5 steps to help you share video online for feedback and approval

If you’ve ever tried to share videos over email, you’ll know how frustrating it can be. And it’s easy to see why.

A typical 30-second video can be as big as 250 MB. But the maximum attachment size for most email clients is 25 MB, making your video 10 times too big.

But don’t worry. There are plenty of tricks to make video sharing easier, no matter how big your files are. And if you’re looking for a better way to get feedback on videos, skip to number five to see how video review software can help.

Let’s get into it.

1. Check the size of your video file

If you’re having a bit of video sharing trouble, the first thing you need to do is check how big your video file is.

Email clients and messenger apps have file upload limits. So this step can help you work out if there’s any chance of getting your video down to the right size, or if you should look at other video sharing options (more on those a little later).

How to check the size of a video file on Windows

Follow these four simple steps:

1. Open File Explorer
2. Navigate to the folder containing your video file
3. Click on your video file
4. Check the file size in the bottom-left corner of the window

How to check the size of a video file on Mac

Follow these four steps:

1. Open Finder
2. Navigate to the folder containing your video file
3. Right click on your video file and click Get info
4. Check the file size in the top-right corner

2. Check the attachment limit of your email client or messenger app

Once you know how big your video file is, you can check this against the attachment limit of your email client or messenger app.

Here are the attachment limits of all the most popular tools:

• Outlook: 20 MB
• Gmail: 25 MB
• Yahoo: 25 MB
• Apple iCloud Mail: 20 MB
• WhatsApp: 16 MB
• Slack: 1 GB
• Microsoft Teams: Approximately 28 KB*

* Note: Microsoft has a much higher upload limit of 250 GB for SharePoint.

3. Render a smaller video or compress it

If your video file is under 200 MB, you can tweak your render settings or compress large video files to get the file size down. This should make it small enough for you to share videos using the most popular email clients.

But if your video is way over the limit or you want to set up a video review and approval process for your content, skip to steps four or five.

How to render a smaller video

If you’re exporting your file with video post-production software like Adobe Premiere Pro or After Effects, you can adjust the render settings to shrink the size of your video.

Here are a few things you can try:

• Adjust the Bitrate Encoding setting to VBR, 2 pass
  Bitrate is the amount of data per second in your video, and VBR stands for “variable bitrate”. With this setting turned on, Adobe’s encoder will make two passes of your video – once from start to end, then again from the end to the start. This often takes a little longer, but makes the encoding more efficient and keeps the file size down.
• Reduce the export resolution
  If you exported your original video at 4K (3,840 x 2,160 pixels), you should try exporting it at 1080p (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) or 720p (1,280 x 720 pixels). This will make the overall size of your video smaller, both in terms of resolution and file size.

Following these two steps could cut your video down to around 10% of its original size.

How to compress large video files

If your video is still too big to share, you can compress it with a free tool like Handbrake. 

As a test, I just had a go at compressing our Filestage explainer video using the settings below. The original video is 1 minute and 44 seconds long and was rendered at 1080p. The file size was 231 MB, but Handbrake managed to get it down to 34 MB – a reduction of over 85%!

Here’s how you compress large video files with Handbrake:

1. Download and install Handbrake
2. Drag and drop your video into the interface
3. Click on the Summary tab
4. Check the box next to Web Optimized is ticked

5. Click on the Video tab
6. Check the Video Codec is set to H.264 (x264)
7. Check the Framerate (FPS) is set to Same as source
8. Set the Constant Quality to 20

9. Click Browse in the bottom right to choose a destination folder for your video
10. Click Start Encode at the top of the screen

4. Still too big? Upload your video using a transfer service or cloud drive

If you can’t get your video down to the right size for your email client or messenger app, don’t worry! You can use a free transfer service or cloud drive to share video files instead – as long as they’re under 2 GB each.

If your video files are over 2 GB, skip to step five to see how you can share large video files up to 20 GB with Filestage.

Share videos via links with WeTransfer

WeTransfer is a free file sharing tool that lets you upload your content and share it via link or email.

Here’s how to share videos with WeTransfer:

1. Go to WeTransfer
2. Click the three dots in the bottom-left corner to choose between an email or link transfer
3. Upload your files and write a message
4. Click Transfer

This is a quick way to share video files with a free storage space of 2 GB. But there are a couple of downsides.

First, people will need to download your video content before they can watch it. And second, download links time out after seven days, which can cause frustrating delays during the video collaboration process.

Share videos via links with Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud drive that makes it easy to share video files by email or chat. Unlike WeTransfer, video sharing links don’t time out with Dropbox. So you can send files and rest assured that your teammates and clients can access them, even if they don’t download them right away.

