Have you ever had your email program tell you that you’ve exceeded send or receive limit? Essentially, the file you want to send or receive is just too big for the server to handle and it shuts you out or refuses to handle your message. This review of the online file sharing service YouSendIt is for you, then.
YouSendIt lets you send and share files quickly and securely. They even have a way for you to sign documents. Of course, like most web services today you can also use your smartphone or iPad or, even a prehistoric desktop version with a regular application you download. It works with Yahoo! Mail, but I didn’t see it for Google’s Gmail.
In their free “Lite” version, you get 2 gigabytes of storage and can send files up to 50 megabytes in size. Or you can upgrade to the pro plan for $49.99/year (or $9.99/month) which lets you store 5 gigabytes of storage and send files up to 2 gigabytes. The service also allows you to drop files into a shared environment where you can grant permissions to co-workers or employees.
What I Liked
- Probably one of the most powerful features is the ability to sign digital documents. For example, if you receive a contract via email as a Microsoft Word file attachment, you can sign it without printing it out. Once you upload that document to a cloud folder at your YouSendIt account, you can access it from anywhere. To access the digital signing capability, you can use a touch-enabled device like an iPad or Android-powered device or even your regular mouse.
When you open the document within YouSendIt via an iPad, the application opens up a signature block where you use your finger or stylus to sign your name. The signature becomes like an image that you can drag and drop anywhere in the document, in this case, right into the area where a signature is required. If you have occasionally struggled with finding a fax machine so that you can return a signed copy of a document, this one feature alone is worth the subscription fee.
- Mobile apps make it super easy to use when traveling.
- You don’t need to sign up to try it out. Right on the home page, you can input an email address, subject line, and attach a file. Click send and it asks you to enter a password of your choosing and instantly sets up a free account.
- The service is elegantly simple and there isn’t much not to like, but I’d like to see the “Send a File” box be just a little bigger or more colorful. My eye jumped straight to the free trial option and I would have tested it with the widget first, before signing up for a free trial on a paid pro level account for which you need to enter credit card data.
- I’d also like the “Send a File” widget to explain the “Verify Recipient Identity” check box (visible in the screenshot at the start of this post) without having to hover over it. Small point, but if you click this option your recipient has to sign up in order to get the email. If you don’t check that box, they can access the file without sign up. It is a great validation process, though, if you want only that intended recipient to be open the email and file.
Learn more about YouSendIt.
Another favorite option is File Apartment (http://www.fileapartment.com). Easy to use, no software to download or registration, up to 1 GB, safe, secure, and free customer support.
Dee
I use yousendit a lot. Very reliable service and easy to use. Another file sharing software is dropbox which is also free for basic version.
Shannon
I use Binfer(http://www.binfer.com) for sending large videos and pictures with easy drag and drop. Oh and unlike yousendit, this service does not upload the files anywhere. Instead it sends directly from computer to computer.