How to increase attachment size limitation

Question

I need to be able to receive email attachments greater than 25 mb. How do I increase the limit?

Answer 1

Dear @Adam Mathis, 

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.   

I understand how inconvenient it must be to have your email attachments restricted to 25 MB, especially when larger files are essential for your communication needs. 

To help me better understand the situation and assist you effectively, could you please share a few details such as:    

1/ Is your account a personal account (such as @gmail.com, @outlook.com, @hotmail.com) or a work or school account managed by your organization? 

2/ If your account is a work or school account, are you the IT administrator? 

This will help us better understand the context and provide more targeted support. Any additional information will help us better understand and support you.    

In the meantime, you can refer to some information to clarify the issue: 

To increase the email attachment size limit in Outlook under a Microsoft 365 business or education environment, you'll need to adjust the message size restrictions in Exchange Online, as Outlook itself does not control these limits directly. 

Note: If you’re an end-user, please coordinate with your IT Administrator to handle these steps.  

Here’s how you can do it: 

Go to Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Navigate to Exchange Admin Center. 

 

In the left pane, go to Recipients > Mailboxes. 

Select the mailbox you want to modify. 

Click Mail flow settings > Message size restrictions. 

 

Set the maximum send and receive size (e.g., 50 MB or up to 150 MB). 

Save your changes. 

After making changes in the Exchange Admin Center, please allow some time for the server to update and apply the changes across your system.
Notes:

• These limits include the entire message size (body + attachments).
• For very large files, you can consider using OneDrive and sending a link instead.

For a more in-depth explanation, please see the article below: Configure message size limits for a mailbox | Microsoft Learn

As community moderators, we kindly ask for your understanding that our access to internal development details is limited. Our primary role is to guide users toward the appropriate resources and support channels. While we may not have visibility into performing deeper backend analysis, we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.   

I hope the information provided proves useful. Please proceed with the outlined steps and let me know whether they resolve the issue. If not, I’ll be glad to continue working with you to find a solution.   

Thank you for your patience and understanding throughout this process. Should you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out at any time. 

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Answer 2

Hello Adam,

Unfortunately, as a regular user, you generally cannot increase this limit because it's set by the email server itself. However, there are a few scenarios and powerful workarounds you can use to send and receive files larger than 25 MB.

The best and most reliable workaround is to use cloud storage. Instead of attaching large files directly to your email, you can upload the file to a cloud storage service (like OneDrive or Google Drive) and share the link in your email. This method completely bypasses the attachment size limit and ensures the recipient can access the full-quality file, even if it's up to 2 GB or more, depending on your cloud service.

Another useful workaround is to compress the file. This process often shrinks the file enough to attach it directly to your email. If the file is only slightly over 25 MB, you can
Right-click the file or folder and select "Compress" (or "Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder").

Alternatively, you can use a third-party service like WeTransfer, which allows you to upload files up to 2 GB for free and email a secure download link to the recipient.

Given your goal is to receive emails larger than 25 MB, the most reliable advice is to ask the sender to use a file-sharing link instead of attaching the file directly. This way, you won't encounter any issues with size limits.

I hope these suggestions help you manage large email attachments more effectively.