Outlook and other email services have a limit on the size of attachments users can have in a mail. Outlook’s attachment size is limited to 20MB, while Gmail’s attachment size is limited to 25 MB. When the size of the file we need to send exceeds the limit, it becomes hard to send files in the email.

how to increase attachment size limit in Outlook

If you are looking for ways to increase the attachment size limit on Outlook, follow this guide.

How to Increase Attachment Size Limit on Outlook

When you are finding it hard to send files bigger than 20MB on Outlook, you can increase the attachment size limit on a Windows PC using the Registry Editor. Before making any changes, back up your registry so as not to lose or mess up anything.

To make a backup of your registry entries, click on the Start button and search for Registry Editor. Open Registry Editor from the results. On the Registry Editor, select Computer in the Computer panel to select all the registry entries on your computer. Then, click File in the menu bar and select Export.

backup registry on windows

Choose a destination, name the backup, and click OK to save the backup at your desired location. Wait for a few seconds to let it save the backup properly.

Then, based on your Outlook versions, navigate to the following paths.

Outlook 2010

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\­Software\­Microsoft\­Office\­14.0\­Outlook\­\Preferences

Outlook 2013

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\­Software\­Microsoft\­Office\­15.0\­Outlook\­\Preferences

Outlook 2016 and 2019

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\­Software\­Microsoft\­Office\­16.0\­Outlook\­\Preferences

Double-click the MaximumAttachmentSize DWORD file and enter the size of the attachment you want to send in the value. If you want to send 28MB of file, enter 29000 or 30000 to send it without any issues. Change the Base to Decimal. Enter desired values and click OK to save.

Change Maximum Attachment Size limit

That’s it. Close the Registry Editor, and you can now send files up to 30MB without any limit. Sending files in gigabytes makes encoding hard on the server side and may result in a failed delivery or corrupted attachment.

If you are a Windows 11 Home user and you cannot find the Preferences folder in the Registry Editor or want to send bigger files without any issue, follow the below methods.

Send Larger Files on Outlook Safely

OneDrive

If you want to send larger files to Outlook, uploading them to OneDrive and attaching the link to the email is the best way. This way, you are not changing any registry entries or compromising the files.

OneDrive lets you share files up to 2GB. If the file is more than 2GB, you need to compress it with file compression tools or compress it in parts using Zip editors. If you have compressed the larger file in parts into multiple zip files, you must let the receiver know about it and ask them to unzip all files at the same time using 7-zip or other tools to save the file as a single large file.

The receiver can access the file until you delete the file from OneDrive or terminate access. OneDrive is the best option for sending sensitive files, as you can terminate access anytime you wish.

File-Sharing Services

There are many free file-sharing services available that do not put any limit on the file size. If you want to send a larger file without compressing or zipping, you can use services like ToffeeShare, UploadNow, FileTransfer, etc., and attach the link to the email.

The files uploaded to third-party services are deleted automatically at a fixed time, like a week or so. You need to keep it in mind before using them.

Cloud Storage Services

There are many trusted cloud storage options available on the internet that you can use to send larger files and store them online for easy access. You can use services like Dropbox, Sync, Proton Drive, etc., by paying a subscription fee for bigger sizes.

You can attach the links of files uploaded to cloud storage in the emails and send them.

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