WhatsApp Video Size Limit: Send a Large Video File or Compress It
What Is the WhatsApp Video Size Limit?
At the time of writing (November 2026), the WhatsApp video size limit is 2 GB when you send the video as a document. Sent as media, the default cap is 100 MB at 720p, or 64 MB at 480p on a slow connection. Those media figures come from WhatsApp's help page for sending media from a computer.
Many guides still give 16 MB. The same figure is the maximum video file size in WhatsApp's developer documentation for its Business API, the version built for companies.
Phone apps may not match the computer figures either. When you can't check which limit applies, a file under 16 MB passes all of them.
The help page sets no length limit for a video sent in a chat, only a file size limit. WhatsApp Status is different: the same page caps Status videos at 90 seconds.
Why WhatsApp Compresses a Video Sent From Your Gallery
You pick a clip from your gallery, tap send, and the copy that arrives looks softer than the original.
The help page explains part of it. Each media limit comes with a resolution, 720p or 480p, lower than the 1080p or 4K a phone usually records.
Several guides report that WhatsApp re-encodes videos sent as media. Re-encoding means rebuilding the video with a lower bitrate, the amount of data spent on each second.
That is the price of inline playback. A video sent as media plays right in the chat, with a preview. A document doesn't: the other person sees a file and has to download it before it plays.
So the choice comes down to one question. Should the video play in the chat, or should the other person get your original file?
How to Send Large Videos on WhatsApp Without Compression
Send the video as a document. WhatsApp then handles it like any other file, such as a PDF. Guides that compared both routes report that the video arrives untouched, at its original resolution.
On Android or iPhone:
- Open the chat and tap the attach button.
- Choose Document, not the gallery.
- Pick the video from your files and send it.
On a computer, the steps are the same: click the attach button, choose Document, then select the video. You can also drag the file into the message field.
Here the cap is the file size limit for documents, not the media cap. WhatsApp raised it to 2 GB in May 2022, up from 100 MB, in its announcement on the WhatsApp Blog. The help page still gives 2 GB as the maximum file size allowed for documents.
The trade-off is playback. The other person sees a file instead of a preview. On a slow connection, a 1 GB file also takes a while to download.
Compress Video for WhatsApp Under the Size Limit
Compression is the route when the video has to play in the chat. It lets you reduce video file size yourself, before WhatsApp sees the file. You choose the trade-off instead of leaving it to the app.
Compressing videos for WhatsApp without losing quality isn't possible. Re-encoding always discards some data. The goal is to discard the part you notice least.
Vidmini has no WhatsApp preset. The compression settings for WhatsApp videos come down to two choices: a target size, or a quality level with a maximum resolution.
- Open the video compressor to compress the video under the WhatsApp limit and pick your file. A MOV from an iPhone works as is, with no video converter needed first.
- Choose the target size mode and the 10 MB preset. It sits under the 16 MB that guides cite, so the file passes every limit above. Or choose the quality mode with a maximum resolution of 720p, the resolution on WhatsApp's help page.
- Download the MP4 (H.264 video, the format guides recommend for WhatsApp) and send it as a regular video.
If the first result lands above the target, Vidmini runs one corrective pass. Nothing is uploaded: the file is processed in your browser, without an account or a watermark.
Video file size is bitrate multiplied by length. Resolution and frame rate set how much bitrate a clip needs to look clean.
Take the 10 MB preset: that is 80 megabits. Spread over a 60-second clip, that is about 1.3 Mbps (megabits per second) for picture and sound. A 5-minute clip at the same size gets a fifth of that, and it shows.
If you're only using WhatsApp on a computer, the 50 MB preset stays under both help page figures and keeps more detail. A smaller file is also easier to send on WhatsApp over mobile data.
Send Long Videos on WhatsApp by Splitting Them
The help page states a limit on size, not on length, and a longer video weighs more. Cut it into parts and each file gets smaller, without any re-encoding.
Use the tool to split the video into parts. Choose equal parts (2, 3, 4, 5 or 10) or a fixed length (15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1, 5 or 10 minutes). With 30 seconds per part, a 3-minute video becomes six files.
The tool copies the streams (the picture and sound data) instead of re-encoding them, so each part keeps the original quality. Cuts land on key frames (full images the video stores at intervals, every 1 to 5 seconds on a phone). A part can run a little longer or shorter than the length you chose, with no gap and no overlap.
Two catches. The parts download in a numbered ZIP, which you unzip before sending from a phone. And the other person gets several videos, not one.
Each part still has to fit under the limit, so pick a shorter length for a high-resolution clip. Choose this route when video quality matters more than the number of messages.
Share a Google Drive Link When the Video Is Over 2 GB
Past 2 GB, even the document route fails. Upload the video to a cloud service such as Google Drive, copy the share link and paste it into the chat. The other person gets the original file, at full quality.
In exchange, the video sits on a third party's servers, which matters for family videos or work files. And the other person has to open a link and download the file instead of watching it in the chat.
The same link works for sending large files of any kind, and for someone who doesn't use WhatsApp.
Which Method Should You Use?
- The video is already small: send it as media and let it play in the chat.
- The original quality matters: send it as a document, up to 2 GB.
- It must play in the chat but is too big: compress it to 10 MB first.
- It's long and you want full quality: split it into parts.
- It's over 2 GB: share a cloud link.
If you want to send a clip to a group and don't know which apps they use, 10 MB as media fits every limit above.