Every Platform's Video Upload Limit in 2026 (Reference Table)

Every platform enforces a different video size limit, most of them publish it badly, and several change it without announcement. This page is the reference table we keep for our own compressor presets — each limit is paired with a one-click preset that compresses your video to fit it. Limits below were last verified in June 2026; platforms change these often, so treat the table as a strong starting point rather than a contract.

The table

Platform	Limit	Notes	Compress to fit
Discord (free)	10 MB per file	Nitro Basic raises it to 50 MB, full Nitro to 500 MB. Boosted servers can allow more for everyone in that server.	Discord preset
WhatsApp (as video)	~16 MB	Roughly 90 seconds to 3 minutes of footage. Sending as a document allows up to 2 GB but loses the in-chat preview and autoplay.	WhatsApp preset
Gmail	25 MB attachment	Larger files are converted to a Drive link instead of a real attachment.	25 MB preset
Outlook	20 MB attachment	Lower than Gmail — target 20 MB if you do not know what the recipient uses.	Email preset (20 MB)
TikTok	~72 MB (Android app) ~287 MB (iOS app)	The web uploader at tiktok.com accepts several GB. Target 72 MB and it works from anywhere.	TikTok preset
Instagram Reels	~650 MB in-app ~300 MB via schedulers	Up to 20 minutes, but the feed strongly favours vertical 1080p clips under 90 seconds.	Instagram preset
X (Twitter), free	512 MB, max 2 min 20 s	Premium tiers allow far longer and larger videos. Most viewers get 720p playback regardless.	X preset
Telegram	2 GB free, 4 GB Premium	Most videos already fit. Compressing here is about upload speed and recipients' data, not the limit.	Telegram preset

Reading the limits correctly

Three patterns explain most of the confusion people run into:

• App limits and web limits are different numbers. TikTok is the clearest case: the mobile apps cap you at roughly 72 MB and 287 MB, while the website takes files several gigabytes in size. If an upload keeps failing on your phone, try the same file from a desktop browser before compressing it further.
• "As a video" and "as a file" are different limits. WhatsApp and Telegram both let you send a large video as a document, bypassing the media limit entirely. The trade-off is that the recipient sees an attachment instead of an inline, autoplaying clip.
• The paid tier is often the real limit. Discord's 10 MB is a free-account limit, not a technical one. Before compressing hard enough to hurt quality, check whether the person on the other end can simply receive a bigger file.

Which target size should I actually pick?

If your platform is not in the table, or you just want a round number, these are the target-size presets we maintain:

Target	Good for
8 MB	Forums, older Discord servers, strict web upload forms.
10 MB	Discord free tier and a large share of generic upload forms.
16 MB	WhatsApp with in-chat preview.
25 MB	Gmail attachments and many platform caps.
50 MB	Discord Nitro Basic, most forums — enough headroom for good quality.
100 MB	Generous limits where you want to keep 1080p looking sharp.
200 MB	Long 1080p videos that need to shrink without heavy loss.

How hitting an exact size actually works

Compressing "to 25 MB" is not a quality slider — it is arithmetic. The compressor takes your target, reserves room for the audio track and container overhead, and divides what is left by the length of your video to get a bitrate budget:

• A safety margin comes off the top. We budget about 94% of the target, because encoders overshoot slightly and a file that lands at 25.4 MB against a 25 MB limit is a failed upload.
• Audio is reserved separately at 128 kbps. On a 30-second clip that is negligible; on a 40-minute recording, audio alone eats about 38 MB, which is why long videos cannot hit small targets no matter what you do to the picture.
• Whatever is left becomes the video bitrate. The encoder is then held to that budget for the whole file.

This is why length matters more than people expect. The same 10 MB target is comfortable for a 30-second clip and impossible for a 20-minute one. The compressor predicts this before you start — it estimates how many bits each pixel will get and warns you when a target is too tight to look acceptable, so you can lower the resolution or trim the clip instead of waiting for a disappointing result.

What to do when a target is too small

1. Lower the resolution first. Going from 4K to 1080p, or 1080p to 720p, frees up an enormous amount of the budget and is far less visible than starving a 4K image of bitrate.
2. Trim before you compress. Half the length is half the file, with zero quality cost. Cutting a dead intro is the cheapest compression there is.
3. Check whether the limit is really the limit. Send as a document, use the web uploader instead of the app, or ask the recipient to share a link.
4. Recognise when it is arithmetically impossible. Audio takes 128 kbps whatever you do to the picture, so a 40-minute video spends about 38 MB on sound alone. No video setting will fit that into 25 MB — split the file or share a link instead of hunting for a magic preset.

Frequently asked questions

What is the maximum video size for Discord?

10 MB per file on a free account, 50 MB with Nitro Basic and 500 MB with full Nitro. Heavily boosted servers can raise the limit for everyone in that server. The Discord preset targets 10 MB so the file works for any recipient.

Why does WhatsApp compress my video so badly?

Because it enforces roughly a 16 MB ceiling on anything sent as a video, and applies its own aggressive re-encode to get there. Compressing to just under 16 MB yourself first gives a noticeably better-looking result, because WhatsApp then has less work to do. Sending as a document skips the limit entirely, at the cost of the inline preview.

How do I email a video that is too big?

Compress it to 20 MB and it will attach on both Gmail (25 MB) and Outlook (20 MB). Above that, mail providers switch to sending a cloud link instead of a real attachment, which some corporate filters block. The email preset targets 20 MB for exactly this reason.

Are these limits still accurate?

They were verified in June 2026 and we re-check them when we update our presets. Platforms do change them quietly, so if an upload fails at a size this table says should work, the platform's own help page is the authority — and we would appreciate hearing about it.