Cannot send large files via Mail Drop on Mail macOS Mojave 10.14.6

Question

Cannot send large files via Mail Drop on Mail macOS Mojave 10.14.6

I'm sending an email with a PDF attachment from my iCloud account to another iCloud account. Mail says my message size is 22.5 MB, but when I try to send it I get:

"Your message has size 30.3 MB, which exceeds 28.3 MB, the maximum allowed by the server.

Select a different outgoing mail server from the list below or click Try Later to leave the message in your Outbox until it can be sent."

(screen shots below)

In Mail | Preferences | Accounts | iCloud the option "Send large attachments with Mail Drop" is ticked.

Curiously, in the SMTP servers list there are two iCloud servers: "ICLOUD (offline)" and "iCloud" but when I click <Edit SMPT Server List> there is only one, "ICLOUD" but "In use by Account" is blank.

I've had no trouble sending large attachments from iCloud before. iCloud mail is otherwise working just fine.

Even stranger: in Mail | Preferences | Accounts | iCloud | Server Settings it shows "none". When I select either iCloud or ICLOUD from the drop down list, within a second it reverts to "none".

Posted on Feb 24, 2021 12:01 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Thunderclutch Author

Level 1

57 points

Feb 25, 2021 1:49 PM in response to Thunderclutch

I think I have solved this issue ... at least this worked for me:

In System Preferences | iCloud, untick Mail
Restart
In System Preferences | iCloud, tick Mail

It'll take a while for mail to get reloaded, but it seems to have fixed my issue ... for now.

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Answer 2

Feb 24, 2021 12:22 PM in response to a brody

No it's not. Please read the information on Mail Drop limits here https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT203093.

I have broadband and my intended recipient has broadband. Hardly anyone in my country uses DSL these days except in some very remote areas.

I have been using Mail Drop with my iCloud account for years without an issue. I should not have to "publish the document on a secure webpage for downloading, or use the sharing commands of a iCloud or OneDrive account to share the file." That is not a solution to the issue.

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Answer 3

a brody

Level 10

83,125 points

Feb 24, 2021 12:06 PM in response to Thunderclutch

That is a server side limitation. Don't forget many people still have DSL and don't have the bandwidth to download 30 MB in one fell swoop.

If you are trying to send a PDF, compress it first with one of the PDF compressors online.

Otherwise publish the document on a secure webpage for downloading, or use the sharing commands of a iCloud or OneDrive account to share the file.

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Cannot send large files via Mail Drop on Mail macOS Mojave 10.14.6

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