Sending large files, written down

A download link is not working: five reasons, in order

You clicked and got an error instead of a file. It is almost always one of five things, and four of them you can resolve yourself in under a minute — including the one where the link was broken in transit.

Aug 20, 2026

How to send large files for free, and where the free tiers stop

Every service has a free tier and they are not the same shape. What free actually buys you, the things worth checking besides the size limit, and how to get a big file across today without paying.

Aug 18, 2026

Security5 min read

What end-to-end encryption actually means for the files you send

Nearly every file service says it encrypts your files, and almost none of them mean the same thing. Here is the difference that decides whether the company holding your file can open it, and how to tell from the outside.

Aug 14, 2026

The file downloaded but will not open

Four quite different problems look identical from the desktop, and none of the fixes overlap. One size check rules out the most common cause in about ten seconds.

Aug 13, 2026

How to send a whole folder, with the structure intact

Email cannot attach a folder and most upload widgets flatten one into a pile. Structure is information, so here are the two honest ways to keep it, and the details that trip people up.

Aug 11, 2026

How long should a download link last?

Expiry is the most under-used control in file sharing and the one that does the most work: it is the only protection that keeps going after you have lost track of where a link ended up.

Aug 7, 2026

It says delivered, but they never got the link

Delivered means their mail server accepted it, not that a human saw it. What each receipt actually proves, why file-sharing emails attract filters, and the fix that always works.

Aug 6, 2026

Guides3 min read

Sending large files from a phone, without losing quality

Most large files start on a phone, and the convenient way to send them quietly shrinks everything. What to use on iPhone and Android, and the three settings that keep a long upload alive.

Aug 4, 2026

Email attachment size limits, and why your file is bigger than you think

The limits are lower than the numbers suggest, because attachments are encoded as text and grow by a third on the way out. What each provider allows, and why the same file reaches one person and bounces off another.

Jul 31, 2026

Comparisons4 min read

Cloud storage or a transfer link? They are built for different verbs

Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive all produce a share link, so why use anything else? Because storage is for files you keep and transfer is for files you hand over — and one question tells you which you have.

Jul 30, 2026

How long will this upload take?

It is arithmetic, and the mistake almost everyone makes is mixing up megabits and megabytes. The formula, a table to skip it, and why the bar looks frozen when nothing is wrong.

Jul 28, 2026

How to send large video files to clients without wrecking them

A minute of 4K can run to several gigabytes, and the fix is usually not compression. How to decide between a review copy and the untouched original, and how to move the original when that is what is needed.

Jul 24, 2026

Comparisons3 min read

Attachments or links? What the paperclip actually costs

An attachment is not sent to a recipient, it is copied to every one of them and stored forever in mailboxes you do not control. When that is still the right call, and when it plainly is not.

Jul 23, 2026

Password-protecting a file is not the same as encrypting it

Three different things go by the same name, and one of them is a door with a lock painted on it. How to tell which you have, why legacy zip encryption is worthless, and the mistake that undoes all of it.

Jul 21, 2026

Why large uploads fail, and what actually fixes them

Stalls at 94%, files that arrive corrupted, transfers that work at home and never at the office. There is a short list of causes, and most of them are not your file.

Jul 17, 2026

Comparisons3 min read

SFTP or a transfer link? They are not competing

One is for systems exchanging files on a schedule, the other for a person handing something to a person. The friction starts when either is used for the other's job — and dormant SFTP accounts are the risk nobody owns.

Jul 14, 2026

How to send files securely, without turning it into a project

Most people worry about interception and are actually exposed by a link that outlived its purpose. Name the threat first, then pick the method — and a short routine that covers nearly every real case.

Jul 10, 2026

Sharing files with clients: the delivery is part of the work

A client's last impression of a project is often the moment they try to open what you sent. What they should never have to do, how to structure a delivery, and the three-line message that prevents most follow-ups.

Jul 7, 2026

Sending sensitive documents: a twelve-point checklist

Passports, payslips, contracts and medical letters get sent with about as much thought as a holiday photo. Run this before you attach anything, and know what to do in the first ten minutes if it goes wrong.

Jul 3, 2026

Guides3 min read

Moving files between your own devices

Emailing yourself has become a genuine workflow for millions of people. What to use instead, ordered by the situation you are actually in — same room, different places, or a machine you do not control.

Jun 30, 2026

How to share photos without losing quality

Photos arrive softer and greyer than they left because almost every convenient channel re-encodes them on the way through. Where the quality goes, and how to hand over the file you actually started with.

Jun 26, 2026

Guides3 min read

When zipping actually helps, and when it does nothing

Compressing is the reflex when a file is too big, and about half the time it saves nothing at all. One property of the file decides it, and you can predict the answer before you try.

Jun 23, 2026

Comparisons5 min read

Choosing a file transfer service: eight questions worth asking

Every service takes a file and gives you a link, so the category looks interchangeable. The differences that matter are mostly not on the pricing page — here is what to compare, in the order the questions actually bite.

Jun 19, 2026

File sharing and GDPR: the parts that actually apply

Sending a spreadsheet of customer records to an agency is a transfer of personal data whether or not anyone thought about it. A practical read of the parts that touch file sharing, and what to do in the first hour if it goes wrong.

Jun 16, 2026