diff --git a/.changeset/red-snails-tap.md b/.changeset/red-snails-tap.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cd53efea2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/red-snails-tap.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@directus/api': minor
+---
+
+Added a new `FILES_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE` environment variable for setting a max value system-wide
diff --git a/api/src/controllers/files.ts b/api/src/controllers/files.ts
index cdfd013dec..61c7b00dc4 100644
--- a/api/src/controllers/files.ts
+++ b/api/src/controllers/files.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 import formatTitle from '@directus/format-title';
 import { toArray } from '@directus/utils';
 import Busboy from 'busboy';
+import bytes from 'bytes';
 import type { RequestHandler } from 'express';
 import express from 'express';
 import Joi from 'joi';
 import path from 'path';
 import env from '../env.js';
+import { ContentTooLargeException } from '../exceptions/content-too-large.js';
 import { ForbiddenException, InvalidPayloadException } from '../exceptions/index.js';
 import { respond } from '../middleware/respond.js';
 import useCollection from '../middleware/use-collection.js';
@@ -34,7 +36,14 @@ export const multipartHandler: RequestHandler = (req, res, next) => {
 		};
 	}
 
-	const busboy = Busboy({ headers, defParamCharset: 'utf8' });
+	const busboy = Busboy({
+		headers,
+		defParamCharset: 'utf8',
+		limits: {
+			fileSize: env['FILES_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE'] ? bytes(env['FILES_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE'] as string) : undefined,
+		},
+	});
+
 	const savedFiles: PrimaryKey[] = [];
 	const service = new FilesService({ accountability: req.accountability, schema: req.schema });
 
@@ -88,6 +97,12 @@ export const multipartHandler: RequestHandler = (req, res, next) => {
 		// Clear the payload for the next to-be-uploaded file
 		payload = {};
 
+		fileStream.on('limit', () => {
+			const error = new ContentTooLargeException(`Uploaded file is too large`);
+			fileStream.emit('error', error);
+			next(error);
+		});
+
 		try {
 			const primaryKey = await service.uploadOne(fileStream, payloadWithRequiredFields, existingPrimaryKey);
 			savedFiles.push(primaryKey);
diff --git a/api/src/env.ts b/api/src/env.ts
index 510d7daef5..3214b53a47 100644
--- a/api/src/env.ts
+++ b/api/src/env.ts
@@ -107,6 +107,10 @@ const allowedEnvironmentVars = [
 	'STORAGE_.+_HEALTHCHECK_THRESHOLD',
 	// metadata
 	'FILE_METADATA_ALLOW_LIST',
+
+	// files
+	'FILES_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE',
+
 	// assets
 	'ASSETS_CACHE_TTL',
 	'ASSETS_TRANSFORM_MAX_CONCURRENT',
diff --git a/api/src/exceptions/content-too-large.ts b/api/src/exceptions/content-too-large.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2e64ade257
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/exceptions/content-too-large.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import { BaseException } from '@directus/exceptions';
+
+export class ContentTooLargeException extends BaseException {
+	constructor(message: string) {
+		super(message, 413, 'CONTENT_TOO_LARGE');
+	}
+}
diff --git a/api/src/services/files.ts b/api/src/services/files.ts
index 7d2fd2bf63..dc9d864f5c 100644
--- a/api/src/services/files.ts
+++ b/api/src/services/files.ts
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ export class FilesService extends ItemsService {
 		} catch (err: any) {
 			logger.warn(`Couldn't save file ${payload.filename_disk}`);
 			logger.warn(err);
+
+			await this.deleteOne(primaryKey);
+
 			throw new ServiceUnavailableException(`Couldn't save file ${payload.filename_disk}`, { service: 'files' });
 		}
 
diff --git a/app/src/components/v-upload.vue b/app/src/components/v-upload.vue
index abca5eadd3..2f7e5687fe 100644
--- a/app/src/components/v-upload.vue
+++ b/app/src/components/v-upload.vue
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ function useUpload() {
 			}
 		} catch (err: any) {
 			unexpectedError(err);
+			emit('input', null);
 		} finally {
 			uploading.value = false;
 			done.value = 0;
diff --git a/app/src/lang/translations/en-US.yaml b/app/src/lang/translations/en-US.yaml
index f58ad81a9c..016ef4e045 100644
--- a/app/src/lang/translations/en-US.yaml
+++ b/app/src/lang/translations/en-US.yaml
@@ -626,6 +626,7 @@ errors:
   RANGE_NOT_SATISFIABLE: Invalid range
   METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED: Method not allowed
   REQUESTS_EXCEEDED: Requests limit reached
+  CONTENT_TOO_LARGE: Submitted item/file is too large
 security: Security
 value_hashed: Value Securely Hashed
 bookmark_name: Bookmark name...
diff --git a/docs/self-hosted/config-options.md b/docs/self-hosted/config-options.md
index 981637b508..505a0445b5 100644
--- a/docs/self-hosted/config-options.md
+++ b/docs/self-hosted/config-options.md
@@ -680,6 +680,12 @@ purposes, collection of additional metadata must be configured:
 
 <sup>[1]</sup>: Extracting all metadata might cause memory issues when the file has an unusually large set of metadata
 
+### Upload Limits
+
+| Variable                | Description                                                         | Default Value |
+| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- |
+| `FILES_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE` | Maximum file upload size allowed. For example `10mb`, `1gb`, `10kb` |               |
+
 ## Assets
 
 | Variable                                 | Description                                                                                                                         | Default Value |