Gmail's 25 MB attachment limit and the Drive link fallback for video

For a personal Gmail account the attachment limit is 25 MB. If the total is larger, Gmail removes the attachment and adds it to the message as a Google Drive link, so a video you meant to attach arrives as a link instead. Work and school accounts follow limits set by the organization's administrator, so they can differ.

These facts are from Google's attachment size limits page, read 2026-10-03. The shrinking steps use Sume's video trim and video frames.

What does Gmail do above the limit?

The behavior is automatic, which matters if you send a video through the Gmail web app or an app that uses it.

When the Drive link is fine and when it is not

A Drive link means the recipient needs access to the file and opens it in another place. For a customer email, that is one more step and a possible permission error. If you need the video to arrive as an attachment, keep the whole message below the limit, with the body and other files counted too.

If a link is acceptable, you can skip shrinking and instead send a still that opens the video, which many readers click anyway.

Keeping a clip attached with Sume

Sume's video trim cuts one range from a clip on media.sume.com and returns a new MP4. The source must already be a media.sume.com artifact or asset of your workspace; off-host URLs are rejected. A job costs $0.02.

Trim the clip first. Send start and either end or duration, plus output with a smaller width and height (256-2160) and an fps of 24, 25, 30 or 60. precision has to stay exact, the default, for output to be accepted. Add audio: "drop" for a silent loop. Sume's docs offer no file-size or bitrate target, so you steer size with length, frame size and audio, then measure the result.

• Shorter clips have the largest effect on file size.
• A frame between 256 and 2160 on each side is accepted for output.
• Dropping audio is allowed with audio: "drop".

Make a poster still for the link version

If you send a link, add a still that shows what the video contains. Sume's video frames returns still images from a clip at times you name, up to 24 per call, as jpeg by default or png, and max_edge can clamp the long edge between 16 and 2160. Frames are billed by Modal compute plus the platform fee rather than a flat price.

Pick one frame that reads at thumbnail size, host the image where the email can load it, and link it to the video page.

A note on recipients

The limit on the page is described for the sender's account. Receiving limits can differ by provider, and the Gmail page only covers Gmail. If your list includes work addresses, their administrators may set lower limits, which Google says varies by organization.

The safest clip is one that is small by any standard: a few seconds, a reduced frame and no audio unless the sound carries the message.