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Discord Video Upload Limits Explained

Discord has become one of the most popular platforms for sharing videos, gaming clips, and creative content. However, Discord enforces strict file size limits to keep servers running smoothly and ensure fast uploads and downloads for all users. Understanding these limits is crucial if you want to share videos on Discord without running into errors or having to compromise on quality.

Discord Free User Limit: 10MB

If you're using a free Discord account, you can upload videos up to 10MB in size. This is a tight limit that works well for short clips—think gaming moments, funny memes, quick demonstrations, or brief voice message videos. Most videos longer than 30 seconds will exceed this limit, which is why compression is essential. At 10MB, you have room for roughly 45 seconds of high-quality video or up to 2 minutes of moderate-quality content depending on resolution and bitrate.

Discord Nitro Limit: 500MB

Discord Nitro subscribers (a paid tier costing around $10/month) get significantly more upload power with a 500MB limit. This allows for full-length videos, longer streams, or high-quality clips that would be compressed to oblivion with the free tier. If you're a content creator or frequently share detailed video content, Nitro's 500MB limit is worth considering.

Why Discord Has These Limits

Discord's file size restrictions exist for several practical reasons. First, they help maintain server performance by preventing massive files from clogging up bandwidth. Second, they encourage users to be selective about what they share, reducing server clutter. Third, these limits ensure that videos upload and download quickly across all connection speeds. Finally, they incentivize users to upgrade to Nitro if they need to share larger files, creating a revenue stream for Discord's operations.

How SquishVideo Solves the Discord Upload Problem

SquishVideo is specifically designed to help you overcome Discord's strict file size limits without sacrificing video quality. When you upload a video to SquishVideo and select Discord as your platform, our encoder automatically calculates the optimal bitrate to compress your video down to 10MB (for free users) or 500MB (for Nitro subscribers) while preserving as much visual quality as possible. This is different from generic video compressors that simply reduce quality uniformly—we optimize for Discord's specific use case.

Best Settings for Discord Videos

For Discord, we recommend compressing to H.264 MP4 format at 720p resolution for general content and 1080p for content where detail matters (like tutorials or detailed screenshots shared as video). Gaming clips compress exceptionally well because they often have consistent colors and predictable motion. Memes and short clips can go as low as 480p without anyone noticing. Our encoder handles all of this automatically—just select Discord and let SquishVideo do the math.

Tips for Getting the Best Discord Videos

To maximize quality after compression, start with the highest-quality source video you have. If you're recording gameplay, use your recorder's highest quality settings. For phone videos, record in the highest resolution your device supports. Avoid pre-compressing your video before uploading to SquishVideo, as compressing-then-recompressing reduces quality. Let our single-pass encoder handle everything. Additionally, shorter videos compress much better than long ones—if you're sharing a 5-minute video that needs to be 10MB, quality will suffer. Consider breaking long videos into multiple clips or using a timestamp link instead.

Mobile vs. Desktop Discord Video Quality

Discord serves videos slightly differently on mobile (app and web) versus desktop. Mobile clients often auto-adjust video quality based on connection speed, so a 10MB file might play in lower quality on slower connections. Desktop clients typically play at full resolution. Our compression accounts for this by maintaining quality across all bitrate scenarios—your video will look great on 4G, WiFi, and desktop connections.

Can You Share Videos Larger Than 10MB If You're Not Nitro?

If you try to upload a video larger than 10MB to Discord without Nitro, Discord will display an error message and reject the upload. You have two options: compress the video to under 10MB (which is what SquishVideo does), or ask the recipient to upgrade their connection or Discord Nitro subscription. In practice, everyone in your Discord server benefits from compressed videos because they load faster and take up less bandwidth for everyone.

Recommended Resolutions for Discord

For a 10MB Discord video, we recommend 720p at 2-3 Mbps bitrate. This provides a good balance of quality and file size. For Nitro's 500MB limit, you can go up to 1080p at 8-10 Mbps for excellent quality. 4K videos generally don't make sense for Discord because the platform streams video with compression, and most Discord users view on smaller screens (phones, laptop screens). Save 4K for YouTube or your archive—Discord works best with 720p to 1080p.

Format Compatibility

SquishVideo accepts MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WebM, WMV and 20+ other video formats as input. However, Discord only plays MP4 H.264 videos reliably. Our encoder automatically converts any input format to MP4 H.264, so you don't have to worry about compatibility. Whether you're using a video from OBS, Handbrake, your phone, or an online tool, SquishVideo will prepare it perfectly for Discord.

How Long Does Compression Take?

Compression speed depends on your video's length and complexity. A 2-minute gaming clip typically compresses in 10-30 seconds. A 5-minute video might take 30-90 seconds. Very long videos (20+ minutes) might take several minutes. The compression happens on our servers using powerful hardware, so it's much faster than compressing on your own computer. Once done, you can download instantly.

Privacy and Security

Your videos are uploaded using encrypted HTTPS connections and processed on SquishVideo's secure servers. We do not view, share, or permanently store your videos. All files are automatically deleted from our servers within 1 hour of compression. You can compress as many videos as you want, and we'll never keep any record of them.

Use Cases for Discord Video Compression

Discord video compression is useful for gaming communities who want to share clips from Twitch, YouTube, or OBS recordings; creative communities discussing design, animation, or video work; educational servers where instructors share demo videos; support communities where members share screen recording troubleshooting videos; and social communities where friends share casual videos and memes. No matter the use case, SquishVideo makes it easy to share video on Discord without limitations.

Other platforms we support

SquishVideo isn't just for Discord. We also optimize video compression for other popular platforms with their own file size limits: