I have been using the Firefox browser as my primary browser for many years now. But apparently, I miss out when Firefox announces the launch of Firefox Send in March 2019. It was only today when I was browsing around that I stumble into Firefox Send. And I’m like holy molly, how come I haven’t heard about this yet!
So I jump right into it to check it out. Well here it is. Firefox Send is a free encrypted file transfer service that allows users to safely and simply share files from any browser. Additionally, Send is also available as an Android app and you can download the same from Google Play Store.
Why I love Firefox Send
Firefox Send is an easy to use platform. It can let you send up to 1Gb files or up to 2.5GB files if you sign with a Firefox account. It works in any browser, not just Firefox; one just needs to go to the link send.firefox.com. Upload or drag and drop files, and Send will generate a link that you can set to expire after a certain number of downloads—up to 100—or a certain amount of time, ranging from five minutes to seven days. You can also protect the file with a password.
This is a great alternative to email, where sending large file attachments is an issue. It’s also a great alternative to cloud storage sites like Google Drive, Dropbox, etc, which can be time-consuming when all you need to do is just share a file one time and not to store the file.
A few weeks ago, I was updating one of my client’s websites, and she wants to add a video on her homepage. As it was some 250 plus MB, she wasn’t able to send it over the mail. So she has to login to her Dropbox and upload there and send me the link for download. Since it was just to send me and not to store the file on Dropbox, sending it through Firefox Send would have been much easier.
How it works
Visit the link send.firefox.com or download and open the android app. Upload or drag and drop files, and Send will generate a link that you can set to expire after a certain number of downloads—up to 100—or a certain amount of time, ranging from five minutes to seven days. You can also protect the file with a password.
Firefox Send then offers a link you can give to the recipient, which they simply click to start the download.
For your information, the recipient will not need a Firefox account of their own to access the files. And it is also not necessary that the recipient had to open the link on the Firefox browser. The link will open in any browser.
Security & Encryptions
Firefox Send is end-to-end encrypted, not even Mozilla can see the contents of what you’re sharing. In addition to this, as mentioned earlier, you can set the expiry of your file, also you can set the limit on the number of downloads. You can also add a password to a given file so that even if someone intercepts that URL, they will not be able to download it.
Whether you’re sharing important personal information, private documents, or confidential work files you can start sending your files for free with Firefox Send.
Cases for Use
Firefox Send will be perfect for sending one time file to your friends and families, or your clients. Imagine sending a movie to your friend where you don’t have to sign up for any cloud storage like Dropbox, Google Drive, etc, nor store it on your account. Just upload and send the link for download. That’s it.
Or imagine you are a photographer and have just completed your project and wants the client to download the photos. Since you already have on your computer hard-drive, you may not want to create a copy again on cloud storage. For such an instance, this could be another great option.
Or imagine you just got married and all your friends and families are after you for the wedding pictures. You can easily upload the photos, set the expiry of the files, say for 1 or 2 days, and also set the password for the file. Just share the link and the password to your friends and families on WhatsApp group. No more bothering from them!
Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m definitely going to use this service from now on!