Best / Better methods to privately share large files?

[Brian Tymchak]

Afternoon all,

I need to share with a support team a video documenting a problem I'm having, but the video is too large (~400 mb) to attach to an email. I could post on an open forum (not SMC) but I want to keep the conversation private to eliminate the overhead of responding to guesses by those less than expert. The video is about 5 minutes. Gmail rejects even a 1 minute video as too large. Looked at the video options on my IPhone to reduce file size. Seems like there is only one. Lowest resolution is 1080p and I'm set on that.

The first few compression tools I googled up seem to get less than 50% compression, so I didn't explore that path any more deeply.

I got to thinking about setting up a private YouTube channel, posting the video there, and sending a link instead of an attachment. Haven't looked any deeper into that option yet since confirming I can set a private channel.

So, is the private YT channel a good solution or are there better choices?

Thanks for your help.

[Alan Rutherford]

https://www.dropbox.com/

Free up to 2 gb. Shouldn't have any trouble with that file but for $11.99 you can get 2 tb of storage including large files up to 100 gb, and delete the account after a month. Or $9.99/month for a year.

[mike stenson]

private video on YouTube is a fine option if you already have a YouTube account and don't already have cloud storage.

[Brian Tymchak]

https://www.dropbox.com/

Free up to 2 gb. Shouldn't have any trouble with that file but for $11.99 you can get 2 tb of storage including large files up to 100 gb, and delete the account after a month. Or $9.99/month for a year.

Thanks Alan. Completely forgot about Dropbox.

[Jim Becker]

I use a "private link" for a large file in my Microsoft Office365 OneDrive when I need to share a very large file.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Private on YouTube is an easy way to go, and pretty secure. Then you can delete it afterward, if you want to.

[roger wiegand]

Apple mail has a feature where it keeps a temporary copy of the file on iCloud and only emails a link to large files. This is what I use most often because it is very easy and seems to work fine for recipients without them having to use another program. Dropbox is another good choice. Finally, for files that I want to remain available for a long tome I use the private option on Youtube.

[Ole Anderson]

Weekly I need to share a 2 gb video with our local cable company. I use the free Google Drive with my Gmail account where you just email a link to the recipient. Every few months I need to delete sent files to stay under the limit.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Google has a cloud based drive where you can store and share stuff.
It's part of Gmail. You only get 15 GB though of free storage.

Yahoo mail has a similar feature but - they up the free storage to 1TB

[Terry Wawro]

I use a free file sharing site WeTransfer.com. It will send out emails to alert that files are ready to download. There is a time limit of a week or so, then the files are deleted.

[glenn bradley]

I have been allowing specific access to files on a Google Drive without issue for years.

[rick sizemore]

In addition to the above, utilizing Zip type file compression can facilitate up/down load times for all.

[Bill Howatt]

How much if any reduction there is when using Zip depends on the file type. MP3, MP4, JPG and various others are already compressed and further compression may not help.

[mike stenson]

How much if any reduction there is when using Zip depends on the file type. MP3, MP4, JPG and various others are already compressed and further compression may not help.

Yep, compressing a compressed file (and most video codecs these days are compressed), may actually make the file larger.

[Brian Tymchak]

Thanks to all who have responded. I set up a Dropbox account and tested sharing a link with that. Easy enough.

To all those that mentioned using Google Drive, thanks for pointing that out. I have Drive with my Gmail and have a few files stored there. But I had no idea I could share them externally. Guess I should pay more attention to the capabilities I have in hand... :o

[Bill Howatt]

...Guess I should pay more attention to the capabilities I have in hand... :o
That last sentence applies to a lot (all) of us. There are a lot of sophisticated features on personal computing devices these days and it is difficult to be aware of everything they can do. We tend to just keep using the devil-we-know until it doesn't work.

[Terence McGee]

Sharing big video files privately can definitely be a hassle. A private YouTube channel is a solid way to go - easy to link without size limits while keeping it locked down. Google Drive is another good option for sharing large links that expire. For client privacy, Hightail Spaces is more secure but overkill if it's just diagnostics.

[Roger Feeley]

In addition to the above, utilizing Zip type file compression can facilitate up/down load times for all.
I used winZip back in the day. It would let you break up a file into mailable chunks.

[George Yetka]

Lots of ways but I just throw it in my gmail. It will send it as a shared folder and you will have to grant permission (a popup after email is sent) anything under 25mb sends, and anything over goes as a shared folder.