Gmail, Google’s email service, makes it easier to do many things with email, like sending attachments. Like most email services, Gmail has a hard limit on how big a file you can send through email. The size of all the files you send can’t be more significant than 25 MB. Most email services won’t let you send anything more significant than their maximum size, even if you try.
With Gmail, however, Google uploads them to Google Drive and sends them as links to shared Drive files. Even though this is useful, it can cause problems. Sometimes, your Drive’s sharing settings aren’t set up in a way that lets people see them. Some people don’t know how to use Google Drive, so you can’t always send them the files.
If you don’t want to share your bigger files through Google Drive, you can always send them as a zip file, which is the old-fashioned way.
Here’s how to make a zip file in Gmail and send it.
Step 1
Use a program like WinRAR Archiver or Nero to compress the text or music files you want. You can choose your files in these programs and put them all in the same folder. “Convert to ZIP format” can be done with the compressor. Click “OK” after saving the file from the archiver to a folder in your computer’s library.
Step 2
Go to Gmail.com and enter the email address and password to get into your account.
Step 3
Write your email with a subject, a message, and your outgoing email address.
Step 4
Click “Attach a File” above the part of your email where you write your message. This will open up a browser on your computer so you can search it.
Step 5
Find the ZIP file you want to open in your library, then click “Open.” Your file will now appear at the bottom of your email message as an attached document with a paper clip.
Step 6
Click “Send” to send your message. The person who gets your email can easily open your ZIP file by clicking on the file in the email.
