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What Is WeTransfer & How Does It Work?

To perform an important job you would need to send several files via email but, in an attempt to put into practice this task that has been assigned to you, through a normal e-mail box via the Web, you encounter problems. The files in question are too large, and the most common Webmail limit the sending of large files. How to solve and succeed in your intent? I am going to explain it to you in this guide.

In today’s tutorial, in fact, I would like to talk to you in detail about WeTransfer, a historic company that offers a file exchange service via email and supports the forwarding of files up to 2GB in size. This service is offered for free and files sent will be hosted on the WeTransfer servers, thus not occupying the e-mail storage space.

The strength of WeTransfer lies in its minimal user interface that makes this service easy to use – to send a file it will only take a few minutes. These premises have intrigued you, and now you can not wait to learn more about how this service works? Would you like to know how to use and how to send or receive files? If this is what you are asking, know that the answer to your questions is only a few lines away. All you need to use WeTransfer is a browser for surfing the Internet and, why not, even your Android or iOS smartphone, since you can also use WeTransfer from mobile devices. Ready to start? Yup? Very well! As usual, before starting, I wish you a good read.

How WeTransfer (Web) works

To start using WeTransfer, you must first connect to your official website via this link. If this is your first time using WeTransfer, you will first be asked if you would like to use the free version of the service or if you want to switch directly to the purchase of the paid version called WeTransfer Plus (which we will discuss later).

If you wish to use WeTransfer for free, press the Take me to free button, and you will be redirected to the service home page.

The first thing to do to continue is to accept the WeTransfer terms of service – to do so, press the Accept button. You will be able to display the screen dedicated to sending files with WeTransfer.

As you can see, the screen in question presents itself with a minimal user interface. Most of the screen is occupied by the background offered by the service, created in collaboration with partner companies; on the other hand, instead, there is the tool for sending files.

Before seeing in detail how to use WeTransfer to send files and also how to receive them, please note that in order to use the service, you will need to have the recipient’s email address. Once you have uploaded the file to WeTransfer, type in the email address of the person to whom you want to send it and, if necessary, send the message, the file will be sent to the indicated email address. The transferred file will be available to download from the server for a limited time – the recipient will have seven days to download it.

Once the period available for downloading the file has expired, the content will be deleted and will have to be reloaded to send it again. All clear? Yup? Very well! So let’s not lose further in chat and start immediately. In the following lines, I’m going to explain to you step by step on how to send files using WeTransfer.

How to send files with WeTransfer

To send files with WeTransfer from the Web, you will obviously need to connect to the main Home page of the service, press the (+) Add File button. This will open a dialog which will ask you to choose the file to transfer between those in the memory of your computer.

Then select the file by clicking on it to be uploaded to the WeTransfer server. The next step is to indicate the data of the recipient of your file.

In the text field Send an email to you will have to indicate the recipient’s email address. Keep in mind that, in case you need to send multiple, you can indicate up to 20 different email addresses.

In the Your email text field, you will need to provide your email address instead. By entering it, you will be notified with an email when the file is downloaded. The message field, on the other hand, is completely optional – if it’s your wish, you can write a personalized message that will accompany the file to be sent to the recipient.

Before sending the file by pressing the Transfer button, I suggest you click on the icon with the three dots symbol (…). In this way, you can choose whether to send the file via email or via download link. Both choices are valid, depending on what your needs are.

In fact, keep in mind that, by sending the file via email, the recipient will receive an e-mail message from WeTransfer that will notify the presence of a file intended for him. The receiver will have to press the button indicated in the email to download the file in question.

In the event that you decide to send the file to be downloaded via a link, WeTransfer will not ask you to provide an email address. In fact, a shared link will be generated. By doing this, all the people who will be in possession of the link in question will be able to download the file from the WeTransfer website.

In both cases, after uploading the file, you must press the Transfer button to transfer the file in question.

Sending the file to the recipient is generally fast, almost instantaneous, but any problems of slow upload and/or in the reception of the same may be due to the slow Internet connection.

Once we have learned how WeTransfer can send files, let’s see how to use it to receive a file shared by another person.

How to receive files with WeTransfer

If your colleague has sent you a file with WeTransfer you can be completely comfortable – downloading a file through the service in question is as simple as drinking a glass of water. Do you not believe me? Then follow the indications I am about to give you, and you will see that you will change your mind.

By receiving an email from WeTransfer, it means that the file is ready to be downloaded. In the body of the email you will be shown the sender’s email address, the number of files sent and the expiration date of the same. A little further down, it will also be indicated any custom message that the sender will have possibly written.

To download the file received, you will then need to press the Download files button in the email you received. The indicated link refers to the official WeTransfer website – wait now that the file is correctly downloaded from the server and press the Download button to download it.

When the download is complete, a dialog will open on your PC, and you can choose where to save the file in question.

Has the link to the uploaded file on WeTransfer been sent to you directly and should you proceed to download it? No problem. All you need to do is to copy the web address provided to you in the address bar of the browser you use to browse the Internet. Then press the button to send on your PC’s keyboard to bring to you on WeTransfer Web site and download the file.

Once the file has been downloaded from the WeTransfer server, you can press the Download button to download it.

Also in this case, when the download is complete, a dialog will open on your PC, and you can choose where to save the file in question. Have you seen how easy it was?

How WeTransfer Plus works

As I anticipated you at the beginning of this tutorial, WeTransfer is a service that offers itself completely free. However, those who need to transfer files larger than 2GB can refer to WeTransfer Plus, a paid version of the service.

The features of WeTransfer Plus include the ability to send files up to 20 GB at one time, file storage on servers up to 100 GB and the ability to use a password to protect the files sent.

There are also included in the subscription additional features not directly related to the operation of the service, including the ability to customize your user profile, manually select the background images of WeTransfer and customize the email invitations or URL for the file sharing.

WeTransfer Plus is a monthly or annual subscription service – the cost is 12 euros per month with periodic invoicing or 120 euros for a year, with payment in a single payment.

How WeTransfer works (Android / iOS)

You can also use the WeTransfer application for Android and iOS to send files. The strength of the app in question is the user interface really simplified, structured in a board, that is in virtual tables on which to support all content to be shared with other online users.

Once you have downloaded the WeTransfer application from the  Android Play Store or the iOS App Store, all you have to do is start it and create a new board by pressing the (+) button at the top right. In the screen that opens, type the name to assign to your virtual table; add, if you want, a description of the latter in the field below and presses the Create button located at the top right.

Now you just have to press the button (+) located at the bottom center and select the contents to add to the board – you can choose between  photos or video, camera (then capture a photo or video in real time with the camera of the smartphone),  files  (files of various kinds) and contents of the clipboard . Once you have selected the type of content to add to the board, choose the files to insert in the latter, and you’re done. There are no limits on space. If you use an iOS terminal, be sure to allow WeTransfer to access photos, files, etc.

Once you have finished creating the board, press the Share button located at the top left and share the link provided by the WeTransfer app to allow other people to download the files you added to your virtual table. If you want, you can edit the boards even after creating them – just select them from the WeTransfer start screen and use the buttons on the screen that opens to add or remove content. It is not possible, however, to receive files directly within the app.

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About Author

Samuel Afolabi is a lazy tech-savvy that loves writing almost all tech-related kinds of stuff. He is the Editor-in-Chief of TechVaz. You can connect with him socially :)

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