When you need to send an important file to a contact, you can either send it as an email attachment or, if the file size is too big for an email message, you can upload it to any of the file hosting services and share the download link with your contact over email.

IM software like Skype, Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger also let you to easily transfer files from one computer to another without imposing any restrictions on file size or the file type. This is generally quicker than sending files over email but the only downside is that both parties should be running the IM client in order or send or receive files.

There’s another interesting option that offers IM like flexibility and yet you can use it in the browser itself without requiring any software – it’s called iSendr. Update: iSendr is no longer available but a good alternative is JustBeamIt.com which is free as well.

It works something like this. You (the sender) initiate a file transfer session at your end and iSendr will provide you with a private link that you can pass on to your friend over a phone call or a text message. When your friend opens that link in her browser, the file transfer will start immediately.

What’s unique here is that the file is getting copied from your computer to her machine directly so some people may find with this approach more secure as their files aren’t not getting uploaded to any third-party server.

Also, there are no file size restrictions and as soon as the file gets downloaded to your friend’s computer, the sharing session will end automatically.

Related: How to Share Large Files over the Internet