Use Gmail Drafts To Mail Yourself Unallowed Files

Lifehacker reader Eric wanted to get in on the limited Microsoft Morro download, so he grabbed it at work and tried to email himself. Gmail killed the sending due to virus concerns, but Eric could still grab it later.

Gmail’s Flash-based attachments grabs your files as you select them, including any .exe program files or other items that will eventually trip Gmail’s security filters. When sending fails, however, the draft, and the server-stored attachment, are still there. Eric arrived home, therefore, and found his attached Morro installer still on his email in the Drafts folder, which could be right-clicked and downloaded with ease.

Gmail’s attachment limit is 25MB at the moment, and while the Flash-based uploader sometimes doesn’t appear and doesn’t have guaranteed upload success, Eric’s accidental discovery of what he calls a “Instant Dropbox, at a workplace where Dropbox and other file-sending sites are blocked, is a great work-around. Thanks for the tip, Eric!

Got your own file-sending solutions for places where the filters are strong? Tell us all about them in the comments.