Sometimes you need to send files over email that are larger than Webmail’s 20MB limit. In order to do this, we recommend three different options, each providing you with varying degrees of freedom.
USB Keys
For those with a USB key, transferring files to your professor might be a hassle, but it is functional if not time consuming. Copying your file to a USB stick and transferring it requires you to sit down with your professor, but you are always reassured that they have the file.
WeTransfer is a simple website that allows you to upload a file that is up to 2GB in size and then provide your recipients email address. WeTransfer does the rest: they send an email to your recipient with a link to the file you’ve just uploaded and they can then download it to their computer.
This is efficient for one time transfers that are under 2GB in size and can be used to send your professors larger project files such as PowerPoint Presentations, videos or music.
* Please Note: WeTransfer will only keep your file on their server for 2 weeks, so be sure to have your recipient download the necessary files as soon as they can!
Dropbox is a more integrated and permanent solution that provides online ‘Cloud’ support for all of your files within your designated ‘Dropbox’ folder. When you sign up, you’re allotted 2GB of space with the option to increase this space using various free and paid methods. An account with Dropbox provides you with an online space where your files can be stored, managed and shared with other people.
Dropbox makes sharing a file with a friend incredibly easy, simply follow these steps:
- Right click the file or folder you want to share and select ‘Share Link’ from the menu.
- The window that follows, as seen below, provides you with multiple different options for sharing the file: email, URL, Facebook, Twitter, etc. To share with a professor, it is best to type in their email and provide a little message to explain what the file is. This will give them access to download and view that specific file.
- The ‘Get Link’ option closes the current window and copies the file’s web address to your clipboard. Paste (CTRL-V) this into an email, text or IM and anyone who has this link will be able to access the file.
* Please Note: Sending a link to someone can be hazardous if the file contains private information. For more secure sharing, ask your friend to sign up to Dropbox and use its ‘Share a Folder’ (as seen to the right) button to create a private folder between you and the recipient.