Discord's upload limits
| Plan | Max size per file |
|---|---|
| Free | 10 MB |
| Nitro Basic | 50 MB |
| Nitro | 500 MB |
These are the limits at the time of writing. Server boosts can also raise the limit inside a specific server. If your upload is refused, check the limit Discord shows and use the custom size option.
How much video fits in 10 MB
10 MB is about 80,000 kilobits. Divide by the clip's length to get the total bitrate available, then subtract the audio. The table assumes 128 kbps audio and a small safety margin.
| Clip length | Video bitrate available | Resolution that holds up |
|---|---|---|
| 15 seconds | About 4,800 kbps | 1080p |
| 30 seconds | About 2,400 kbps | 1080p or 720p |
| 60 seconds | About 1,150 kbps | 720p |
| 2 minutes | About 520 kbps | 480p |
| 5 minutes | About 130 kbps | Too low: trim or split |
Gaming clips with fast motion need more bitrate than a webcam or a screen recording. If a game clip looks blocky, lower the resolution one step or trim it shorter.
Steps
- Open Compress to Size and drop in your clip.
- Choose 10 MB (or 50 MB or a custom size for Nitro).
- Leave the resolution on Automatic so it is lowered only when that keeps the picture cleaner.
- If the clip has no important sound, switch audio to Remove for more picture quality.
- Press Compress to size, check the preview, and download.
When the clip is too long
If the result looks smeared, the clip is too long for the limit. You have three good options.
- Trim to the moment people actually need to see. Fast trim keeps the original quality.
- Make a GIF for short reactions with no sound. Discord plays GIFs inline, though a GIF is often bigger than a short MP4.
- Share a link to a cloud copy for long videos, and post a short trimmed clip as a preview.
Settings for game clips and screen recordings
Game capture software often records at 60 fps and a very high bitrate, which is the worst case for a 10 MB limit. Fast camera movement, particles and foliage all change every frame, so the encoder needs many bits to describe them.
- Drop to 30 fps for anything that is not about split-second motion. Half the frames means each frame can carry more detail.
- Lower the resolution before the quality falls apart. A clean 720p clip reads better in a Discord chat than a blocky 1080p one.
- Keep the clip short. Ten to twenty seconds around the highlight is usually what people want to see.
- Screen recordings of slides, code or chat compress very well: 15 fps and a lower resolution are often invisible.
Questions
What is the Discord file size limit?
At the time of writing, 10 MB per file on free accounts, 50 MB with Nitro Basic and 500 MB with Nitro. Limits can change, so check what Discord shows when an upload fails.
Why does my 10 MB file still fail to upload?
Some tools count 10 MB as 10,485,760 bytes while others mean 10,000,000. Compress to Size targets slightly under the limit to be safe. If it still fails, choose a custom size of 9 MB.
Will Discord play the compressed video inline?
Yes. MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio, which is what Compress to Size produces, plays inline in Discord on desktop, web and mobile.
Is my clip uploaded to compress it?
No. The compression runs in your browser. The only upload is the one you make to Discord yourself.