File size and platform limits
There is no artificial size limit in the ShareDrop.org protocol. The real limits come from how each browser lets us write received data to disk.
The two saving paths
- Streamed to disk (Chrome/Edge desktop): you pick a location, chunks are written as they arrive, memory use stays flat. Files larger than your RAM are fine; multi-gigabyte transfers are limited by disk space and patience, not the browser.
- In-memory fallback (Firefox, Safari): the file is held in memory until complete, then downloaded. We cap this path at 512 MB and tell you before the transfer starts, because “it depends on your device” is not a promise we can keep.
Practical guidance
| Scenario | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Multi-GB video/disk image | Receive on desktop Chrome or Edge (streamed saving) |
| Phone-to-phone photos | Fine everywhere; batches of moderate size are safest on iOS |
| Whole folder | Chrome/Edge desktop preserves the folder structure; other browsers receive files individually with flattened names |
| Sender on a laptop that might sleep | Keep the tab in the foreground; transfers resume after brief drops, but a sleeping machine sends nothing |
Why we do not promise the same everywhere
Some tools claim “unlimited file size on all devices”. In a browser, that is not truthful: streamed saving is simply not available on every engine. Our approach is capability detection — the app checks what your browser can actually do and sets expectations before a single byte moves. Background on the engineering is in why large files crash browser tabs.