It happens quite often when we have to share large sized files with others (Maybe you stumble upon a great looking free game, and you want to send its executable to a friend who’s not exactly interested in going through the hassle of searching and downloading it, and things like that). Using Email services is obviously not a viable option for this, as most of them cap the attachment sizes to 50 MB. Granted, we can always split the file into multiple chunks and send them as individual attachments, but that’s not exactly a graceful and easy solution. So how to solve this problem?
The answer is simple, Online large file sharing services. These allow users to share large sized files easily amongst themselves. Today ILFS will be reviewing Pastelink.me, a ridiculously easy to use online large file sharing service that lets the users share large files using minimum to no effort. You can share files up to 250 MB without creating any account, and up to 2GB by creating a free account. The service can be used straightaway, and requires no extraneous installations or steps. Keep reading to find out more!
Pastelink.me: Free Online Large File Sharing Service
Pastelink.me’s tagline says that it is the easiest way to share files online. And after using it, I must say that it’s hard to argue with its claim. Heck, if not the easiest, it’s definitely one of the easiest ways to achieve file sharing. The interface is bare bones and contains nothing that shouldn’t be there. Pastelink.me requires no extra software to be installed on the users’ systems, and the interface is simple and clean, devoid of any ads. Even though Pastelink.me does have a sign up option, it’s strictly optional. In fact, there is no sign up form at the link, and you have to request an invite via Email if you want to sign up. Looks like the Pastelink.me deliberately wants to keep things as simple as possible.
However, there is a big reason why you might want to sign-up for a free account. If you do not sign-up, you can share files up to 250 MB in size, but if you sign-up, you can send large files up to 2GB in size.
I tried signing up for this service and requested an invite. Many hours have passed and I have not got the invite till now. If I get the invite, I will come back and update this review.
If you want to send a file bigger than 2GB, you can try AnySend (free, unlimited file size).
Anyways, here’s how the homepage looks like:
How to share large files via Pastelink.me?
For a service that focuses so much on simplicity, it’s obvious that Pastelink.me’s file share functionality is also as simple as possible. Its primary UI consists of a big rectangular box in the middle, where you can simply drop any file (up to 250 MB) from your PC. If you want, you can click the box and browse for the file to be shared as well.
Once you drag and drop a file on the box, Pastelink.me instantly starts uploading it to create a unique shareable URL for it. A progress bar lets you know how much time it’ll take for your file to be uploaded. Check out the screenshot below:
Once the file is uploaded, Pastelink.me creates a unique URL that you can share with anyone with whom you want to share the file. If you want, you can even directly share the unique URL on various social networks, using their respective icons that appear below the URL. Take a look at the screenshot below:
Downloading a file shared via Pastelink.me’s unique URL
This one’s really simple. All you have to do to get the shared file is go to the unique URL. Once you do that, just click on the name of the file to download it. That’s all it takes. Just like sharing, downloading a file doesn’t require any software installations or sign ups either. How cool is that?
Pastelink.me: Pros & Cons
PROS:
- Exceedingly simple and easy to use.
- No extraneous software installation required.
- Sign up only optional, but increase file size limit to 2 GB.
- Clean and ad-free interface.
CONS:
- Files are retained on Pastelink.me’s servers for only seven days.
- There is no option to delete files.
- There is no option to password protect files.
- You can upload only one file at a time; there is no option to upload a complete folder.
- Does not provides statistics around how many times your file has been downloaded.
Conclusion
Pastelink.me is a simple and straightforward service that makes easy work of sharing large sized files amongst users. It excels at ease of usage, and has a clean and un-cluttered UI that’s to the point. However, the option to use the service without a free account limits the maximum file size to 250 MB, and a free account is required to increase that limit to 2 GB. But despite the little quirks, Pastelink.me is a great freeware web app that does exactly what it’s supposed to, and does it well. If you’re looking for a free file sharing service that lets you share files in possibly one of the easiest ways, I suggest you head over to Pastelink.me and give it a try.
Try Pastelink.me.Me here.