Gmail increases attachment limit to 50 MByte – for Enterprise customers

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Google has doubled the maximum size for email attachments in Gmail for Workspace Enterprise Plus customers from 25 to 50 MBytes. The change is intended to enable the direct sending of large presentations, spreadsheets, and high-resolution PDFs without having to go through Google Drive. At the same time, the receiving limit for incoming messages has been raised to 70 MByte.

However, the new function is not automatically available. Administrators must first enable the increased limit in the Workspace settings. Users have no way to make this change themselves. The rollout already began on February 23, 2026, for domains with Rapid Release and Scheduled Release. According to Google, full activation can take up to 15 days.

Base64 encoding reduces usable attachment size

Due to Base64 encoding, which emails use by default, the actual message size inflates by about 33 percent. This means: A pure file of 35 to 37 MByte already reaches the 50 MByte limit after encoding. In addition, there are other factors such as email signatures, thread histories, or system-added footers that occupy additional storage space. In practice, files around 35 MByte are likely to be sent directly.

The increased receiving limit of 70 MByte is intended to improve interoperability with other email providers. Microsoft Exchange Online, for example, allows attachments up to 150 MByte. With the new Gmail limit, fewer emails sent to Gmail users will be rejected by Exchange servers in the future.

Restrictions due to bandwidth and DLP rules possible

Regardless of the new attachment limit, the known bandwidth restrictions still apply: A maximum of 300 MByte can be uploaded per hour via web interface or SMTP, and 1500 MByte per day. Via IMAP, the daily limit is 500 MByte. Users who regularly send larger attachments may reach these limits faster.

Administrators can override the new limits with their policies. DLP rules (Data Loss Prevention), individual bandwidth restrictions, or gateway settings take precedence over the 50 MByte set by Google. IT managers should therefore check their existing configurations if the new function does not work as expected.

Standard accounts remain at 25 MByte

The increase applies exclusively to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus. Users of standard Workspace editions, business packages, and private Gmail accounts remain at 25 MByte for sending and 50 MByte for receiving. For larger files, Google still recommends using Drive links. The company has not announced plans to extend the new limits to other Workspace editions. Storage space in Enterprise Plus is shared between Gmail, Drive, and Photos. 5 TByte is available per user by default, which can be shared in a pool with other users.

All information about the higher Gmail limits can be found in Google's Workspace Blog.

(fo)