Here’s how to share videos with Dropbox:

1. Create a free Dropbox account and open it in your browser
2. Upload your video
3. Hover over your video file and click Share
4. Click Create a link on the window that appears
5. Paste the link into an email or chat message

The only downside with Dropbox is that its 2 GB size limit applies to your whole account, not each individual video. So if you want to share four different videos, your limit for each video instantly drops to 500 MB.

If you want more storage space, you’ll have to upgrade to Personal Plus for $9.99 per month, which would give you 2 TB of storage. Or, if you’re a business user, you can get 5 TB with Business Standard for $12.50/user per month.

Share videos via links with Google Drive

With Google Drive, you can send files to anyone from inside or outside of your organization. Depending on the role you set for a certain viewer (Viewer, Commenter, or Editor) they will be able to see, edit or comment on your video. 

Once you have your video up on Google Drive, all you have to do is send the link to the person and they can view the video without using any of their own storage space.

Here’s how to share videos with Google Drive.

1. Select the file you want to share
2. Click Share 
3. Under “General access” click the Down arrow 
4. Choose Anyone with the link
5. To decide what role people will have, select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor
6. Click the Copy link
7. Click Done
8. Paste the link in an email or wherever you’d like to share it

Plus, the Google Drive mobile app can make your life easier by sharing large video files with just a few clicks on your phone.

By creating a free Google account you’ll automatically get a free storage space of 15GB. If you’ll need upgrades, Google offers paid subscription for Google One, with the starting package of 100GB of storage space.

5. Need to get feedback on your videos? Try Filestage

Online video sharing is easier than ever. But dropping that video into your colleague or client’s inbox is only half the battle.

Here are four problems with sharing videos online:

• Transfer links time out (we’ve all been there!)
• Reviewers spend hours writing out timecodes and comments
• Everyone gives feedback in separate email chains
• Video editors are left with confusing and unclear feedback

That means more meetings to get aligned, more review rounds, and less time spent creating your best work. Video marketing isn’t going away any time soon, so you need a better and more efficient way to share video online. Let’s look at how you can share video files and get feedback and approval in four simple steps – all in one place.

Upload video files to share them with your reviewers

With Filestage’s video review software, it’s easy to share videos online. Your teammates and clients can then review them in their browser without needing to download anything or create an account.

Here’s how you upload video files with Filestage:

1. Open Filestage or request a free trial
2. Create a project and give it a name
3. Drag and drop your videos into your project (up to 20 GB per video)

And because Filestage is an all-in-one tool for managing your video review and approval process, you can also set up review steps for different types of reviewers. This helps to keep feedback and versions organized and gives you a clear view of where your videos are in the approval process.

Share video online with a link

Filestage makes it easy to share video online with a link. And unlike other file sharing tools, your links last as long as your projects. So you don’t have to waste time sending the same videos again and again.

Here’s how to share videos via links with Filestage:

1. Invite teammates to collaborate on your project
   Click the invite icon in the top-right corner of your dashboard to add collaborators to your project. They’ll get an email with a link to access all the files and review steps in your project.
2. Invite reviewers to your review steps
   Click the invite icon on one of your review steps to add reviewers. They’ll get an email with a link to access all the files in that review step. So if you upload new videos or versions, they’ll have access automatically.
3. Share a link to a specific video review
   Open the video review you want to share, then copy and paste the link into an email or chat message. When someone clicks the link, they’ll be able to watch your video in their browser and see any feedback that’s been added.

Your reviewers will then be able to view your video content and give feedback on any device, helping to keep your feedback process fast and remote-friendly.

Collect feedback on top of your video files

Tired of spending hours matching up timecodes with your YouTube video edits? Those days are over.

With Filestage, timecodes are created automatically whenever someone adds a comment. Your reviewers can click anywhere while watching your video to create a marker and timestamp. Then, when you click on their comment, you’ll instantly jump to the frame they were talking about.

Here are a few other ways Filestage makes it easy to review video content:

• Annotations – draw on the content to add clarity to your comments
• Attachments – share references or important files like fonts and logos
• Highlights – select specific words and sentences that need editing
• Strikeouts – select which parts of a document you want to be deleted

Once your teammates and clients are done adding feedback, they can either “Request changes” or “Approve” your video edit. Their review status will then be updated on your dashboard so you know which videos to work on next.

Collaborate in the comments until you get approval

This is where Filestage really comes into its own.

