Size limits
Video too large to send? The size limit of every app (November 2026)
Every app sets its own limit, and some don't publish one at all. Here they all are in one place, each with the page it comes from, plus the quickest way to make a video fit.
An app says a video is too large to send when the file is over the limit that app sets, and every app sets its own. As of November 2026, WhatsApp takes videos of up to 100 MB, Telegram 2 GB, Discord 20 MB without Nitro, KakaoTalk 300 MB, and Gmail 25 MB of attachments. Some apps, LINE and Signal among them, publish no number at all.
The tables below give each app’s published limit, with the page it comes from and the month it was checked. After them: why phone videos run into these limits, and the quickest way to make one fit.
Video size limits by app, as of November 2026
Each row is what the app itself publishes, in its help centre, its developer documentation or its own announcements. Where an app publishes nothing, the row says so, rather than repeat a number from another website.
Messaging apps
| App | Limit |
|---|---|
| Video: 100 MB at 720p on a faster connection, 64 MB at 480p on a slower one. As a document: 2 GB.faq.whatsapp.com · Nov 2026 | |
| Telegram | 2 GB per video or file; 4 GB with Telegram Premium.telegram.org (2) · Nov 2026 |
| Messenger | Files up to 100 MB (Meta, April 2024).about.fb.com · Nov 2026 |
| iMessage (Messages) | Apple publishes no limit, and the iPhone may compress the video. Sent as MMS, the carrier sets it: 3.5 MB for video on Verizon.support.apple.com verizon.com · Nov 2026 |
| Discord | 20 MB free; 50 MB with Nitro Basic; 1 GB with Nitro.support.discord.com · Nov 2026 |
| KakaoTalk | 300 MB per video.cs.kakao.com · Nov 2026 |
| LINE | LINE publishes no size or length limit for videos in a chat.guide.line.me · Nov 2026 |
| Zalo | Documents up to 1 GB. Zalo publishes no limit for videos sent in a chat.help.zalo.me · Nov 2026 |
| WeChat’s English help says a video from your album must be under 20 MB. Its Chinese help gives no number.cs.help.wechat.com · Nov 2026 | |
| Signal | Signal publishes no limit.support.signal.org · Nov 2026 |
| Viber | Viber publishes no limit for videos you send. A video message recorded in the chat: up to 20 sec.help.viber.com · Nov 2026 |
| VK | Files in a chat: up to 4 GB. VK Video uploads: up to 256 GB.vk.com (2) · Nov 2026 |
| Files: up to 4 GB each.kf.qq.com · Nov 2026 |
| App | Limit |
|---|---|
| Gmail | 25 MB of attachments per email (personal accounts). Over that, Gmail sends a Google Drive link instead.support.google.com · Nov 2026 |
| Outlook | 25 MB per file on Outlook.com; 20 MB per email in the Outlook app with a personal account.support.microsoft.com (2) · Nov 2026 |
| Yahoo Mail | 25 MB of attachments per email.help.yahoo.com · Nov 2026 |
Social media and video sites
| App | Limit |
|---|---|
| Reels up to 20 min long. No file size is published for the app; through Instagram’s API, a reel can be 300 MB.help.instagram.com developers.facebook.com · Nov 2026 | |
| TikTok | Up to 4 GB, per TikTok’s developer documentation.developers.tiktok.com · Nov 2026 |
| YouTube Shorts | Up to 3 min long, at up to 1080p.support.google.com (2) · Nov 2026 |
| X (Twitter) | Free accounts: 512 MB and 140 sec per video. For paid plans, X’s own help pages give different numbers.help.x.com · Nov 2026 |
| Threads | Videos up to 5 min long; 1 GB through Threads’ API.about.fb.com developers.facebook.com · Nov 2026 |
| Snapchat | Uploads up to 5 min long for Chats, Stories and Spotlight (Snap, 2024). No file size is published.newsroom.snap.com · Nov 2026 |
| Posts up to 15 min long, 30 min with Reddit Premium. A video in a comment: under 1 GB.support.reddithelp.com (2) · Nov 2026 | |
| Posts: 5 GB, up to 15 min long. Messages: 20 MB per file.linkedin.com (2) · Nov 2026 |
Work chat
| App | Limit |
|---|---|
| Slack | 1 GB per file.slack.com · Nov 2026 |
| Microsoft Teams | 100 MB per file in a chat (work and school accounts).learn.microsoft.com · Nov 2026 |
| Google Chat | 200 MB per file. Google says shared files may shrink.support.google.com · Nov 2026 |
Apps change these limits, sometimes without saying so. If one has moved, tell us and we’ll check it again.
Why your phone says the video is too large
- Phone videos are big. Phone cameras record at high bitrates, so a few minutes of 1080p or 4K can run to hundreds of megabytes.
- The limit is on the file, not on the length. Most apps only count megabytes. A few also cap how long a video can be: X for free accounts, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and Snapchat.
- Some apps compress what you send. WhatsApp says media is usually compressed when shared, Google says files shared in Google Chat may shrink, and Apple says the iPhone may compress video attachments in Messages. That’s why a video can look worse after it arrives, even when it fit.
How to make a video fit
- Find the limit. Look the app up in the tables above, and aim a little under it: 95 MB for WhatsApp’s 100 MB, 19 MB for Discord’s 20 MB.
- Trim first. The cheapest megabytes are the seconds you didn’t need.
- Lower the resolution to match. For a video watched in a chat on a phone, 720p is plenty. At a low bitrate, 720p also looks better than 1080p: the same bits spread over fewer pixels.
- Compress to a target size. A video’s size is its bitrate times its length, so the limit and the clip’s length decide the bitrate. Work out the bitrate for any limit.
- Or send it as a file. Where an app takes documents, you can send the video that way instead: WhatsApp takes documents of up to 2 GB, Zalo up to 1 GB. On WhatsApp a document goes as the original file, and the other person downloads it rather than watching it in the chat.
In Ninja, fifteen share presets are each sized to fit where the video is going, from WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord and iMessage / MMS to Gmail, Outlook, Instagram, TikTok, X and LinkedIn. Ninja’s WhatsApp preset aims for 16 MB, well under WhatsApp’s own 100 MB. For an app without a preset, like KakaoTalk, Messenger or Slack, choose Target size and type a number a little under its limit: 290 MB for KakaoTalk, 95 MB for Messenger.
For email in particular, see how to email a large video, and for WhatsApp, how to send a long video on WhatsApp.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my phone say a video is too large to send?
Because the file is bigger than the app you’re sending it with allows. Every app sets its own limit, and the tables above list them. Compress the video to a little under that limit, or send it as a file where the app allows it.
What’s the biggest video I can send on WhatsApp?
100 MB at 720p on a faster connection and 64 MB at 480p on a slower one, per WhatsApp’s Help Center. Sent as a document, up to 2 GB.
Which messaging app sends the biggest videos?
Of the chat apps in the table, Telegram, VK and QQ go furthest: files of up to 4 GB. On Telegram that takes Telegram Premium; without it, the limit is 2 GB.
How do I send a video that’s too large for email?
Gmail and Yahoo Mail allow 25 MB of attachments per email, and the Outlook app 20 MB with a personal account. Compress the video a few megabytes under the limit, or share it as a link from cloud storage instead.
Does compressing a video reduce its quality?
Technically yes — every lossy re-encode discards data. In practice, phone videos carry so much extra data that a well-chosen setting removes most of the file before the difference is visible on a phone. Compare the two at the same moment and judge for yourself.
