How to Send Large Excel Files via Email

Your Excel workbook is packed with data: multiple sheets, pivot tables, embedded charts, Power Query connections, and perhaps a few macros linking everything together. By the time you've built a proper financial model or inventory database, the XLSX file can be 30–150MB — well past Gmail's 25MB limit and Outlook's 20MB cap. Stripping out the charts or removing the embedded data to meet the limit means delivering an incomplete file that can't answer the questions the recipient will have.

SendSplit takes your Excel file, splits it into numbered ZIP parts, and delivers each as a standard email attachment — up to 200MB, no account needed by the recipient. They download all parts, extract once, and open the original XLSX in Excel — all formulas, pivot tables, and macros preserved exactly as you built them.

Why large Excel files exceed email limits

A plain spreadsheet with numbers rarely causes problems. It's the extras that grow fast:

  • Embedded charts and images: Excel stores every chart as a rendered object; a workbook with 20 detailed charts and logo graphics can be 40–80MB
  • Power Query and data models: when you import external data and build relationships in the Data Model, Excel caches the loaded data inside the file — common models are 20–100MB on their own
  • Macro-enabled workbooks (.xlsm): VBA code doesn't add much size, but macro-enabled files with embedded forms, ActiveX controls, or add-in dependencies become large and can trigger spam filters
  • Historical data snapshots: financial models that keep 5 years of daily data across multiple sheets easily exceed 50MB
  • Linked object embeds: Excel files with embedded Word documents, PDFs, or other OLE objects carry the full binary of those objects inside the XLSX

How to send large Excel files via email using SendSplit

  1. Go to sendsplit.com/upload-to-send and upload your XLSX, XLSM, or XLSB file (up to 200MB)
  2. Choose a part size: 10MB for recipients at corporate or government addresses, 20–25MB for personal or small-business inboxes
  3. Enter the recipient's email address and click Send

On the recipient's side:

  1. Receives a series of emails, each with a numbered ZIP part (e.g., RFY2025_Model.zip.001)
  2. Downloads all parts into the same folder
  3. Opens the first part (.001) with 7-Zip, WinRAR, macOS Archive Utility, or Windows Explorer — all parts reassemble and the original XLSX is extracted
  4. Opens the file in Excel — all formulas, macros, and pivot tables intact

Reducing Excel file size before sending

If your file is borderline, a few steps can bring it under the 200MB SendSplit limit or closer to a direct attach size:

  • Clear the pivot cache: before saving, right-click each PivotTable → PivotTable Options → Data → uncheck "Save source data with file"; the cache will rebuild when the recipient refreshes
  • Remove unused sheets and named ranges: orphaned range names and hidden sheets with stale data add size without adding value
  • Compress embedded images: select any image → Picture Format → Compress Pictures → choose 150 DPI (screen) for review copies, keep full resolution for client delivery
  • Save as XLSB for large data models: the binary format is typically 30–50% smaller than XLSX for the same data; the recipient needs Excel to open it (no Google Sheets compatibility)
  • Break large workbooks into separate files: if the model has truly independent sections, split into separate files and send each through SendSplit

Security considerations when emailing Excel files

  • Financial models, compensation data, or M&A projections should always be sent with SendSplit's password protection enabled — the encrypted ZIP is not content-scanned by mail gateways, which also improves deliverability
  • Macro-enabled XLSM files may be blocked by corporate mail gateways regardless of size; if the recipient's IT policy blocks XLSM, send an XLSX version with instructions to connect the data model manually
  • For audit-trail sensitive workbooks, keep the original on your local drive and use SendSplit's encrypted delivery rather than uploading to a cloud folder with shared access logs

Tips for sending Excel files to clients and colleagues

  • Name the file clearly before uploading — Client_Budget_2025_v4_FINAL.xlsx leaves no version ambiguity; the recipient sees the exact filename on every part
  • State the part count in your email body — "I'm sending a 4-part attachment; please download all 4 before opening" prevents the recipient from trying to open an incomplete file
  • Test extraction yourself first — open the reassembled XLSX before sending to confirm all pivot tables refresh and all formulas calculate correctly
  • Alert the recipient about macros — if the workbook uses VBA, mention that they'll need to enable macros (or that you've included a macro-free version) so they're not caught off guard by Excel's security prompt

Stop stripping your financial models down just to squeeze past the attachment limit. Use SendSplit to send complete Excel workbooks — pivot tables, embedded data, charts, and macros included — as real email attachments, up to 200MB. Free signup only.