How to send large files to clients without email attachments

Email is a good place to talk about files and a poor place to carry them. Most email services cap attachments at a few tens of megabytes, which a layered design file, a set of audio stems or a folder of print-ready photos will pass easily. Even when an attachment does get through, it lands in an inbox alongside every earlier version, can be forwarded anywhere, and stays there long after the project has moved on.

The usual alternative is a download link: you put the files somewhere your client can reach and send them a link to that place. Done well, a link is easier for both of you. This guide covers how to do it well, from organising the files to checking exactly what your client will see.

Why attachments break down for client work

Size is the obvious problem, but it is rarely the only one.

• Size limits are low and inconsistent. Your provider may accept a file that your client’s provider rejects, so you only learn about the problem when a message bounces or quietly never arrives.
• Splitting files creates work. Spreading a delivery across five emails, or compressing it into numbered archive parts, asks your client to reassemble something they did not build.
• Versions pile up. Every revision becomes another attachment in a long thread, and it is easy to open the wrong one.
• There is no end date. Attachments live as long as the email does. You cannot close access when a project wraps up.

Send a link instead of the files

With link-based delivery, the files stay in one place and the email carries only a short message and a URL. Your client opens the link in a browser, sees what is included, and downloads one file or everything at once. Nobody needs to install an app, and with SentIt your client does not need an account.

Treat the link itself with some care. A delivery link is unlisted rather than password protected: anyone who has the URL can open it and download the files. Share it only with the people who should have the files, and give it an expiry date so it does not stay open forever.

Organise the files before you share them

A link makes the files easier to receive, but it does not make them easier to understand. A few minutes of tidying saves your client from guessing.

• Give files names that make sense out of context, such as northline-spring-campaign-social-1080x1080.png rather than export_v7_FINAL.mp4.
• Put the files your client will reach for first at the top. In SentIt, files appear to recipients in the order you set, and you can drag them into place.
• Leave out working files, rejected options and anything you would not want forwarded.

Our client file handoff checklist goes further into naming, folders and final checks.

Bring in files from where they already live

Large projects often end up spread across your computer and a cloud drive. Downloading everything only to upload it again is slow and doubles the chance of sending an old copy.

In SentIt, one delivery can mix files you upload from your computer with files you add from Dropbox and Google Drive. Uploads can be up to 1 GB each on Free or 5 GB on Premium. Add files directly from your connected Dropbox or Google Drive account. Cloud files are delivered from your connected account, so they do not use your SentIt storage. Cloud downloads still depend on the provider and your remaining daily transfer allowance; connected storage does not mean unlimited transfer.

For example, a designer finishing an identity might attach a logo exports ZIP from Dropbox, upload source artwork and a social template from their laptop, and add a PDF of brand guidelines from Google Drive. The client receives one link with all four files in a sensible order.

Decide how long the link should stay open

An expiry date closes future access and sets a clear expectation for your client: download the files before this date. Choose a window long enough for them to get to it, but not so long that the link outlives the project.

On Free, SentIt links close within 7 days of when you first share them. Premium lets you choose a future date or no scheduled expiry while eligible. Ask clients to save their own copies, and say the expiry date in your message. If you need to close a link early, you can expire it immediately from the delivery page.

Check what your client will see

Before you send the link, open it yourself, ideally in a private browser window where you are not signed in. This is the quickest way to catch a missing file or a confusing title.

• Is the title clear about what the delivery contains?
• Are the files in a sensible order, with readable names?
• Do images and videos show previews where you expect them, so your client can recognise files before downloading?
• Does the total size look right? An unexpectedly small total often means a file is missing.

Recipients can download files one at a time or use Download all. In SentIt, Download all gathers everything into a single ZIP for deliveries up to 4 GB, with 100 ZIP requests per delivery per day. Beyond either limit, use individual downloads or the file list. Daily transfer allowances still apply.

Write a short message that sets expectations

The link needs a little context to go with it. Two or three sentences are usually enough:

• what is included, and anything deliberately left out;
• which file to open first, if it matters;
• when the link expires;
• how to reach you if something does not open.

You can put this note in the delivery itself, so it appears above the files, and keep your email short.

A quick recap

1. Name and order the files so they make sense without you.
2. Gather uploads and cloud files into one delivery.
3. Set an expiry date and mention it.
4. Open the link yourself before sending it.
5. Add a short note about what is included.

If you expect revisions, keep the same delivery and update it rather than starting over. Here is how to update shared files without sending a new link.