5 Easy Websites to Share Files Online Without Signing Up
Sharing or sending files via eMail is very inconvenient. First of all some files are simply too big to be eMailed. Secondly, when the recipient downloads mail they cannot control when to download the file and for the time it takes until the eMail is transferred they are stuck. And last but not least, someone downloading mail at work may find that some file types are blocked by default, thus they may never even receive the file.
The solution is to put the files online and provide the potential recipients with the download link. But what do you do when you don’t have your own webspace?
You turn to online file sharing websites. There are dozens. Here is a selection of the most convenient ones. They don’t require signing up for an account and provide different options.
File Savr
At File Savr you can upload files of up to 10GB. There is no public file library, but files may not be considered private as the file name may be guessed. There is no time cap on how long items will be stored, the only limitation being that they must be downloaded on a regular basis.
File Dropper
It may not really be the fastest, but along with File Savr it is definitely one of the most convenient free file hosting tools currently on the market. It allows any file type of up to 5GB in size to be uploaded. Files are available publicly and anyone can browse the file database at File Dropper. Files are stored for as long as they are being downloaded.
RapidShare
This is certainly the most popular file hosting destination. While it allows for only 200MB, it provides the possibility to upload up to 10 files simultaneously. Unfortunately, the total sum of files may not exceed 200MB in the case of multiple uploads.
share1t
Straight forward file sharing of up to 100MB per file. Unlike all previous hosts, share1t clearly states for how long file will be available: it’s 15 days of inactivity, then the file will be deleted. After a file was uploaded you can copy the URL, have the link sent to an eMail address or copy the HTML or BBCode to embed it on a website or forum. Very convenient!
Wikisend
The file limit with this host is 100MB and the default lifetime is 7 days. A download link and forum link will be provided. Furthermore you can set properties for the file before and after uploading (after only with an account). You can change the file name, increase the lifetime to up to 90 days, add a description and protect the file with a password. The latter is unique among the file sharing hosts mentioned in this article.
We have previously covered ways to upload and share files online.
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Will introduced the Top Free Hosts To Store Your Files Online.
Tim wrote about 4 Easy Tools For Sharing Large Files Over The Internet.
David found another 3 Simple Ways To Send Big Files Over The Internet.
Finally Karl explained how to Use SkipScreen To Bypass Rapidshare Advertising Waiting Screens.
What is your favorite file sharing host?
Image credits: svilen001
(By) Tina has been writing for MakeUseOf since late 2007.
drop.io?
and SkipScreen is a great FireFox plugin for skipping that annoying count down.
> “…when the recipient downloads mail they cannot control when to
> download the file and for the time it takes until the eMail is
> transferred they are stuck.”
That’s not true if you use Gmail :p
I’m surprised you guys missed JetBytes. It’s experimental, but I’ve had no problems with it at all. The trick is, it doesn’t store the files online which makes the share fast and and single use.
Cloud Disk is also q quick way to share files.
http://clouddisk.co.cc
I can’t stand Rapidshare. Why do people always upload there? I like Mediafire and Megaupload.
how about this http://www.hacksomnia.com/2009/03/16-free-file-hosting-sites-that-requires-no-registration/
i really hate rapidshare. i think it is not that good.
You can also check out my collection of 10+ websites to share large files online : http://technolizard.blogspot.com/2009/04/10-best-websites-to-easily-share-large.html
Regards
Simran
My favorite is still http://upit.to/ Honestly, how can you pass up a free service that gives you quick upload/download speeds and hosts files up to 5gb?
I just came across this new cool file storage and sharing app – http://www.docuvana.com . The best part is that I can share my files on facebook, twitter and linkedin from here. Also it has an automatic document sucking feature where in you just give your pop/imap details and it sucks in your emails with documents and categorizes them. The fun part is that you get a cool subdomain that you can use to share files with just about anybody by making selective files public.
I’m missing http://GetDropbox.com here. You get 2 GB and share it over your own computers or with other users. Very slick interface!
Ok, so you are very concerned about file size, but if I wanted to upload a 120MB file for as long as possible, which one should I use?
Files are stored as long as they are being downloaded doesn’t add much information to how much time they are stored since the last download…
Thanks a lot.
Censored,
unfortunately, the free services mentioned don’t give a less cryptic storage time frame.
Try MakeUseOf’s File Sharing Guide for different suggestions: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-guide-to-biggest-file-sharing-networks-pros-cons/
If you just want to store and not share a file, attach it to an eMail that you mail to your own GMail account. That’s the most simple and safest method I can recommend.
Best of luck!
BTW: some people in the comments are mentioning other services that are cool and good, but those require to sign up