Video specs for every platform
Sizes, lengths and file limits, each with its source and the date we last checked.
Limits at a glance
Every figure comes from the platform's own pages. Open a platform for the source and the date we checked. Where a platform publishes no figure, the cell says Not stated.
| Platform | Shape | Longest video | Largest file |
|---|---|---|---|
| TikTok | Not stated | 3 minutes, or 5 or 10 for some accounts | 4 GB |
| 1.91:1 to 9:16 (Reels) | 20 minutes (Reels) | Not stated | |
| YouTube Shorts | Square or vertical | 3 minutes | Not stated |
| YouTube | 16:9 | 12 hours (15 minutes until verified) | 256 GB |
| X | 1:3 to 3:1 | 20 minutes (125 with Premium) | 8 GB (16 GB with Premium) |
| Not stated | 15 minutes | 5 GB | |
| 16:9 to 9:16 | 241 minutes | 4 GB | |
| Discord | Not stated | Not stated | 20 MB (50 MB Nitro Basic, 1 GB Nitro) |
| Not stated | Not stated | 2 GB | |
| Not stated | Not stated | 25 MB in Gmail, 20 MB in Outlook |
TikTok video specs
TikTok accepts MP4, WebM and MOV videos up to 4 GB, from 360 to 4096 pixels on each side, at 23 to 60 FPS. Every creator can post 3 minutes, and some accounts get 5 or 10. The table lists the limits TikTok documents itself, with the exact page each number came from and the date we last looked. If a number you expect is missing, that is deliberate. We only print values TikTok states in its own documentation, and the pages we could read do not give a fixed rule for things like the ideal aspect ratio.
Instagram video specs
Reels can run up to 20 minutes, as one clip or several, in any shape from 1.91:1 to 9:16, at 30 FPS or more and at least 720 pixels wide. Instagram spreads its rules across Reels, feed posts and Stories, and its help pages do not always agree, so this page gathers the numbers that Instagram and Meta state in writing, grouped by format, with the page and date next to every row. Rows that come from photo guidance or from advertising specs say so in their label, because they do not automatically apply to a normal Reel. Where we could not find an official figure, such as an organic Stories length, we left it out.
YouTube Shorts video specs
A Short can be up to 3 minutes long and must be square or vertical. It is not a separate upload type: YouTube decides after the fact, looking at the shape and length of the file you sent. That makes the rules short but unforgiving: get the shape or the length wrong and your clip is filed as an ordinary video instead. The rows below are the numbers YouTube Help states, with the page we read and the day we checked. Anything YouTube does not write down, such as exact safe-zone margins, is left out rather than guessed.
YouTube video specs
YouTube accepts files up to 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less, and accounts that are not verified can post up to 15 minutes. Unlike most social apps, it also publishes a detailed encoding recipe, and it re-encodes everything you send anyway. So the useful question is not what will be accepted, since almost anything is, but what to send so the re-encode starts from a clean, sharp source. This page collects the limits and the recommended settings from YouTube Help, each with its own link and check date. For vertical clips under three minutes, see the YouTube Shorts page instead.
X video specs
A standard X account can post videos up to 20 minutes and 8 GB, and Premium or verified accounts get 125 minutes and 16 GB. X documents two sets of numbers: hard limits that cause an upload to fail, and recommended settings that decide how good the result looks. Older pages with outdated figures still circulate. The rows below come from the current X developer documentation, with the page and the check date beside each one. We left out formats and any limit we could not read directly.
LinkedIn video specs
LinkedIn takes videos up to 5 GB and 15 minutes in a post, and is strict about almost nothing else. A normal phone recording will usually upload without any changes, which is why most people never look up the limits. The numbers below matter when an upload stalls, when a clip looks soft after processing, or when you are preparing a video for a company Page or an ad, where the rules differ from a personal post. Every row names the LinkedIn help page it came from and the day we last read it, so you can check it yourself.
Facebook video specs
Facebook feed videos can be up to 4 GB and 241 minutes, in any shape from 16:9 landscape to 9:16 portrait. But Facebook is not one video surface, and each has its own shape and running time: Stories want a tall frame, and in-stream is its own short format. Meta publishes these numbers mainly for advertisers, so the tables below come from its ad pages. Ordinary posts from a profile or Page generally follow the same shapes, but we only list what Meta states in writing, and each row links to the page we read.
Discord video specs
Free Discord accounts can upload files up to 20 MB, Nitro Basic up to 50 MB and Nitro up to 1 GB. The cap depends on your account, not the server or channel, and the free limit rose from 10 MB in August 2026, so older advice that says 10 MB is out of date. Below the table you will find the quirks that trip people up, such as how the check differs on a phone, and the quickest ways to bring a recording under the line.
WhatsApp video specs
WhatsApp lets you send files up to 2 GB, up from 100 MB, and that is the only size figure we found that WhatsApp itself states in writing. People searching for the WhatsApp video size limit find answers that vary from one site to the next, and many of them do not come from WhatsApp itself. WhatsApp does not publish a video-specific limit that we could read and verify, so this page does not invent one. What it offers instead is the confirmed number, an honest account of what is unknown, and practical ways to send a clip that is easy for the other person to receive.
Email video specs
Gmail lets a personal account attach up to 25 MB, and Outlook allows 20 MB for internet accounts such as Outlook.com. Video is the file type that most often breaks an email, because a minute of phone footage can easily go past either cap. The two big services publish their limits, and they are not the same. Gmail quietly swaps an oversized file for a Drive link. Outlook counts the attachment and the message body together, and the cap depends on the kind of account you have. Here are the figures, with the page each came from.