Everyday TipsJanuary 1, 2025• 5 min read
Sending Files on WhatsApp or Email? Read This Before You Hit Send
We've all been there. You attach a file, hit send, and... nothing. “File too large.” Or worse, it sends but arrives looking terrible. Let's fix that.
WhatsApp: The Silent Quality Killer
WhatsApp is probably where most of us send files daily. Here are the limits:
- Documents: 100MB max
- Videos: 16MB (yes, really)
- Images: No limit, but heavy compression
That “no limit” on images is misleading. WhatsApp compresses every photo. Your 12-megapixel photo gets squeezed down hard. Quality suffers.
The workaround: Send photos as documents instead. Click attachment → Document → navigate to your photo. WhatsApp won't compress it.
Email: The Old Reliable (With Annoying Limits)
- Gmail: 25MB
- Outlook: 20MB
- Yahoo: 25MB
- Corporate email: Often 10MB or lower
Those limits are for the total email. Five 4MB photos = 20MB. Add a signature and you're over Gmail's limit.
The 30-Second Pre-Send Checklist
- Check file size. Is it under the limit?
- Consider the recipient. On mobile data? Keep it small.
- Will quality matter? Compress it yourself before the platform does it worse.
- Right format? Sending Word to someone without Word? Use PDF.