limits, so follow the source link if a file is close to a limit.
Can I reuse this data?
Yes. Download the CSV and cite this page as the source, with the date you accessed it.
Over the limit?
Send files up to 20 GB with a link that works in every app. Free, no account, original quality.
Send large files free