Large files
How to send a 2 GB video, or any large file, without uploading it anywhere
Email stops at about 25 MB. Messaging apps quietly shrink your video. Free cloud accounts ask you to upload the whole thing, wait, share a link, and remember to delete it later. A two-gigabyte file makes every one of those a bad answer.
There is a route that skips the upload entirely: the two devices connect to each other, and the file moves across in one pass. This guide covers how to do it, how long it takes, and what genuinely limits it — including the parts nobody can promise.
Free · No published size limit · No upload step · Nothing left on a server
Why big files are the hard case
Uploading means sending it twice
Every cloud route asks the file to make two journeys. It travels from your device up to a server, and then from that server down to the other device. You wait for both.
On a home connection the first leg is the slow one, because upload speed is usually a fraction of download speed. A two-gigabyte video on a 10 Mbps upload takes around half an hour to get as far as the server — before the other person has started receiving anything at all.
A direct transfer makes one journey instead of two, and on a shared Wi-Fi network it never leaves the building. The same file between a phone and a laptop on the same router is usually a matter of minutes.
The method
Sending a large video, step by step
Put the two devices on the same Wi-Fi if you can. Nothing requires it, but it is the single biggest difference to how long a large file takes.
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01
Open poftim.app on the receiving device
Usually that is the computer, because it has the space and it will not fall asleep. A square code appears on the page immediately.
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02
Scan it with the device holding the video
Point the phone's ordinary camera at the code. The transfer page opens on the phone by itself. Both screens then show the same short phrase — check they match, then confirm.
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03
Choose the file and start
Drop it in, or press Choose files. A progress readout appears showing how much has moved, the rate it is moving at, and the time remaining. It updates as the network changes, so the first estimate is not the final one.
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04
Leave both screens on until it finishes
This is the one instruction that matters for a big file. Both phones and tablets suspend a page that is not on screen, and a suspended page is not sending anything. Keep the page visible on the phone and let the computer do the waiting.
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05
Save it
The file is checked against a hash of the original before it is reported as received, so a file that arrives is the file that was sent. Press Save and choose where it goes.
What to expect
How long two gigabytes actually takes
Transfer time is set by the slower of the two ends and by the route between them. These are honest rough figures for a 2 GB file, not promises.
- Two devices on the same good Wi-Fi, direct routeA few minutes
- Same Wi-Fi, but an older or congested routerTen to twenty minutes
- Different networks, relayed, good broadband both endsBounded by the slower upload
- Phone on mobile dataDepends entirely on signal, and uses your allowance
- Uploading to a cloud folder firstBoth legs, one after the other
The readout on screen is more useful than any of these numbers, because it measures the connection you actually have. If the rate is disappointing, the two usual causes are that the devices ended up on different networks, or that a network is blocking the direct route and pushing the transfer through the relay.
A relayed transfer is not less private — the stream passing through it is encrypted and the relay cannot read it — but it is a longer path, so it is slower. The routing explained covers when each one is used.
The honest part
What actually limits the size
There is no published maximum file size, and that is a deliberate refusal rather than a marketing line. Naming a number would be a promise nobody has measured.
Files are streamed in encrypted pieces rather than loaded into memory all at once, so the size of the file is not by itself the constraint. What constrains a transfer in practice is a short list:
- Free space on the receiving deviceThe usual real limit
- Whether the phone stays awake and on screenThe usual real failure
- How the receiving browser saves a large downloadVaries by browser
- The slower of the two network connectionsSets the time, not the ceiling
- Number of files in one goUp to five hundred
A formal version-by-version test matrix for maximum file sizes has not been completed. Until it is, no specific maximum should be treated as guaranteed — the compatibility page states the same thing in more detail rather than quietly implying otherwise.
Questions
What people ask about large transfers
Is it really free for a file this size?
Yes. Sending is free with no account, no card and no size tier, because there is no storage bill behind it — nothing is stored. The paid subscription changes one thing only: it lets your own devices remember each other so you tap a name instead of scanning a code. It does not raise any limit, because there is no limit for it to raise. The pricing page lays out the difference row by row.
Will my video be compressed or re-encoded?
No. The exact file is sent, byte for byte, and its integrity is verified on arrival. This is the main practical reason to avoid messaging apps for video: they compress by design, and the copy that arrives is not the copy you sent.
Can I pause a transfer and come back to it?
A running transfer can be paused and resumed while both pages stay open. What it cannot survive is a page being closed or suspended — there is no server holding a half-finished upload to resume from, which is the same design decision that means there is no copy to delete afterwards.
Can I send several large files at once?
Yes, up to five hundred files in one session. They queue and transfer in order. Once more than three have arrived, a Save all button appears — on a computer it asks for a folder once and writes everything into it, and on a phone it hands the whole set to the system share sheet.
Does the other person need an account?
No. They need a current browser and the code or the link. Nothing is created for them, nothing is sent to them by email, and there is no sign-up in the way.
What happens if the connection drops halfway?
The transfer stops and the partial file is discarded rather than saved as a broken one. Reconnect and send it again. On a flaky mobile connection, moving both devices onto the same Wi-Fi is usually a faster fix than retrying.