Discord upload limit: how big can a clip be?
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not the server or channel, and the free limit rose from 10 MB in August 2026, so older advice that says 10 MB is out of date.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.
Get a clip under the Discord limit
Free Discord accounts can upload 20 MB, Nitro Basic 50 MB, and Nitro up to 1 GB. If your recording is over the line, shrink a clip to fit Discord in your browser. Your video stays on your device while you do it.
Attachment size by account
| Free account | 20 MBDiscord says this is up from 10 MB, as of August 2026.Source, checked Oct 2026 |
|---|---|
| Nitro Basic | 50 MBSource, checked Oct 2026 |
| Nitro | Up to 1 GBSource, checked Oct 2026 |
Other things the help article says
| Images over 20 MB | Shared as a download instead of an inline previewThis applies when the upload setting is set to upload directly to Discord.Source, checked Oct 2026 |
|---|---|
| Mobile size check | Now runs before compression, like on desktopDiscord warns Android users may hit the limit more often than before.Source, checked Oct 2026 |
| Larger limits for some users | Selected users may be able to upload bigger filesSource, checked Oct 2026 |
Make one now
Why the phone and the computer disagree
Until recently the Discord mobile app compressed a video first and then checked its size, so some clips slipped through that a computer would have refused. Discord moved mobile to the same check desktop always used. If a clip used to send from your phone and now fails, this is the likely reason.
The fix is to make the file smaller before you pick it, not to retry.
Getting under 20 MB
Length and frame size drive file size more than anything else. A 30-second gameplay clip at 1080p is often over the limit, while the same clip at 720p usually fits. Cutting dead time from the start and end helps too.
A compressor that works in your browser keeps the video on your device, so you can shrink a private clip without uploading it anywhere first.
When Nitro is not the answer
Nitro raises the cap, but everyone in the chat still has to download the file. A smaller clip loads faster for friends on mobile data, and it uses less of their data allowance each time they watch it.
For a very long recording, a link from a file-sharing service is often kinder than any attachment.
Quick checklist before you send
Check the size in your file manager, not the length of the clip. If it reads under 20 MB, a free account can send it. If it is close, trim a few seconds or drop the frame size one step.
Name the file something readable. Discord shows the filename to everyone, and a clear name helps people find the clip later when they search the channel.
If you share clips often, keep a small folder of ready-to-send versions. Saving a 720p copy next to each original means you never have to redo the work when a friend asks for the same moment again next week.
Questions
What is the Discord file size limit?
Free accounts can upload 20 MB. Nitro Basic raises it to 50 MB, and Nitro allows up to 1 GB, according to the Discord help centre.
Was the limit not 10 MB?
It was. Discord says the free limit rose from 10 MB to 20 MB as of August 2026, so guides quoting 10 MB are out of date.
Does the server I am in change the upload limit?
The help article ties the limits to the account type. It does not mention server boosts, so we do not list any.
Why does my clip fail on Android when it worked before?
Discord now checks the original size before compressing on mobile. Make the clip smaller first and it should send.
More platform specs
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.
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.