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Eva Simpson
Jul 26, 2022
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You may have been looking for ways how to send a large video fiIe and not found one that’s quick, free, and secure. Surprisingly, sending large files over the internet is not as easy as many people imagine. Today, we’re looking at several ways how you can make sending large files securely effortless.
Some of the confusion about sharing large files comes from the fact that there’s no telling what is a large file. A 2 MB document is large but a 200 MB video is not. It doesn’t help that the mainstream cloud providers and online services also use the term in their marketing loosely.
For the purposes of this blog post, we’ll say that regardless of the file type, any file over 100 MB is large. It is larger than most files people encounter but not to the extent as when files go over 2 GB in size.
But whether you’re sending documents or large video files, you should never forget about privacy. If you share a pen, you can get it back. But when you share files, there’s almost no way of knowing how the person will use them.
NordLocker helps you send large video files privately because you don’t share files, you share lockers. And what the recipients can do in the locker is always up to the owner of the files. At the moment, you can only send files with NordLocker if you’re one of our business users. But we will soon release share functionality for all users. This means that even with a free account that comes with 3 GB of free cloud storage, you will be able to send files up to 3 GB completely free.
Many online services invite you to get your free gigabytes and host their files with them. They hope that you’ll enjoy their services and become a Premium member. We’re not an exception.But unlike NordLocker, most online services don’t have end-to-end encryption and can use your data for profit or even accidentally expose it. If you can, always choose providers with end-to-end encryption (we’ll cover this type of services more broadly later).
Here’s a list of private (and not so much) hosts for your files:
YouTube
Do you want to send a video file to a lot of people? YouTube allows you to upload and store up to 128GB videos that can be public, accessible via a link, or private. Copy the video’s YouTube link and send it to the person you want to share it with.
Mainstream cloud services
They may not be private, but most cloud providers are simple to use. Register an account, drop your files in, and send the link via your messaging app, Slack, Discord, or even via email.
Dedicated file sharing platforms
Jumpshare and its alternatives are similar to mainstream cloud providers, but they focus their product design on sharing specifically. These services can also offer better privacy and password-protected sharing. But there are limitations. With a free account, Jumpshare only allows sending files up to 250 MB.
Email is still one of the most common communication methods people use. It makes sense to use your email provider for this task. But did you know that many email services, including Gmail, limit the attachment size to 50 MB?
To send a large video file via Gmail, you’ll need to host it with an online cloud provider first – Google Drive, for example. But be aware of the cloud’s upload limitations. In Google Drive, documents are capped at 50 MB. Presentations can be double that, while other files can be as large as your storage plan allows.
To send a file through Gmail, upload it to your Google Drive account:
FileZilla is a popular file manager you can host or connect to a server via FTP (file transfer protocol) or its more secure version SFTP (secure file transfer protocol). Even though the app may look intimidating at first, using FileZilla is relatively simple.
You have the files from your computer on the left and the server on the right. You can double-click or drag and drop files from your computer and they will be uploaded to the FTP/SFTP server. Then, instead of sending a large file, simply share the IP address of the server and the receiver will be able to download it themselves. Don’t forget to password protect your server. Otherwise, anyone in the world would be able to connect to it.
To send files and folders securely, use Wormhole. It’s easy and free, and everything you send is end-to-end encrypted. You can send video files up to 10 GB and set expiration conditions for every file. They can be deleted after a period of time or a number of downloads. Once you’re ready, send the link to your file via any messaging app or email.
The best way to send large video files from your iPhone depends on several factors. If the person is close to you, you can just Airdrop them your file. Your files can be as large as you want. But if Airdrop is not an option, you can also use iCloud which comes with 5GB of free storage.
Most of the methods we described can be used on desktop or mobile. For example, Wormhole even has an Android app you can use to send files privately.
If you own a Samsung smartphone, another option would be to use Samsung link. It allows you to quickly send files up to 5 GB from your Samsung Galaxy smartphone or Samsung Cloud. To send your file, click on it and hold. Then, click on the share icon and wait for the app to generate a sharing link.
John Sears
Verified author
John believes that the best things in life are simple. He uses the same approach when he’s writing about online security. John says that his #1 pet peeve is phishing scams. Ironically, his favorite non-work related activity is fishing.
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