CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE_LARGE(3) Introduction to Library Functions

NAME

CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE_LARGE - maximum file size allowed to download

SYNOPSIS

#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

This functionality affects ftp, http and mqtt

EXAMPLE

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

Added in curl 7.11.0

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).

SEE ALSO

CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE(3), CURLOPT_MAX_RECV_SPEED_LARGE(3)

libcurl 2026-06-25 CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE_LARGE(3)