frequently asked questions

• Presentation of the service

• How does it work?

  This service allows you to send and receive files up to 7GB, 24/7, using your regular e-mail.
  On GigaTransfer.com, enter your message, choose up to 10 recipients, and add up to 10 files. These files are uploaded to GigaTransfer.com's secured servers and your message is sent without the files.
  Each recipient receives an e-mail with your message and a download link pointing to GigaTransfer.com. When they click on the link, the recipients open a page on GigaTransfer.com to download the files.

• What e-mail software can I use this service with?

  You don't need an email software to send a file and a message. Each recipient will receive your messages with their email software and because the file is not attached to the message, none of the limitations of regular email and email software apply here, and the service is compatible with every email client software.

• What internet browser can I use the service with?

  This service has been developed using the standards of W3C. It has been validated with the leading browsers: Internet Explorer 7.0 , Firefox 3.6+, Safari 3.2+ and Chrome 8.0+

• What should I do to use the service?

  You can open an account, it's free! Your user ID is the e-mail address you give. Your account initially receives a transfer credit in MBs. You can credit your account with Freedom Passes in MB or Unlimited Passes with various lengths in days or months. With a Freedom Pass, your account is used every time files are sent or received. With an Unlimited Pass, your account is not charged since transfers are unlimited.
  You can also send files up to 120 MB without opening an account. With this pay-as-you-go service, you pay for the file transfer depending on the total file size.

• How can I open a GigaTransfer.com account?

  To open an account, all you need is a valid e-mail address. Click on New account on the left menu and follow the simple instructions. The e-mail address you give is your account ID. This address must not be already in use at GigaTransfer.com. Your account is password protected: you enter the password of your choice and change it when you wish.
  If your GigaTransfer.com account expires, there is no need to open a new account: all you need to do is credit it in order to re-activate it.

• Can I try the service before I open an account?

  You can try the service for free: open a GigaTransfer.com account. We offer you 200 MB of free file transfer credit. Opening an account is free and without any commitment!

• How do I contact you if I have a question?

  You can contact customer service by clicking on the Contact us link at the bottom of the page. Our customer service will answer in the shortest time.

• How to use the service

• How do I send a file using my GigaTransfer.com account?

  Click on Send files on the left menu, or on the Home page. The steps to send files are the following:
  Step 1: You log in using your e-mail address and your password. You are then directed to Step 2.
  Step 2: Once logged in, type your message and add the files to transfer. You can select up to 10 files. Then click on Send and the files are uploaded to GigaTransfer.com's servers.
  Step 3: Once the files are uploaded, you receive an authentication e-mail if you have not logged in at step 1. You must click on the link included in order to validate the file transfer.

• I don't have a GigaTransfer.com account, how can I send a file?

  Choose One Pass on the Home Page. The steps to send files are the following:
  Step 1: In the Send page, enter your e-mail address, type your message and add the files to transfer. You can select up to 10 files. Then click on Send and the files are uploaded to GigaTransfer.com's servers.
  Step 2: Once the files are uploaded, you receive an authentication e-mail. You must click on the link included in the mail to proceed with payment.
  Step 3: You pay the transfer with one of the types of payments available. The message is sent as soon as the payment is accepted.

• Do I need my password to send files?

  YES. You must log in with your e-mail address and your password to send a file using your GigaTransfer.com account.

• What types of documents can I send?

  You can send any file type using GigaTransfer.com as long as to total file size does not exceed the maximum authorised size for the transfer.

• What is the maximum file size that can be transferred?

  There is no size limit for files sent, but the total size of uploaded files must stay below 2GB because of the limitation of web browsers Once uploaded and transferred, a file can be stored and available for immediate file transfers The maximum size of file transfers is 7GB (2GB uploaded and 5GB from the storage area).
  Warning: the duration of a file transfer depends on the total file size, on the "upload" speed of your internet access, and on the traffic conditions on the internet at the time of the transfer. Your connection must not be interrupted during the whole file transfer, otherwise the upload may be interrupted.

• How do my recipients know that I sent them files, and how can they get these files?

  The recipients of your file transfer receive an e-mail with the message you entered, followed by the download link we insert automatically. This link gives access to the files for 14 days. After that, the files are deleted and no longer available for download.

• What do you put in the e-mail sent to the recipients?

  In addition to your message, the e-mail contains instructions to download the file(s). Theses instructions are automatically added in the language you have selected on the GigaTransfer.com upload page (defaults to English).

• How do I choose the language of the message sent to my recipients?

  Before uploading the files, look at the options below the message fields. Select the language for the instructions put in the message. All the recipients will receive their message in this language. English is the default language.

• How is the file transfer secured?

  The recipient goes to the download page by clicking of the link included in the message. This link is a unique access key: each message and each recipient receive a unique key.
  In addition, the sender can protect the file transfer with a password. The password is not sent by GigaTransfer.com, it is the responsibility of the sender to give the password to the recipients by his/her preferred means. GigaTransfer.com will ask for this password every time a recipient goes to the download page for the protected file transfer.

• Do I need an account to send a file?

  With your GigaTransfer.com account, you can send up to 10 files to up to 10 different e-mail addresses.
  Anyone with an e-mail address can send files to you using your personal DROP page. In that case, you will have to accept each file transfer before your account is charged. If you do not want this feature, you can disable it in your account management page.
  If you don't have a GigaTransfer.com account, you can:
  - Send up to 10 files to a GigaTransfer.com user if this user authorised incoming files on the DROP page. The recipient must accept your message before downloading the file(s). The recipient may refuse the incoming transfer and will not be able to download the files.
  - Or send up to 10 files to 10 different e-mail addresses, and pay at the end of the file upload. This feature limits the total transfer size to 120 MB.

