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Compress photos for email

Want to email your vacation photos, but Gmail says they're too large? Drop them here, choose your email service and the tool shrinks them so they all fit into one email.

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Phone photos are usually several megabytes each, so only a few fit into one email without shrinking. But you want to send them all at once, to family after a trip, to colleagues after an event or to a school for a photo contest. Choose all the photos, pick your email service and the tool shrinks them so they fit the limit together. Below are the limits for Gmail, Outlook.com, Yahoo, iCloud and Proton Mail, and what to do when even that isn't enough.

How to compress photos for email

  1. 1

    Add your photos

    Add all the photos you want to send in one email, iPhone HEIC photos included.

  2. 2

    Choose your email service

    Pick Gmail, Outlook.com, Yahoo Mail or Proton Mail (25 MB), or iCloud Mail (20 MB). For another service, choose Custom limit and enter its limit in MB. Below the options you see how much space the photos may take together.

  3. 3

    Start compressing

    Click Compress photos for email. If the photos don't fit into one email even when compressed, the page tells you how much space is missing.

  4. 4

    Attach the photos

    Several photos come in one ZIP. Attach it to your email, or unzip it and attach the photos one by one.

Choose all photos for one email at once

The limit applies to the whole email, so add all the photos you want to send together before you start. If you compress them in parts, each part gets the full limit and together they won't fit into one message.

Attachment size limits in Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud and Proton Mail

Gmail allows attachments up to 25 MB on personal accounts. If you attach more, it doesn't attach the file but puts a Google Drive link in the message instead. Outlook.com's attachment limit is also 25 MB, and it offers to share bigger files through OneDrive.

Yahoo Mail allows 25 MB of attachments in total per message, and Proton Mail 25 MB for outgoing email. iCloud Mail caps a message at 20 MB unless you use Mail Drop. Because the limit counts all attachments together, ten 3 MB photos won't fit into one email even though each one is small on its own.

If you send from the Outlook desktop app with an Outlook.com or Gmail account, Microsoft gives a 20 MB limit instead, so choose Custom limit and enter 20. Work and school accounts may have their own limits set by the administrator.

How to send many photos by email

Phone photos are usually several megabytes, so without shrinking only a few fit into one email. After compressing you can send many more, and on screen you usually won't see the difference.

If the whole batch doesn't fit even when compressed, the page shows how much space is missing. Split the photos into two or three emails then, by day of the trip for example, and compress each group separately. The recipient gets them in order and doesn't have to unpack one huge archive.

Emailing photos from an iPhone

When you email photos from an iPhone, it can send them as JPEG automatically. For many photos, the Mail app on iPhone and Mac has Mail Drop, which handles attachments up to 5 GB. The recipient gets a link and has 30 days to download the files.

If you'd rather send real attachments, open this page in Safari, choose the photos from your library and pick your email service. The compressed photos download to the Files app, ready to attach.

When compressing isn't enough

Email isn't made for full-quality photos, for printing or for a photographer. Send a link instead: Gmail offers Google Drive on its own and Outlook.com offers OneDrive. The free WeTransfer plan allows up to 10 transfers or 3 GB in total in any 30-day period.

Privacy

Images are processed in your browser and never uploaded to a server. Some tools remember your settings on this device, and the files you download stay on it.

FAQ

What is the attachment size limit in Gmail?
For personal accounts, 25 MB. If you attach a bigger file, Gmail puts it in the message as a Google Drive link. When you choose Gmail, the tool compresses the photos with headroom to spare. If you add other attachments to the email, count them toward the limit too.

What is the attachment size limit in Outlook?
Outlook.com accepts attachments up to 25 MB and offers OneDrive for bigger files. The Outlook desktop app with an Outlook.com or Gmail account has a 20 MB limit, and business Exchange accounts often 10 MB by default. Enter those as a custom limit.

What are the Yahoo, iCloud and Proton Mail attachment limits?
Yahoo Mail allows 25 MB of attachments in total per message. iCloud Mail allows messages up to 20 MB, or up to 5 GB with Mail Drop. Proton Mail sends up to 25 MB and receives up to 50 MB. For any other service, enter its limit as a custom value.

Why does a 24 MB attachment still fail?
Attachments grow by about a third when an email is sent, because they are encoded as text on the way. A 24 MB batch can therefore end up well over a 25 MB limit. That's why the tool keeps the photos well below the limit you choose.

How many photos can I send in one email?
It depends on the photos and on your service's limit. The tool shrinks them so the whole batch fits, and if it can't fit at a reasonable size, it shows how much space is missing. Split the photos into several emails then.

How do I email photos in full quality?
Send the original files without compressing. If together they exceed the attachment limit, upload them to Google Drive or OneDrive and send a link, use Mail Drop on an iPhone or Mac, or try WeTransfer, which moves up to 3 GB free per 30 days. Compressed photos are for viewing, not for large prints.

Should I send a ZIP or the photos one by one?
Photos attached one by one show up right in the email, on a phone too. A ZIP is handy for many photos the recipient wants to save at once, but it's more awkward to open on a phone. The size is almost the same either way, because zipping doesn't make photos smaller.

Do the photos lose quality when compressed for email?
A little, but you usually won't see it on screen. The fewer photos you send in one email, the more space each one gets and the less it changes. If every detail matters, split the photos across several emails.

Are the photos sent anywhere before the email?
No. Photos are compressed in your browser, free and with no sign-up. This tool sends nothing anywhere: you download the results and attach them to your email yourself.

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