Get your video attachment under Gmail's limit
Drop a video and FitSize shrinks it to what Gmail will really accept, in your browser. Nothing is uploaded to a server.
- Current limit
- 25 MB
- FitSize aims for
- 18.1 MB (room for email encoding)
- Last checked
- 30 September 2026
- Read on
- support.google.com
Gmail gives you an attachment limit, you attach a file that looks comfortably under it, and it still fails or turns into a Drive link. The number on the box is not the number that matters: what travels is the encoded email, and encoding adds weight. This page explains the gap and aims for the size that actually goes through.
Why Gmail has this limit
Gmail's help page does not explain why an attachment that looks under the limit can still be refused. The reason is how email works: attachments are encoded to travel as text, which makes them bigger. Proton documents that encoding makes attached files a bit larger than on your device, and Fastmail says an email under 70 MB usually means an attachment of no more than 50 MB. FitSize applies the same reasoning to Gmail.
Our reasoning, from proton.me , fastmail.help , support.google.com
What FitSize does with your file
FitSize does not aim for the number on the box. It leaves room for the encoding and for the message itself, and shows you the real usable size, so a file it produces is one Gmail will actually send. If the recipient's provider has a smaller limit than yours, check the sibling pages linked below, because the smallest limit in the chain is the one that decides.
Best fit for a 30-second clip at 18.1 MB: 720p at Balanced quality (that resolution holds up to 59 s). Best fit for a 2-minute clip at 18.1 MB: 480p at Balanced quality (that resolution holds up to 2 min 05 s).
Your file never leaves your device. It is read and compressed by your browser, and nothing is uploaded to a server.
Three things to watch on Gmail
- The limit is applied to the encoded message. Gmail does not say whether its limit counts the encoded message. Email attachments travel base64-encoded, about 37% larger once line breaks are counted, so FitSize treats the limit as covering the encoded size and aims for 18.1 MB, not the full limit. Our reasoning, from proton.me , fastmail.help
- Over the limit, Gmail sends a Drive link. When your total attachment size is greater than the limit, Gmail automatically removes the attachment and adds it as a Google Drive link in the email, and Google recommends Drive for particularly large files such as videos. Source: support.google.com
- Work accounts and the recipient can change the answer. For Google Workspace accounts the administrator sets the attachment sending and receiving limits, so the personal-account number may not apply to you. The recipient's provider matters too: iCloud Mail allows 20 MB per message and Yahoo Mail 25 MB of attachments. Source: support.google.com , support.apple.com , help.yahoo.com