• How does the DROP service work?

  The DROP Page allows anyone to send up to 10 files to a GigaTransfer.com user. To do this, one must:
  1. Go to https://www.gigatransfer.com/userid@domain where userid@domain is the user's e-mail address (GigaTransfer.com user ID)
  2. Enter one's e-mail address and add files. The sender can also add a message. Then click send. That's it!
  After the files are sent, the user receives a message with a download link. He/she has 14 days to accept to file transfer and download the files. The account is charged when the user accepts the transfer.
  WARNING: GigaTransfer.com only verifies the e-mail address of the sender if the sender checked the option Authenticate your e-mail address.

• Your GigaTransfer.com account

• How can I refill a GigaTransfer.com account?

  You can refill your account at any time with a number of MB of your choice (Freedom Pass), or unlimited use for a given time (Unlimited Pass). Once your order is confirmed, you pay on our partner bank's secured website. Once your payment is accepted, you can immediately use the new Pass.
  Select Manage my Account and follow the refill instructions to buy a pass.

• How long does my transfer credit last?

  When you open a new 200 MB account, the credit is GigaTransfer.com of free file transfers during one month.
  Every time you buy a Freedom Pass, the new credit AND the remaining balance are valid for 12 months after the date of purchase. If you buy an Unlimited Pass, the remaining balance and validity are extended until after the Unlimited Pass ends.

• When is my GigaTransfer.com account charged?

  If you have a Freedom Pass, you account uses the total size of files transferred after the message is sent.
  If you receive a file with GigaTransfer.com's DROP service, the account is charged only after you accept the incoming files. If you do not accept the message, your account is not charged.
  Note: If you have an Unlimited Pass, there is no such thing as an account balance, files are sent or received without charging your account balance.

• What happens if my GigaTransfer.com Freedom Pass balance is insufficient to send or receive files?

  After the files are uploaded, we check if your account balance equals at least the total size of the files. If the account does not have enough MBs, we invite you to credit the account, and the files + message are put on hold for 48 hours. As soon as you buy a Pass, the message is sent. If you do not credit your account after 48 hours, the files are deleted from our servers. Note that this does not apply to Unlimited Passes that allow for unlimited file transfers.

• What happens to my account when it expires?

  When your account balance reaches zero, or when the validity of your Pass ends, your account expires: the remaining balance is lost and you can't send nor receive files any longer. However, the account stays available for another 12 months during which all you need to do to use it is to purchase a Pass.

• How do I change my password?

  Log in first with the current password, then click Change password in Manage my account and enter your new password.
  If you forgot you password, GigaTransfer.com will not be able to send it or show it to you: for security reasons, we do not store passwords.

• I have forgotten my password, or I have never entered one.

  If you have lost or forgotten your password, GigaTransfer.com will not be able to send it back to you: in order to protect your privacy, we do not store passwords.
  Click on Log in and then click on Password lost or forgotten in the login popup. You will be asked for your e-mail address and you will receive a authentication message at this address. The link inside the message will open the new password setup page.

• How can I personalize my DROP Page?

  Every GigaTransfer.com user has a personal page on the system where any third party can drop files for him/her: https://www.gigatransfer.com/user@domain where user@domain is the user ID. This page can be personalized with the following:
  - page title: the user can choose a name or small text (30 characters max.)
  - logo: the user can replace the default GigaTransfer.com logo by their own
  - text: the user can enter a welcome message or some other text that is displayed on their DROP Page
  The user can make all these modifications in the Manage my account page after logging in.

• Own do I see my file transfer history?

  With my account, all users can check their file transfer history for the past 6 months. File transfer information is shown but message details (subject and text of the message) are deleted as soon as the file transfer expires.
  As long as a file transfer has not expired, the user can delete it: the files are deleted and not available for download any longer, the message is also deleted.
  Every account user can access her/his file transfer history, the account owner can access all account users' history.

• Who can use GigaTransfer.com?

  Anyone with a GigaTransfer.com account can authorise up to 9 additional users. Each user will have a personal ID (e-mail) and password of her/his choice as long as their e-mail is not already in use with another GigaTransfer.com account.
  Anyone with a valid e-mail address can send files to you if you have accepted to receive files using your GigaTransfer.com account.
  Anyone with a valid e-mail address can use GigaTransfer.com to send up to 60MB without opening a GigaTransfer.com account.

• The GigaTransfer.com platform

• What kind of data does GigaTransfer.com records?

  For each file transfer, we keep the sender's e-mail address, the time and day, the names and size of file transferred, the recipients' e-mail addresses.
  We also record connections by recipients to download files (e-mail, time and day) to certify proper reception of the transfers to the sender.

• On what technology is GigaTransfer.com based, and where are the platforms located?

  We use an open source environment on Linux platforms. Our servers are located in France, in the secured compounds of one of the largest European providers.

• What is GigaTransfer.com policy on security?

  - Passwords must have a length between 4 and 16 characters. To protect passwords, no password is kept in our systems. We store a mathematical 'coded fingerprint' that we keep in order to authorize access to users.
  - The storage area where the files are kept is private and not accessible from the outside (the internet). For each message, each recipient receives a private key in the link sent by email. You receive a similar key in your copy. When a recipient clicks on the link, the key is communicated to the system which then "fetches" the file.
  - The file attached to the message is kept on our servers for maximum 10 days. We do not copy the files, and we keep track of the daily deletion of files from our servers.
  - We use the regular internet email service (SMTP) to send messages. As a notice, we are not responsible for the fraudulent use of your email address, and of the emails your receive.
  - Our customer service is at your disposal to answer all your questions, as long as they do not put our security policy at risk.