Compress Video for Discord - Discord Video Compressor for the File Size Limit

By the team at VidHaul

This page lets you compress video for Discord so a clip fits under the upload limit and sends the first time. You recorded a game highlight or a funny moment, dragged it into Discord, and got a message that the file is too large. A Discord video compressor fixes that by re-encoding the clip at a bitrate worked out from your size limit and the clip’s length. Here the “Discord (under 20 MB)” target is already selected for the current free limit, and you can tap 50 MB for Nitro Basic, 10 MB for the old limit, or type any size. Everything runs in your browser on your PC or phone, so the clip is not uploaded to us. Below we show the exact formula the tool uses, how long a clip can be at each size, measured results, and honest advice on the Discord file size limit and what to do when a video is just too long.

How does the Discord video compressor work?

The tool first reads your file’s size, its length in seconds and its resolution. With a size target it then:

1. Aims 5% below the limit and spreads it over the video’s length: target MB × 8,000,000 × 0.95 ÷ seconds gives the total bitrate.
2. Caps that at 60% of the original file’s bitrate, so a clip that already fits still gets smaller instead of bigger.
3. Subtracts 96 kbps for the sound (always re-encoded at 96 kbps) and never gives the picture less than 80 kbps.
4. If Max resolution is on Original, picks a resolution from that video bitrate: 480p under 400 kbps, 720p under 1,200 kbps, otherwise up to 1080p. Resolution means the short side, so vertical phone clips are treated the same way.
5. Re-encodes the video with the browser’s own encoder (WebCodecs) into MP4 with H.264 and AAC, unless you chose another format under More options.

Worked example (measured). In our own Chrome test we compressed a 10-second 1280×720 MP4 of 4.9 MB with Custom size 7 MB, Max resolution 720p and WebM under More options. The 7 MB target allows 7 × 8,000,000 × 0.95 ÷ 10 = 5.32 Mbps, but the 60% cap allows only about 2.35 Mbps, so the cap wins. The result was 2.3 MB, 54% smaller, well under the limit.

Discord file size limit in 2026

Discord’s limits have changed several times, which is why a clip that sent fine last year may fail now, or the other way round. At the time of writing:

The history in short: the free limit was 8 MB for years, went up to 25 MB in 2023, was cut to 10 MB in September 2024 (Discord cited storage costs), and was raised to 20 MB in mid-August 2026, announced on Discord’s official X account. The “Discord (under 20 MB)” target on this page is preselected for the new limit. Because Discord says it is experimenting, some accounts may still see a smaller limit; a 10 MB file passes on any account, so use the 10 MB quick button or Custom size 10 if a 20 MB file is refused. The Discord mobile app now also checks the size before its own compression.

How to compress a video for Discord: 20 MB or 10 MB

1. Choose the clip. OBS and Shadowplay recordings, phone videos (including iPhone HEVC) and screen recordings in MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV all work.
2. Pick the size. Keep Discord (under 20 MB), tap 10 MB or 50 MB, or set Target to Custom size and type your own number.
3. Optionally set Max resolution. Original lets the tool decide; 720p is a good choice for anything over a minute.
4. Press Start. The progress bar shows how far it is. Speed depends on your device, not your internet.
5. Download and send. You see the size before and after and how many percent smaller it is. “Copy summary” copies those numbers as text.

The table shows the video bitrate and resolution the tool will pick for common clip lengths, assuming the original is big enough that the 60% cap does not apply.

How long can a Discord video be?

From the same formula you can work out the longest clip that still gets each resolution. These are the points where the tool steps down when Max resolution is on Original:

“Fits at all” is the length where the picture is already at the 80 kbps minimum. Beyond it the file cannot get smaller and will miss the limit, and well before it the picture looks very soft. For a clean result, stay inside the 720p column.

How to compress video for Discord without losing quality

• Trim first. Cut the clip to the moment that matters with the video cutter. Half the length means twice the bitrate at the same size.
• Use the full 20 MB. Compared with the old 10 MB limit it doubles the bitrate, the single biggest quality gain for free accounts.
• Choose 720p for clips over a minute. A clean 720p video looks better in the Discord player than a blocky 1080p one.
• Start from the original recording. Don’t compress a clip that was already squeezed by another app.
• Game clips are hard. Fast motion, particles and grass need more bits than a webcam or a menu. Expect fast games to look softer than slow ones at the same size.

