How to share files with Facebook friends directly

Martin Brinkmann
May 26, 2015
Updated • Jan 4, 2018
Companies, Facebook
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1

You have plenty of options if you want to share files with friends on the web version of Facebook. The two core options the site provides are to share files using Facebook Chat and to post files to groups you are a member of.

For instance, you may upload the file to the Internet and share the link pointing to it in chat, or use one of the many apps that are available on the site to share files directly with other users.

What many don't know is that Facebook Chat supports file sharing natively. The main reason why that is unknown to many users is because the feature is somewhat hidden in a menu in the chat client.

To share files using Facebook's native file sharing functionality do the following:

facebook share files

  1. Open a chat with the friend that you want to share files with.
  2. Once the chat window is open, click on the settings icon in the interface and select "add files" from the context menu that opens up.
  3. This opens a file browser that you can use to select one or multiple files that you want to share with the user.
  4. All selected files are displayed in the interface but not sent immediately. You need to type a message first and hit the enter-key on your keyboard to sent them along with the message you just typed. Please note that you can only do so after all files are uploaded to Facebook.
  5. Some file types are displayed as previews, images for instance, while others as links.

send files facebook

Files are opened with a click and either displayed on Facebook directly or downloaded to the local system instead.

Some file types are not allowed. If you try to upload an executable file for instance, you will receive an error message:

The type of file you're trying to attach isn't allowed. Please try again with a different format.

The best option in this case is to create a file archive instead and share that with the friend.

You may also share files to a group. To do that, open the group's page on Facebook and locate the "add file" open near the top.

share files group facebook

This opens the file sharing menu that you use to share files from your local computer or from a Dropbox account.

Dropbox does not impose the 25 Megabyte limit but requires that you have an account and link it to Facebook before the option becomes available.

The integration makes it a tad easier to share large files on Facebook. You can achieve the same result manually as well however as most file synchronization and sharing services offer similar options to create share links. Once created, post them in chat or to the group to make the files available to all users.

File sharing tips

  1. You can share multiple files in one operation.
  2. Files are always shared privately with the user or group, and not posted to your timeline or other public places.
  3. Friends who receive the files may share them with other friends by forwarding them or download them to their local system.
  4. Files get deleted when you delete the Facebook conversation (using the menu in the chat interface).
  5. The upper share limit is 25 Megabyte for files shared directly from the local computer.
Summary
How to share files with Facebook friends directly
Article Name
How to share files with Facebook friends directly
Description
Find out how to share files directly with friends or groups on Facebook without using applications.
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Comments

  1. The Dark Lady said on July 9, 2023 at 11:19 am
    Reply

    Martin, I would appreciate that you do not censor this post, as it’s informative writing.

    Onur, there is a misleading statement “[…] GIFs are animated images …”. No, obviously you don’t seem to have take much notice of what you were told back in March regarding; Graphics Interchange Format (GIF).

    For example, https://www.ghacks.net/2023/03/31/whats-gif-explanation-and-how-to-use-it/#comment-4562919 (if you had read my replies within that thread, you might have learnt something useful). I even mentioned, “GIF intrinsically supports animated images (GIF89a)”.

    You linked to said article, [Related: …] within this article, but have somehow failed to take onboard what support you were given by several more knowledgeable people.

    If you used AI to help write this article, it has failed miserably.

    1. E. Fromme said on September 29, 2023 at 1:32 pm
      Reply

      EMRE ÇITAK posts are useless because they are fraught with inaccuracies and are irrelevant.

  2. KeZa said on August 17, 2023 at 5:58 pm
    Reply

    AI is stupid, and it will not get any better if we really know how this all works. Prove me wrong.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IYl1sTIOHI

  3. Database failure said on August 18, 2023 at 5:21 pm
    Reply

    Martin, [#comment-4569908] is only meant to be in: [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/07/09/how-to-send-gifs-on-iphone-two-different-ways/]. Whereas it appears duplicated in several recent random low-quality non relevant articles.

    Obviously it [#comment-4569908] was posted: 9 July 2023. Long before this thread even existed… your database is falling over. Those comments are supposed to have unique ID values. It shouldn’t be possible to duplicate the post ID, if the database had referential integrity.

