File Too Large To Send via Mail, How-To Fix

Many Users have issues while trying to send a large video ( 30 sec – 1 min+) or a large photo via their iPhone Mail app. Errors such as file too large to send via mail keep popping up and recommend you to use the Airdrop feature instead of Mail.

RELATED: How To Send Attachments via iPhone Mail App

Here is how you can fix the error and send large compressed files via your iPhone Mail app without any issues.

Compression of the media files happen when you attach them correctly via the Mail app. The issue usually shows up when you are in a different app such as Photos and try to send directly from there.

You are better off opening your Mail app and try sending the large media file from there. Once you have opened up a new draft email on your iPhone, fill in the email address and the subject line.

Next, on any empty spot on the body of the email, either quickly double tap or press for a few seconds, a menu will open up showing different items for you to choose. Select Insert Photo or Video from this menu.

This will open up the Photos App where you can browse and then tap on the media that needs to be attached to the email. If you are on an older iOS, you will see the progress bar in the video thumbnail for processing.

Once the processing completes, it will open the next screen with your video. On this screen, tap on bottom right hand corner and select ‘Choose’.

This will begin the process of compressing the video. Once the compression is complete, it will take you back to your email with the video attached as a .MOV file.

When you are working with large document attachments with your e-mail via the Mail app, you can use the same process. Double tap or press and hold on an empty area on the body of the email and then choose “Insert Attachment”. This will do the necessary compression in the background after your selection and attach it to your email.

Using iCloud Options to Send Large Mail Attachment

With iOS 11, Apple has added new features that take advantage of your iCloud Storage. Essentially, this feature lets you attach a link to the file in your iCloud storage. You can also invite others to edit or review any large documents that you may have in your iCloud Drive storage. In order to do this, In the Files app, tap Browse, then tap iCloud Drive. Touch and hold the document you want to share, tap Share, then tap Add People. Tap Share Options, then select the permission settings you want. This will make the documents available to other users.

There is also the Mail Drop feature that has been available prior to iOS 11. This feature allows you to send files upto 5GB in size. You can send these attachments from iCloud.com or from the Mail app on your iOS device (iOS 9.2 or later) or Mac (OS X 10.11 or later). Recipients can download Mail Drop attachments for 30 days after they’re sent. Please refer to this Apple’s white paper that shows you how to setup and use Mail Drop feature on your Apple devices.

We hope that you found this quick tip helpful! Please feel free to share your favorite Mail tips in the comments below.

SK( Managing Editor )

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.