How to get around the Discord file size limit

There is no trick that makes Discord accept a bigger file than your account allows, and we don’t recommend tools that claim one. The honest options are:

• Compress it under the limit here.
• Cut it into parts with the video cutter, compress each part, and send them one after another.
• Make it smaller in pixels with resize video or crop away black bars with the video cropper.
• Share a link from a cloud drive or video site for long videos, so Discord only gets the link.
• Upgrade to Nitro Basic or Nitro if you send big files often.

Compress video for Discord on mobile

iPhone

Open this page in Safari, tap the box and pick the clip from Photos or Files. iPhone HEVC clips open fine. After Download, the file is in the Files app, from where you can attach it in the Discord app.

Android

Open the page in Chrome, choose the clip from your gallery and press Start. Keep the screen on and the tab in front while it works; phones are slower than PCs, especially for long 1080p clips.

Which format plays best on Discord?

Keep the default, MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio. It is the most widely supported combination and plays inside the chat on desktop and phones. Under More options you can choose MOV, MKV or WebM instead. WebM (VP9 and Opus) is often smaller at the same quality, as in our measured example, but MP4 is the safest choice for friends on older phones. MKV usually shows only as a file to download.

Short clips: GIF, images and other files

For a reaction or meme of a few seconds, a looping GIF can be fun: make one with video to GIF or MP4 to GIF, and shrink it with the GIF compressor. For anything with sound or longer than a few seconds, an MP4 is smaller and looks better than a GIF. The upload limit applies to images too; the image compressor shrinks screenshots and photos to any KB or MB size.

Why does Discord have a file size limit?

Every file you send is stored on Discord’s servers and sent to everyone in the channel. When Discord lowered the free limit in 2024, it cited storage costs; in August 2026 it raised it again to 20 MB. Paid plans get bigger limits as one of the perks. A limit per file also keeps chats quick to load on phones.

How accurate is the Discord compressor?

The size target is a budget, not a promise, but the tool aims 5% under it and our measured result landed far below. A few things can move the result:

• The encoder has the final say. The browser’s encoder (often your device’s hardware encoder) treats the bitrate as a target. Simple scenes come out smaller; very busy scenes can overshoot slightly on some devices. If Discord refuses the file by a hair, try 1 MB less.
• Very long clips can miss. Past the “fits at all” lengths above, the 80 kbps picture minimum plus 96 kbps sound is more than the limit allows.
• High frame rates. 60 fps clips get the same bitrate as 30 fps ones, so each frame gets half the bits. It still works; just trim more.
• Limits change. Discord says it is experimenting with the 20 MB limit, so some accounts may see a different one; Discord’s own help page is the final word.

Why this tool is different

Most online video compressors upload your clip to a server, compress it there and make you download it again. This one runs the whole process in your browser using WebCodecs, the browser’s built-in video encoder and decoder, through the open-source Mediabunny library. Your clip is read from your disk, compressed in memory and saved back. There is no upload wait, no queue and no copy left on someone else’s server, and once the page has loaded the compression itself doesn’t need a connection.

The settings are also tied to your actual clip. Instead of a vague quality slider, the tool computes the bitrate from your size limit and your clip’s real length, chooses the resolution from that bitrate, and caps it so the file never grows. Every number on this page comes from that code or our measured test, so you can check it yourself with the before and after sizes shown under the result.

What we measure

Before compressing, the tool reads the file size, duration, width and height. From those it computes the bitrate and output resolution described above. After compressing, it measures the new file size and shows the percent saved.

What we do not do: we don’t score visual quality, we don’t analyse motion, and we don’t run a second pass to hit the size exactly. The frame rate is kept, the sound is always 96 kbps, and we don’t check your Discord account’s limit for you. We don’t collect any data about your video.

Need a general compressor for WhatsApp or email? Use the video compressor. iPhone MOV clip that won’t play? Try MOV to MP4.

Only share videos you own or have the right to share.

Sources

• Dexerto: Discord raises free upload limit to 20MB (August 2026), including the Nitro Basic and Nitro limits and Discord’s note that it is experimenting.
• GIGAZINE: Discord limits file size for free users to 10MB (September 2024).
• MDN: WebCodecs API, the browser video encoder and decoder the tool uses.
• Mediabunny: Converting media files, the open-source library that runs the conversion.
• ITU-T H.264: Advanced video coding, the standard behind MP4 video.