---
c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
Title: CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE_LARGE
Section: 3
Source: libcurl
See-also:
  - CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE (3)
  - CURLOPT_MAX_RECV_SPEED_LARGE (3)
Protocol:
  - FTP
  - HTTP
  - MQTT
Added-in: 7.11.0
---

# NAME

CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE_LARGE - maximum file size allowed to download

# SYNOPSIS

~~~c
#include <curl/curl.h>

CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE_LARGE,
                          curl_off_t size);
~~~

# DESCRIPTION

Pass a curl_off_t as parameter. This specifies the maximum accepted *size* (in
bytes) of a file to download. If the file requested is found larger than this
value, the transfer is aborted and *CURLE_FILESIZE_EXCEEDED* is returned.
Passing a zero *size* disables this, and passing a negative *size* yields a
*CURLE_BAD_FUNCTION_ARGUMENT*.

If the size is known to exceed the limit before the transfer starts, libcurl
aborts before starting the transfer. If the transfer instead exceeds the limit
while it is in progress, libcurl aborts it at that point.

Since 8.20.0, this option also stops ongoing transfers that would reach this
threshold due to automatic decompression using CURLOPT_ACCEPT_ENCODING(3).

# DEFAULT

0, meaning disabled.

# %PROTOCOLS%

# EXAMPLE

~~~c
int main(void)
{
  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
  if(curl) {
    CURLcode result;
    curl_off_t ridiculous = (curl_off_t)1 << 48;
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com/");
    /* refuse to download if larger than ridiculous */
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE_LARGE, ridiculous);
    result = curl_easy_perform(curl);
  }
}
~~~

# %AVAILABILITY%

# HISTORY

Before curl 8.4.0, the limit was not applied to transfers in progress.

# RETURN VALUE

curl_easy_setopt(3) returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.

CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred, see
libcurl-errors(3).