File size limits by platform
Verified August 23, 2026 - platforms change these without notice, so treat this as a snapshot, not a guarantee.
Every one of these caps has, at some point, been the actual reason someone opened a compressor. This page collects the current image and video upload limits for the platforms people hit them on most, in one place, so you know the number you're actually compressing toward. If your file is over the limit, compress your image or compress your video to a target just under it - no account needed.
| Platform | Content | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo (feed post) | 30 MB | Most optimized JPEGs land well under this | |
| Video (feed) | 100 MB | Reels via the app: up to 650 MB | |
| X (Twitter) | Image | 5 MB | GIF: 15 MB desktop / 5 MB mobile |
| X (Twitter) | Video | 512 MB | 2:20 length cap on standard accounts |
| Post image | 5 MB | ||
| Profile/cover banner | 8 MB | ||
| Discord | File (no Nitro) | 20 MB | Raised from 10 MB in Aug 2026 |
| Discord | File (Nitro) | 500 MB | Nitro Basic: 50 MB |
| Photo (as photo) | ~100 KB | Auto-recompressed by WhatsApp itself | |
| Video (as media) | 16 MB | Send as Document for up to 2 GB, full quality | |
| Photo | 30 MB | ||
| Reel | ~1 GB | Not consistently published for all video types | |
| TikTok | Video (mobile app) | No official limit | Practical mobile caps well under 500 MB; desktop upload allows more |
| YouTube | Custom thumbnail | 2 MB / 50 MB | Mobile / desktop upload |
| Gmail | Attachment | 25 MB | Per email, personal account |
| Slack | File upload | 1 GB | Same cap on every plan, Free included |
A feed photo tops out at 30 MB and a feed video at 100 MB. Reels posted directly from the Instagram app get a much higher 650 MB ceiling - but if you're uploading through a third-party scheduler or API, expect it to enforce a lower 300 MB cap instead.
X (Twitter)
Images are capped at 5 MB, GIFs at 15 MB on desktop or 5 MB on mobile. Video is capped at 512 MB regardless of subscription tier - what a Premium subscription changes is the maximum video length (up to 4 hours), not the file size limit.
A standard post image is capped at 5 MB. Profile pictures and cover/banner images get a bit more headroom at 8 MB.
Discord
Discord raised its free-tier file upload cap from 10 MB to 20 MB in August 2026. Nitro Basic subscribers get 50 MB, and full Nitro subscribers get 500 MB per file.
Anything sent as a "Photo" gets automatically recompressed by WhatsApp to roughly 100 KB, no matter what you started with - there's no way to opt out of this via the Photo attachment path. Video sent as media is capped at 16 MB. If you need to preserve original quality above that, send it as a Document instead, which allows up to 2 GB.
A photo is capped at 30 MB. Video limits are messier and vary by content type and rollout status on a given account - Reels are commonly cited around 1 GB, but Facebook doesn't consistently publish one figure for every video format.
TikTok
TikTok doesn't publish a single official upload size limit. In practice, mobile app uploads are capped well under 500 MB (Android generally lower than iOS), while the desktop web uploader at tiktok.com accepts substantially larger files. If a clip is getting rejected on mobile, compressing it down to a few hundred MB first is the reliable fix.
YouTube
This one's specifically about the custom thumbnail, not the video itself - YouTube's video upload has no comparably small size limit. A thumbnail is capped at 2 MB from a mobile device or 50 MB from desktop.
Gmail
25 MB total per email on a personal account. Because MIME/Base64 email encoding adds roughly a third to a file's effective size in transit, keeping an attachment noticeably under 25 MB - not right at the edge - avoids it silently getting swapped for a Google Drive link.
Slack
1 GB per file, unchanged across Free, Pro, Business+, and Enterprise Grid. The plans differ in total workspace storage and how far back message history goes, not in what a single file can weigh.
Have a limit to add or correct?
These numbers are checked periodically, not continuously, and platforms change them without notice. If something here is out of date, let us know.