Every app's file size limit in 2026, and the second limit each one hides
2 GB isn't really 2 GB
12 apps · real limits
Every app publishes a file size limit. Almost none of them publish the limit you actually hit first. WhatsApp says 2 GB and blurs your video at 16 MB. Slack says 1 GB per file and stops a free workspace at 5 GB total. Teams says 250 GB and stores the file somewhere else entirely. This is the table with both numbers in it, and the reason so many people end up looking for a way to share files online instead.
Every limit, published and real
| App | Published limit | The limit that actually stops you | What happens when you exceed it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gmail | 25 MB | ~18 MB after Base64 encoding | Swaps the file for a Google Drive link |
| Outlook.com / Microsoft 365 | 25 MB | ~18 MB after encoding | Offers a OneDrive link |
| Yahoo Mail | 25 MB | ~18 MB after encoding | Refuses the attachment |
| iCloud Mail | 20 MB | ~14 MB after encoding | Mail Drop: up to 5 GB, link expires in 30 days |
| 2 GB | ~16 MB via the photo/video picker | Recompresses media; Document mode sends the full 2 GB | |
| Telegram | 2 GB | 2 GB free, 4 GB on Premium | Refuses; Premium raises it |
| iMessage | ~100 MB | Varies by carrier when it falls back to MMS | Falls back to Mail Drop or fails silently |
| Discord | 20 MB | 20 MB free, measured before compression · 50 MB Nitro Basic · 1 GB Nitro | Refuses the upload |
| Slack | 1 GB per file | 5 GB TOTAL workspace storage on free | Oldest files stop being downloadable once storage is full |
| Microsoft Teams | 250 GB per file | Bounded by the SharePoint/OneDrive quota behind it | Fails against the storage quota, not the file limit |
| Google Drive | 5 TB per file | Bounded by your 15 GB (free) account storage | Upload stops; sharing needs permissions set correctly |
| Dropbox | 50 GB | 2 GB via the website; 50 GB needs the desktop app | Web upload refuses above 2 GB |
| WeTransfer (free) | 3 GB | 3 GB total per rolling 30 days, max 10 transfers | Blocked until old transfers age out of the window |
| Link in Seconds (free) | 250 MB per file | 500 MB total storage, 20 links | Upgrade; no monthly send count and no expiry at any tier |
The four ways a limit hides behind another limit
1. Encoding overhead (every email provider)
Email never sends raw bytes. Attachments are Base64-encoded, which adds roughly a third, so the published ceiling applies to something larger than your file. A 25 MB account is really an ~18 MB file account. We went through the arithmetic in email attachment size limits.
2. The mode you attach in (WhatsApp, iMessage)
This one costs people the most quality. WhatsApp's 2 GB is real, but only through Document. The same file through the photo/video picker gets recompressed to roughly a sixteenth of that, which is why holiday videos arrive looking like they were filmed through a window. Sending the clip as a video link skips the picker entirely and keeps the original quality. The full explanation is here.
3. Total storage, not per-file (Slack, Drive, Teams)
Slack's 1 GB per file is generous and almost irrelevant: a free workspace shares 5 GB across everyone in it, forever. Drive's 5 TB per file sits behind a 15 GB free account. Teams' 250 GB is bounded by the SharePoint quota underneath. In all three the advertised number describes a ceiling almost nobody reaches, while the storage quota is what actually bites.
4. The client you use (Dropbox)
Dropbox's 50 GB applies through the desktop app. Upload the same file through the website and you stop at 2 GB. Same account, same plan, different ceiling depending on which door you walked through.
What to actually do, by size
Under ~18 MB
Email it
Clears every mainstream provider even after encoding overhead.
18 MB, 2 GB
Messaging app, as a Document
WhatsApp and Telegram both carry 2 GB, but only outside the media picker.
Any size, any recipient
Send a link
No limit applies to a URL, and nothing recompresses what's behind it.
One tip before you reach for anything else: if the file that won't fit is a scanned or image-heavy PDF, try shrinking it first. Our free Compress PDF tool downsamples the images in your browser, without uploading the file anywhere, and often takes a bloated scan under an email or chat limit. A PDF that is mostly text is already small, so this won't help much there.
Why a link sidesteps the whole table
Every row above is a constraint on moving bytes through a pipe. A link isn't bytes. It's a few dozen characters. No email limit applies to it, no messaging app recompresses it, no workspace quota counts it, and the recipient's mail server has no opinion about it. A full-resolution photo turned into an image link reaches everyone untouched. The file stays where you put it, and everyone opens the same address.
That also removes three problems the table can't solve:
- Quality. Nothing between you and the reader gets to recompress the file.
- Repeat sends. Sending to ten more people is the same URL, not ten more uploads.
- Updates. Swap the file behind the link and everyone already holding it sees the new version.
That's what Link in Seconds does. You drop the file in and get a link that opens in any browser, with no account for the person receiving it. The honest trade is in the last row of the table: we cap the size of any single file rather than metering how much you send, so for a genuinely enormous one-off, a cloud drive or a direct transfer still wins.
Quick answers
What is the largest file I can send on WhatsApp?
2 GB, but only when you attach it as a Document. Sending the same file through the photo and video picker recompresses it and effectively caps it near 16 MB, which is why videos sent that way arrive blurry. The Document route leaves the file untouched.
Why does Slack say 1 GB per file but block my upload?
Because the per-file limit is not the limit you hit first. A free Slack workspace has 5 GB of total storage across the whole workspace, shared by everyone in it. Once that fills, older files stop being downloadable even though each one was under 1 GB when posted.
Does Microsoft Teams really allow 250 GB files?
The per-file ceiling is that high, but Teams does not store files itself, they live in SharePoint or OneDrive depending on where you uploaded them. The practical limit is whatever storage quota that site or account has left, which is usually far below 250 GB.
What is the biggest file I can email?
About 18 MB in practice, on a 25 MB account. Email encodes attachments as Base64, which inflates them by roughly a third in transit, so the published limit applies to a message noticeably larger than your file. The recipient's mail server also has its own limit, often 10 MB, and you do not control that one.
Go deeper on one app
- Email attachment limits, and the 33% nobody warns you about
- How to send a file that's too big for WhatsApp
- “WeTransfer limit reached”, which limit you actually hit
- Max file size for Discord: free, Nitro Basic, Nitro and server boosts
- Max file size for Slack: the 1 GB limit and the 90-day catch
- How to send a video that's too big for email
Turn any file into a link in seconds
Upload a PDF, image, video, or ZIP and get a clean, trackable link with a QR code, free.
Try Link in Seconds →