What are our email size limits?

By Angus Published 17 November 2021 Updated 27 January 2026 2 min read

We limit email size on the shared platform to 20MB. If you need to send larger files, we suggest you use a file sharing service such as Dropbox or WeTransfer. You can access your email at anytime via the client under manage services.

Importance of limits

Email size limits are used for 3 main reasons:

Performance. Firstly, email systems are not designed for large attachments or to transfer large files. SMTP enables email and is designed for short text messages, over time addons have enabled support for attachments and other extended features but SMTP itself is not suited for transporting large files (Hence the existence of FTP).  In addition, mail transfer agents often scan incoming data for viruses and other potential risks, which also takes resources and affects system performance.

Security. Email services use a limited number of ports to retrieve data. Then, by limiting the size of emails & any attachments, we reduce the risk of DoS-style attacks against your service.

Compatibility. Email limits are commonplace, almost every email client or provider has an imposed limit, some of which are visible below. By conforming to the lowest email limit, we allow for maximum compatibility across multiple services. This is also true when migrating your emails to avoid

iCloud Mail: The size of incoming and outgoing messages (20MB, up to 5GB with Mail Drop turned on)

Gmail: You can send up to 25 MB in attachments. If you have more than one attachment, they can’t add up to more than 25 MB. If your file is greater than 25 MB, Gmail automatically adds a Google Drive link to the email instead of including it as an attachment. Learn more about Google Drive attachment-sharing settings.

Outlook.com: the combined file size limit is 20 megabytes (MB) and for Exchange accounts (business email), the default combined file size limit is 10 MB. This is a worthwhile consideration if you are migrating your emails with outlook.

List of email size limits for large providers
List of size limits

If you encounter any issues with your email service please contact our support team.

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