By getting all your reviewers on the same page from the start, it’s easy to bounce ideas around in the comments. And if you spot any conflicts or disagreements, you can quickly get alignment before you get started on the next version – saving days (if not weeks) on unnecessary review rounds.

Here are three ways Filestage makes collaboration easy:

• To-do lists – the comment sidebar doubles as a to-do list for video editors, so your team can tick off comments one by one to make sure everyone’s feedback has been addressed
• Version history – all your teammates and reviewers can jump back to the previous video review in seconds, so it’s easy to see what to look out for in the new edit
• Review decisions – reviewers can choose to “Approve” a file or “Request changes” so you’re always clear on the status of your content

Share large video files up to 20 GB

With Filestage, you can share large video files up to 20 GB each. Your stakeholders can then open them in their browser in seconds to start adding comments or give their approval.

The total storage space for you and your team ranges from 75 GB to unlimited, depending on your plan. So whatever you’re working on, there’s plenty of free storage space for all your content.

Password protect your content for private video sharing

If you’re sharing sensitive video content like upcoming marketing campaigns, it’s only natural that you’ll want to keep it under wraps.

With Filestage, you can add a password to your content in a couple of clicks. You can then share this with your teammates or clients, giving them exclusive access to your content. So even if someone else gets hold of your review link, they won’t be able to see or comment on your videos.

With our Enterprise plan, you can even request that reviewers verify their email addresses before accessing your content.

Choose the best online video sharing tool for your use case

Let’s look at three different use cases to help you find the right online video sharing site:

1. You rarely share video files and don’t need feedback or approval
   Go for WeTransfer. Assuming your video is under 2 GB, this will allow you to upload your video and send a transfer link to anyone who needs it. Just make sure they download it within seven days, otherwise the link will time out!
2. You share video files regularly but don’t need feedback or approval
   Go for Google Drive. You’ll get 15 GB of free storage, unlike Dropbox’s 2 GB limit. And you’ll also be able to choose exactly which email accounts can watch or download your videos.
3. You share video files regularly for feedback and approval
   Go for Filestage. You can upload videos up to 20 GB each. And unlike all the other options, you can collect feedback, manage versions, and collaborate on your content – from v1 to final!

Your video sharing questions, answered

How do you reduce file size to share video online?

You can reduce the file size of your videos by rendering a smaller version or compressing them with a tool like Handbrake. You can read our full guide on how to share large video files here.

What’s the best way to share a video online?

Filestage is the best way to share video online if you want to get feedback and collaborate on your content. But if you just want to send a video with a link and your video is less than 2 GB, WeTransfer will do the job.

How do you share video files online?

You can share video files online for free using tools like WeTransfer, Dropbox, and Google Drive. But if you need to review your videos with teammates and stakeholders, you’re better off with Filestage. It’s a complete platform for sharing creative content, collecting feedback, collaborating on new versions, and getting approval.

How do you share a video online privately?

You can share a video privately by uploading it to your Filestage project and turning on password protection. This will add a password to all the files in your review step, so you don’t need to worry about sending different passwords for every video you share.

How do you share large videos online?

Share large videos online (up to 20 GB) with Filestage. Invite your reviewers to take a look or copy and paste the link into an email or chat message. Then everyone can add feedback and collaborate in the comments until you get approval.

How do you upload a video to a link?

Upload your video to Filestage, then invite your teammates and reviewers within the platform or copy and paste the URL to an email or chat message. Anyone with the link will be able to view your content in their browser, from any device, helping to keep your review and approval process moving forward.

How do you share large video files for free?

WeTransfer or Dropbox offer free storage space for large video files (up to 2 GB videos).

Simply upload your videos, then you can create a transfer link and copy and paste it into an email or chat message. If you want to share larger video files, you’ll need a paid plan.

Can you share large video files by email?

You can only share video files up to 25 MB when uploading them as attachments. But if you upload your videos to a tool like Filestage, WeTransfer, or Dropbox, you’ll be able to paste a link into your email and get way more free storage for sharing your videos.

How do you share a video with multiple people?

You can share a video with multiple people using Filestage. Simply create a project and review step (for example: Marketing team). Then invite all the people you want to see your video and give feedback. And the best bit? When you upload new videos or versions to your project, it’ll be shared with the same people automatically!

Final thoughts

Video is one of the most exciting and effective marketing formats. But sharing videos online and collecting feedback makes it a pain. If you’ve ever tried to consolidate timecodes and comments about your video content, you’ll know what I mean.

Filestage’s video collaboration software makes all those pains go away. You can set up projects and review steps to centralize your review process. Then you can share videos and collect feedback across multiple versions until you get approval. Request a trial to give it a try on one of your projects.