  4. Howard Pearce said on August 25, 2023 at 12:24 pm
    Reply

    Don’t tell me!

    Ghacks wants the state to step in for STATE-MANDATED associations to save jobs!!!

    Bring in the dictatorship!!!

    And screw Rreedom of Association – too radical for Ghacks maybe

  5. Howard Allan Pearce said on September 7, 2023 at 9:13 am
    Reply

    GateKeeper ?

    That’s called “appointing” businesses to do the state’s dirty work!!!!!

    But the article says itself that those appointed were not happy – implying they had not choice!!!!!!

    1. Howard Allan Pearce Jones said on October 1, 2023 at 4:28 am
      Reply

      Rreedom of Association is one of our most important rights. Some people think it’s Freedom, but no, I say Rreedom is far more important. There are many STATE-MANDATED associations that save jobs, that’s right MANDATED. I can’t name any of them, but rest assured they are bad, because saving jobs are bad, and people having jobs leads to dictatorship!!! Anyone who disagrees is too radical for Ghacks maybe, because I’m not sure.

  6. owl said on September 7, 2023 at 9:50 am
    Reply

    @The Dark Lady,
    @KeZa,
    @Database failure,
    @Howard Pearce,
    @Howard Allan Pearce,

    Note: I replaced the quoted URI scheme: https:// with “>>” and posted.

    The current ghacks.net is owned by “Softonic International S.A.” (sold by Martin in October 2019), and due to the fate of M&A, ghacks.net has changed in quality.
    >> ghacks.net/2023/09/02/microsoft-is-removing-wordpad-from-windows/#comment-4573130
    Many Authors of bloggers and advertisers certified by Softonic have joined the site, and the site is full of articles aimed at advertising and clickbait.
    >> ghacks.net/2023/08/31/in-windows-11-the-line-between-legitimate-and-adware-becomes-increasingly-blurred/#comment-4573117
    As it stands, except for articles by Martin Brinkmann, Mike Turcotte, and Ashwin, they are low quality, unhelpful, and even vicious. It is better not to read those articles.
    How to display only articles by a specific author:
    Added line to My filters in uBlock Origin: ghacks.net##.hentry,.home-posts,.home-category-post:not(:has-text(/Martin Brinkmann|Mike Turcotte|Ashwin/))
    >> ghacks.net/2023/09/01/windows-11-development-overview-of-the-august-2023-changes/#comment-4573033

    By the way, if you use an RSS reader, you can track exactly where your comments are (I’m an iPad user, so I use “Feedly Classic”, but for Windows I prefer the desktop app “RSS Guard”).
    RSS Guard: Feed reader which supports RSS/ATOM/JSON and many web-based feed services.
    >> github.com/martinrotter/rssguard#readme

  7. Anonymous said on September 14, 2023 at 6:41 pm
    Reply

    We all live in digital surveillance glass houses under scrutiny of evil people because of people like Musk. It’s only fair that he takes his turn.

  8. Anonymous said on September 18, 2023 at 1:31 pm
    Reply

    “Operating systems will be required to let the user choose the browser, virtual assistant and search engine of their choice. Microsoft cannot force users to use Bing or Edge. Apple will have to open up its iOS operating system to allow third-party app stores, aka allow sideloading of apps. Google, on the other hand, will need to provide users with the ability to uninstall preloaded apps (bloatware) from Android devices. Online services will need to allow users to unsubscribe from their platform easily. Gatekeepers need to provide interoperability with third-parties that offer similar services.”

    Wonderful ! Let’s hope they’ll comply with that law more than they are doing with the GDPR.

  9. sean conner said on September 27, 2023 at 6:21 am
    Reply
  10. Sherry Grant said on September 29, 2023 at 7:47 pm
    Reply

    What does this article about Musk/Tesla have to do with computing, devices, phones?
    More irelevant filler.

  11. Anonymous said on September 29, 2023 at 8:47 pm
    Reply

    yeah sure… they are always the victims and it is only against them ????

    Believe them 100% and never question anything. This lawsuit sounds like the type you heard when people were eating batteries.

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