Email is still the most preferred way of online communication. It is estimated that in 2021, 319.6 billion emails were sent and received daily around the world. It is projected that by 2025 the number will increase to 376.4 billion daily emails.
Whenever we need to send a digital file to someone over the internet, we instinctively turn to our email accounts. There is no doubt that emails do the job effectively; at least most of the time they do. However, we must remember that email services are primarily designed to send texts and not heavy attachments.
Here we discuss why you shouldn’t use emails for sending big data files.
Large files clog inboxes
Emails with large attachments often take an excessive amount of time to be delivered, and it clogs the inbox of the recipient. The intended recipient won’t receive other emails until the client completes retrieving the email containing a large data file. It is not only frustrating but also highly inefficient.
Large attachments eat-up space
Service providers offer a limited storage space for free accounts. For example, Google offers 15 GB of free storage per email address. Once the space is exhausted, the user has to pay monthly or yearly subscription fees to have more space.
The emails and attachments sent or received using the email account take up storage space. If you frequently send and receive large email attachments, your storage will be exhausted in no time. The recipient will not like this either.
It can get blocked
Email clients often filter emails will large attachments for security reasons. The receiving server may consider it a potential threat or spam and send it to the recipient’s junk folder. Even if you notify them, depending on your relationship with the recipient, they may not want to open an email marked spam.
Emails are untraceable
You never know whether the recipient opened your email or downloaded the attachment. Once sent, no way you can track what happens to your email. Unless you get a reply, you won’t know that it reached the intended destination and the recipient downloaded the file.
Emails don’t guarantee security
Security is a major concern when it comes to sending large files online. Email attachments are vulnerable to cyberattacks. A file can be infected with a virus while in transit from sender to recipient. Virus scanning is often unavailable for large data files when you use standard email services.
Moreover, once you send a big file as an attachment, it remains on the server forever, even after you delete the mail. It increases the chance of data breaches.
What can you do instead?
Technology has made enough progress that you can ditch email and still send large data files online with ease. Use a service that is specifically made for the purpose of sending large files online. Consider using a cloud-based file-sharing service. They are secure, reliable, and trackable.
Visit Bigg.ly to learn more about how online file-sharing service works. Have questions? Shoot us a message, and we will get back to you right away.