Uploading & sending large files: 2 GB, 5 GB and more – does that even work?

Who doesn’t remember the good old floppy disks that made working with computers a little easier, especially in the 1990’s? The storage volumes that were standard back then can – at best – be smiled at today. Starting at 160 KB, the capacity increased to 2.88 MB – floppy disks that promised not only double or high density, but extremely high density: the best of the best. Today, however, this is ancient history as nobody can do anything with such storage volumes anymore. Today, gigabytes – and even terabytes – are standard. Nevertheless, you could already reach your limits when uploading a file of 2 GB.

Why are files so large these days?

Before we get into the subject of uploading files of 2 GB or more, let’s take a quick look at why file sizes are increasing. This may depend on various factors, depending on the file.

• For photos, size is measured by resolution, dimension and colour depth. The higher the resolution and image is, and the more colour depth the photo has, the larger the file size.
• For videos, file size is also related to quality and resolution. Here, the size of a single image is crucial. HD resolutions therefore require a particularly large amount of storage space.
• If sound recordings are particularly large, the sound quality is also very good. Poorer recordings therefore mean less storage space.
• With text documents, it is clear: the longer a document is, the larger it is. However, graphics, tables and much more also influence the size.

So, with the possibilities that existed 20 to 30 years ago, files were many times smaller.

Uploading files with more than 2 GB – what does the Internet offer me?

To get 2 GB together, you’ll need a lot of text files, preferably in folders with lots of graphics, photos and the like. A holiday alone can make sure that files of several gigabytes exist. High-resolution photos with a size of 10 MB are not uncommon. On holiday, a lot of pictures are taken, and 200 pictures are taken quickly – just like that, you have 2 GB. If you then want to send these photos to friends and relatives, it’s not that easy. Of course, even more bytes come together with videos.

Such sizes are not possible via email, and WhatsApp has also been on strike for a long time. A good option is online storage, so-called “cloud” services, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon Drive or the Telekom MagentaCloud. However, you quickly reach your limits, especially in the free versions. On average, the free storage is between 2 and 15 GB, so while 2 GB is still possible, 5 GB can be difficult to send. If you need more, you’ll have to pay for it. In addition, with all services, you need an account and the corresponding app.

TransferXL: Upload files – whether it be 2 GB, 5 GB or more

With TransferXL, you have all the freedom you need when sending large files.

• Since you can upload your files from any device and from any location, and you don’t need separate programs to do so, handling is as easy as it gets. Just visit the website, upload your files with one click and receive the retrieval link at the same time.
• You then pass this link on to the recipient so that they can retrieve and download the files.
• TransferXL’s servers are spread all over the world, so it doesn’t matter if you are sending to Germany, South Africa, Brazil or Australia – the speed is always the same.
• With TransferXL, you don’t need an account, don’t have to pay anything and can send files up to 5 GB. You can see that uploading a file of 2 GB or more is no problem. If you want to send data up to 200 GB, you can subscribe to TransferXL for a fee and increase the volume.

The most important questions and answers for sending files over 2 GB