Send a File in WhatsApp Even if Its Too Big

This guide is going to teach you how to send files on WhatsApp through your iPhone or Android. I want to share some ninja tricks to shrink the file size of videos, images, and documents that are too large to send otherwise.

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. My name is Frankie Caruso, and I am an expert in instant messaging apps and an enthusiast of hacking techniques.

Today’s game is all about showing you how to send files of different types (.pdf, .doc, images, videos, APKs, etc.) through WhatsApp.

Not only are you going to learn how to send them, I’ll take it a step further. I have some tricks that I would like to share with you about reducing file size before sending.

Before I divulge this information, I would like to tell you something that you may not know.

When you send the files through WhatsApp, the service reduces the quality of these files like photos and videos as you send them. This speeds up the process of both sending and receiving, but compromises the overall quality of what you’ve sent.

Just think about it: wouldn’t it be exhausting to have to wait up to a minute to send or receive a photo from a friend?

But don’t worry.

There’s a very simple solution. I’ve created a guide on sending photos and videos through WhatsApp without losing quality. Take a look, as I am positive you won’t regret the information.

Alright, back to the matter at hand.

The file sending feature is available for the iPhone and Android but not for WhatsApp Web.

Let’s take a look at how to do this.

Send Any File via WhatsApp

Sending any type of file through WhatsApp is very simple to do. You just need to make sure that you are running the latest version of WhatsApp and then proceed as follows:

1. Open up WhatsApp.
2. Open the chat or group that you wish to send a file to.
3. Using an iPhone, once you’ve opened the chat click on the plus symbol in the bottom left. For Android and WhatsApp Web, tap on the attachment icon which is a small arrow in the top right.
4. Select the type of file you wish to send, including a photo, video, document, Facebook Messenger room, location, or contact information.
5. Click Send

Now, wasn’t that easy?

I want to get to the heart of the subject and show you what kind of files and media that you can send and receive.

Let’s take a look at them individually:

• Camera – This allows you to take a new photo or record a new video with your smartphone’s camera. Videos recorded through WhatsApp cannot be larger than 16 megabytes, however.
• Photo & Video – You can select photos and videos from your camera roll saved to your phone. You can also select more than one to allow you to send multiple images simultaneously.
• Documents – You can select one or several documents from your smartphone, including locations like iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, and other similar file sharing programs. The maximum allowed filed size for this type is 100 MB.
• Room – You could also create a Facebook Messenger room and share the link to your WhatsApp contacts.
• Contact – Share information like phone numbers of another contact within a different conversation you are having.

You can also share links to Facebook or Instagram videos that your contacts are able to play directly within WhatsApp. All you need to do is copy and paste the link into the WhatsApp chat.

Frankie’s Take: Remember, sending files on WhatsApp is free. You might only need to pay attention to the data you are using. The larger the file type you are trying to send, the more data that it uses.

Sending Large Files Via WhatsApp

As you might have noticed that the descriptions of the file types a moment ago, there are limitations regarding the size of certain types of media you can send:

• For videos and photos, it is not possible to send them if it is larger than 16 megabytes.
• Documents, on the other hand, must not exceed 100 megabytes.

Just to give you an idea of the size, a photo taken with an iPhone or one of the later generations of Samsung is approximately 3 megabytes. A video of 30 seconds recorded in 4K is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 to 300 megabytes.

A .pdf file or PowerPoint presentation with multiple images can far exceed 300 megabytes.

Now, the question is, how do I send large files through WhatsApp?

Here’s the best way that I have to solve this problem.

Let me show you how to send a large video file and then a large file like PDFs, PowerPoints, APK’s and more.

Let’s begin.

Sending a Large Video File in WhatsApp

One of the questions that I’m asked most on this topic is:

Frankie, how do I reduce the size of video files so I can send them on WhatsApp?

With newer mobile phones, especially iPhones and Samsung, the higher quality of photos and videos makes for excellent imagery.

The trouble is, the higher the quality of the video, the larger the file ultimately becomes.

This is the problem with WhatsApp, because you cannot share videos that you take with loved ones and friends if they are too large.

I have found a solution.

There are several free apps available on both iPhone an Android that allow you to compress a video and make it the right size that you can send through WhatsApp.

For iPhone, the best app available is Compress Video. The operation and interface is very simple, all you need to do is download and install this from the App Store. Once you’ve launched the app, select the video that you want to compress and choose the preferred quality for the conversion.

The Android solution is similar also using an app called Video Compressor – Compact Video. Once you’ve downloaded this from the Google play store and installed it, launch the application and select the video that you wish to compress. Tap to confirm on the selection Compress.

Frankie’s Take: There are many apps out there similar to this, but these are two that work well and are free. I have tested them personally.

Sending a Different Large File (PDF, APK, Excel) on WhatsApp

There are multiple reasons that you might want to send a large file to someone. This usually happens when you’re dealing with work.

Here’s the solution that I found to limit files to the 100 megabyte cap set by WhatsApp.

We are assisted here by the Google drive application. You are going to need a Gmail account to access it.

The process is very simple – upload a file to Google Drive and then click on the three dots next to the file that you just uploaded. Tap on the option to copy the link. You can then open WhatsApp and send this link to the contact you wish to receive the file.

This allows direct access for this contact to download the file that is above the 100 megabyte limit set by WhatsApp.

Pretty awesome, right?

Frankie’s Take: If you don’t like Google Drive, or don’t have a Gmail account and don’t care to make one, you could always use other services like Dropbox or Amazon Drive. Microsoft OneDrive is also another option.

Conclusion

We are now at the end of this short guide.

Hopefully I’ve helped you to solve the problem and now you can send files freely on WhatsApp.

Before we say goodbye, let me recap quickly. The first part of this guide was devoted to showing you how to send files of varying types to contacts in your WhatsApp account. This included photos, videos, documents, locations, and contact information. The second part of this guide showed how to solve one of the biggest problems that users find when sending files, working around types of files that are too large to send on their own. Usually these are videos, PDFs, or Android APKs.

Now, that is really all I have for you.

If you have doubts, questions, or have found another way of doing this and want to share with the rest of the group, you can leave a comment below in the box provided. I will be sure to get back with you as soon as I can.

You can always return for more guides and tips on mastering WhatsApp and other messaging applications.

A hug,

PS – I wrote a very large guide including 40 WhatsApp tips and tricks to make you a certified ninja of this messaging application. Check it out right now.