If you are in the habit of sending large files, like presentations, videos and images, via email then you are likely to often see the alert that your attachment has exceeded the file size.

For iOS 9.2 users who use Apple Mail, you get to enjoy the benefit of Mail Drop that will allow you to send attachments up to 5GB in size. Mail Drop supports all file types.

The recipients of your mail will then have 30 days to download the attachment themselves. The attachments are stored on iCloud, but they will not eat into your iCloud storage limit.

To send large attachments, you can use the Mail app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. You can also use Mail on your Mac or from iCloud on your Mac or PC. To make use of Mail Drop, you will have to have iOS 9.2 or later installed on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. While your Mac will need to be running OS X Yosemite or later.

While only Apple users get to enjoy the benefit of sending large attachments with Mail Drop, the recipient of the email does not need to be an iPhone or Mac owner; they will not even need an iCloud account to download the attachment.

How to send large Mail attachments

Sending large Mail attachments with Mail Drop does not require much effort from your side and there is no need to enable or disable any settings. Rather Mail Drop will automatically alert you if the attachment is over the size limit.

1. Write your message, add your recipients, attach your file, and press Send.
2. If the attachment is over the normal 20MB limit, a message will pop up alerting you that the attachment is too big and suggest you use Mail Drop.
3. Select the Use Mail Drop
4. The file will upload to iCloud and once the attachment has downloaded you can send your email. The upload time will depend on the speed of the internet connection and the file size.
5. The recipient of the email will receive the email together with a link to the download the file from iCloud. The download time will once again depend on the speed of the internet connection and the file size. Recipients will only have access to the file for 30 days, after which you will need to send a new attachment.

Image credit: LoggaWiggler via Pixabay