The limits at a glance
These are the limits as we understand them at the time of writing. Apps change them without much notice, and some depend on your plan, your country or the app version, so treat the numbers as a planning guide and check the app if a file is close to the line.
| Where | Max file size | Max length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discord (free) | 10 MB | No fixed length | Per file, per message |
| Discord Nitro Basic | 50 MB | No fixed length | Per file |
| Discord Nitro | 500 MB | No fixed length | Per file |
| Gmail | 25 MB attachments | No fixed length | Bigger files are sent as a Google Drive link |
| Outlook.com | 20 MB attachments | No fixed length | Bigger files are shared through OneDrive |
| WhatsApp (video as media) | Around 16 MB is the long-standing guide | Long clips may be refused | The app compresses media videos; quality drops |
| WhatsApp (as document) | Up to 2 GB | No fixed length | Sent as a file, not compressed, no inline preview on some devices |
| WhatsApp Status | Small clips only | 60 seconds per clip on current versions | Older versions allowed 30 seconds |
| Telegram | 2 GB | No fixed length | 4 GB with Telegram Premium |
| Instagram Reels | Large files accepted | Up to 3 minutes for uploads | Recompressed on upload |
| Instagram Stories | Large files accepted | Up to 60 seconds per story | Longer clips are split into several stories |
| YouTube Shorts | Large files accepted | Up to 3 minutes | Vertical or square video |
| TikTok | Large files accepted | Up to 10 minutes in the app | Some accounts can upload longer videos from a computer |
Limits change. If a number here no longer matches what the app tells you, trust the app, and use the custom size option in Compress to Size to hit the new target.
Size limits and length limits are different problems
A size limit is about megabytes. You solve it by lowering the bitrate: fewer bits per second of video. The video stays the same length, it just carries less detail.
A length limit is about seconds. No amount of compression helps: you have to cut the video shorter or split it into parts. WhatsApp Status and Instagram Stories are length limits. Discord and email are size limits.
Some limits are both. A long video that must fit in 10 MB will look poor however well it is encoded, because 10 MB spread across ten minutes leaves very little for each second. In that case trimming first gives a better result than compressing harder.
Trim VideoCut the video down to the part that matters before compressing it. Fast mode keeps the original quality.Split VideoSplit a long video into 60-second or 30-second parts for Status and Stories, downloaded together as a ZIP.How to know if a video will fit
File size is roughly bitrate multiplied by duration. A video encoded at 2,000 kilobits per second (kbps) for 60 seconds is about 2,000 x 60 / 8 = 15,000 kilobytes, or 15 MB, plus a little for the audio and the container.
Turn that around and you get the bitrate a target allows. For a 10 MB limit and a 60 second clip: 10 MB is 80,000 kilobits, divided by 60 seconds gives about 1,330 kbps in total. Take off 128 kbps for audio and roughly 1,200 kbps is left for the picture. That is comfortable for 720p and tight for 1080p.
Aim for about 95% of the limit. Containers add a small overhead, and some apps count a megabyte as 1,000,000 bytes while others count 1,048,576. Compress to Size already leaves this margin for you.
Getting the best quality under a limit
- Trim dead time first. Every second you remove gives the rest more bits.
- Lower the resolution when the bitrate is low. 720p at 1,200 kbps looks cleaner than 1080p at the same bitrate, because the encoder is not stretched across twice the pixels.
- Drop the audio bitrate for speech. 96 kbps or even 64 kbps is fine for a voice, which frees room for the picture.
- Remove the audio entirely if the clip does not need it, such as a silent screen recording.
- Use a lower frame rate for screen recordings. 15 fps is plenty for slides and code, and halves the motion the encoder must describe.
If a file has to go somewhere with no tight limit, such as Telegram or a cloud link, skip compression altogether. Every re-encode loses a little detail.
When to send as a file instead
Chat apps recompress videos sent as media so they load fast on mobile data. If you want the person to receive the original quality, send it as a document or file attachment instead. On WhatsApp that means the attach menu's Document option; on Telegram, sending as a file rather than as a video.
The trade-off is convenience: documents may not play inline on every device and they use more of the recipient's data. For a quick share, compress to a sensible size first so the app does not need to.
Questions
What is the Discord upload limit without Nitro?
At the time of writing it is 10 MB per file for free accounts, 50 MB with Nitro Basic and 500 MB with Nitro. Compress to Size has a 10 MB preset that leaves a small safety margin.
How big a video can I email?
Gmail allows 25 MB of attachments per email and Outlook.com allows 20 MB. Anything bigger is sent as a cloud link instead. Compressing to 20 MB works for both.
Why does WhatsApp make my video look worse?
Videos sent as media are recompressed by the app to save data. Send the file as a document to keep the original quality, or compress it yourself first so you control how it looks.
Can compression get a 10 minute video under 10 MB?
Technically yes, but it will look very soft, because about 130 kbps per second of video is all that is left. Trim it, split it, or use a link to a cloud file instead.
Is my video uploaded when I compress it here?
No. Compression runs in your browser with FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. The file never leaves your device.