The Best Ways to Transfer Large Files Online

Services like Dropbox and Google Drive make it easy to store and share files across the web, but they have limitations. For instance, the free version of Google Drive only provides 15GB of storage (which is a lot for a free service) while the free version of Dropbox gives users a comparatively lacking 2GB of storage. 

If you need to transfer a huge file of more than 15GB (like an edited video file, for example) then neither one of these services will cut it. What you need is a dedicated service for transferring files. This article will walk you through several of the best ways to transfer large files online. 

We will also suggest a few ways to make shuffling huge amounts of data easier. We have covered some other services already, as well as some for sending large videos. We’ve also covered WeTransfer, a dedicated way of moving big files. 

MediaFire

MediaFire is a cloud storage system that offers up to 50GB of free storage, with 1 TB of storage coming in at just $3.75 per month. If you have the free plan, there’s a maximum upload size of 20GB, but this restriction goes away with one of the paid options. 

MediaFire has apps on a variety of devices, so you can transfer large files online from your mobile devices as well as from a laptop. 

pCloud

pCloud is a cloud storage service that has a dedicated file transfer system. That said, it’s a fantastic option. There is no limit on upload size or upload speed. If you have fast internet, you can upload large files quickly without artificial bottlenecks placed by the service to conserve bandwidth. 

pCloud also provides multiple features that make it even more appealing, like the ability to spread your files across multiple services to keep them safe.

pCloud offers a free trial so you can test out the service, but you will need to subscribe to continue using the service after this trial. Subscriptions are available in both monthly and yearly plans, but if you want to save money, go for the annual payment—it shaves off a few bucks overall. 

Masv

Masv is the go-to service for people that need to transfer tremendously large files online. It’s designed for videos, large graphics, and other types of media that are not email-friendly sizes. It’s a popular service among video editors and freelancers because of the ability to move files larger than 20GB. Masv is also a bit different when it comes to pricing. 

Rather than a subscription model, Masv is a pay-as-you-go service. You will pay per gigabyte of data. While that might seem pricey, it actually helps cut down on wasteful spending because you are only paying for what you actually use. 

If you want to try out Masv, there is a seven-day free trial that gives you 100GB of free data transfers. It’s a great way to test the service without committing to it. 

FTP

If you’re more tech-savvy than most, FTP clients are always an option. File Transfer Protocol is the old-school way of moving data around, but these days it is more focused on the business side of things.

There isn’t much call for consumer FTP use, which means the available options can be a bit on the complicated side. If you want to find out more, we have a dedicated FTP article you should look into. 

How To Make Transferring Files Easier

Many people make the mistake of sending files in their raw formats, but that only makes the task more difficult. Here are a few tricks for reducing the size of huge files that will make them easier to transfer and save you a lot of hassle—without sacrificing the quality of the file itself.

Compress Data By Zipping It

There are multiple services available for turning a normal file into a .zip file. WinRAR and 7zip are both well-known not just for their storied history, but also because of the memes. Let’s face it: the true 1% are those that paid for WinRAR. 

You can also compress data in macOS by selecting it, right clicking, and choosing Compress. 

Split Files Into Smaller Sections

If you are transferring an unfinished file to an editor, ask if you can send the files in pieces. Breaking a two-hour video into 30-minute segments might result in 4 different files, but those files will be much smaller than a single entity. 

This is a particularly useful trick for someone with a finicky internet connection; the last thing you want is for the file to almost finish its transfer before a dropped connection tanks the entire process.

Check The File Type

Some file types are significantly larger than others due to resolution and quality. While there are times when you can’t avoid high-resolution files, if it isn’t strictly necessary then using a smaller file type might be an option. 

For example, JPG is such a popular format because it compresses the data to an extreme extent. The downside is that it also loses something in the process. On the other hand, TIF is a “lossless” format that doesn’t result in artifacting—but the files won’t be as small as JPG files.

Paid Versus Free Services

In the modern world, there are a huge number of services that allow you to transfer even gargantuan files for free. For the most part, there’s no downside to using these services. A paid service does offer a few benefits that might appeal to you, especially if you want to keep things simple. Paid services also tend to have higher transfer rates and higher storage capacities. 

There is no right or wrong answer. If you need to transfer files between 15 and 20GB, you can likely use a free service, but larger than that will require a payment. Evaluate the best ways to transfer large files online and choose the one that’s right for you.