Rescreen / Free tools / Discord video compressor

Discord video compressor

Shrink a video to fit Discord’s upload limit, then check the real size before you post it.

Drop a video here

or choose one from your device

MP4, MOV or WebM, up to 2.0 GB. Stays on your device.

Who this is for

Choose a video, keep the 20 MB target for a free Discord account (or press 50 MB for Nitro Basic, 100 MB for a level 3 boosted server) and press Compress video. The page aims just under the limit, measures the file it made, tries again at a lower bitrate if it came out over, and says whether it fits. It is for anyone whose clip Discord has refused as too large: a gaming highlight, a phone video, a screen recording for a bug report.

The numbers behind it

A free Discord account can upload files up to 20 MB each. Discord raised it from 10 MB in August 2026. Source
Nitro Basic raises the limit to 50 MB per file and Nitro to 1 GB. Source
Discord checks the file’s size before it compresses anything, on desktop and on mobile, so the file you pick has to be under the limit already. Source
A server at boost level 2 lets every member upload 50 MB, and level 3 lets them upload 100 MB. Source
Discord plays MP4 video encoded with H.264, HEVC or AV1. This tool makes H.264 with AAC sound, which plays in the app, the browser and on phones. Source
Discord says it is testing other limits, so some accounts can upload larger files than their plan lists. Source

Discord’s file size limit

The limit is per file and depends on your plan, or on the server if it is boosted. The higher of the two applies. Discord has changed these numbers several times (8 MB, then 25 MB, then 10 MB, now 20 MB), so many guides and tools still quote an old one.

If Discord still refuses a file under your limit, look at the number in its error message: that is the limit on your account in that channel.

Plan or server	Largest file	Preset here
Free account	20 MB	20 MB, the default
Nitro Basic	50 MB	50 MB
Server boost level 2	50 MB for every member	50 MB
Server boost level 3	100 MB for every member	100 MB
Nitro	1 GB	Type a size, or compress by quality

Upload limit per file, from Discord’s help centre, checked 3 November 2026. Discord’s caps table still lists the older 10 MB free and 500 MB Nitro limits; its attachments FAQ, updated 1 November 2026, gives the new ones used here.

How it gets under the limit

From the video’s length and the sound you keep, the page works out the bitrate that fills 95% of the target, leaving room for the file’s own overhead and for the encoder running slightly over. It encodes at that constant bitrate, then measures the finished file.

If the file is still over the target, it lowers the bitrate by how much it missed and encodes again, so you never download a file Discord will refuse. The result shows the real size and a plain check: it fits, or by how much it does not. One MB here is 1,000,000 bytes, slightly less than some apps mean by it, so a 20 MB result fits whichever way Discord counts.

In a test run in Chrome on a Mac, a 90-second 1080p clip of 46.6 MB came out at 19.1 MB, under the 20 MB target on the first pass, in 14 seconds.

When a clip is too long to stay watchable at the size, the page says so before it starts and gives the smallest size that would work, or suggests a lower resolution or trimming the clip first with the video trimmer.

How long a clip fits

Length matters more than anything else: a file’s size is its bitrate times its length, so twice the length gets half the bits per second. Resolution is the main setting you can trade for length.

Target	1080p	720p	480p
20 MB (free)	46 seconds	1 min 40 s	3 min 24 s
50 MB (Nitro Basic)	1 min 57 s	4 min 11 s	8 min 31 s
100 MB (boost level 3)	3 min 54 s	8 min 23 s	17 min

Longest clip that keeps good quality at each size, from the bitrate this tool aims for at its Balanced setting (0.05 bits per pixel per frame), at 30 fps with 128 kbps stereo sound. Fast gameplay needs more bits than this; a mostly still screen recording needs fewer.

Other ways to do it

HandBrake (free, Mac, Windows and Linux): open the video, choose one of the presets named for Discord or social sharing, press Start Encode and check the size of the result. The presets were made for older, smaller limits, so they often come out well under 20 MB at a lower resolution than you need.

QuickTime Player (Mac): open the video, choose File, Export As, then 720p or 480p. It cannot aim for a size, so check the file and export smaller if it is still over.

ffmpeg (any computer): work out the video bitrate from the size (20 MB is 160 megabits; divide by the length in seconds and leave some room for sound), then encode with that bitrate in two passes.

Send a link instead. Upload the video somewhere that gives you a link and paste that into Discord. Nothing has to be compressed, and people watch it at full quality.

What it can’t do

It needs WebCodecs, which current Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox have on a computer; in our test, Chrome, Safari and Firefox each fit the same 90-second clip under 20 MB. The page says so before you start if a browser cannot compress video. A phone works for short clips, but a long video is faster on a computer.

It takes files up to 2 GB where the result is held in memory, and always makes an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound. It cannot make a long video fit a small size without losing detail: a ten-minute 1080p recording squeezed into 20 MB will be blurry, and the page will tell you to lower the resolution instead.

Frequently asked questions

What is Discord’s file size limit?

20 MB per file on a free account since August 2026, 50 MB with Nitro Basic and 1 GB with Nitro. A server at boost level 2 or 3 raises it to 50 MB or 100 MB for everyone in that server.

Why does Discord say my file is too large when it is under the limit?

Your account may still be on an older limit while Discord tests new ones, or the file may be just over once Discord counts megabytes its own way. Compress to a little under the number in Discord’s error message; this tool already aims 5% under.

How do I compress a video to 10 MB or 8 MB?

Type 10 or 8 into the target size box instead of pressing a preset. Those were Discord’s free limits before, and they are still what some servers, bots and other apps allow.

Doesn’t Discord compress videos for me?

No. Discord checks the size of the file you pick before it does anything else, so a file over the limit is refused. The Data Saver setting on mobile lowers the quality of uploads to save data, but it does not let a larger file through.

Will the compressed video play inside Discord?

Yes. It is an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound, the most widely supported kind, so it plays in the Discord app, in the browser and on phones without anyone downloading it first.

Is it better to get Nitro or to compress?

For an occasional clip, compressing is free and takes a minute. If you post long, high-quality videos every day, a bigger limit saves you the step, and so does sending a link.

Is my file uploaded?

No. The file is read, compressed and measured inside this page and never sent anywhere. We count anonymous page views and whether a compression started, finished or failed, with the kind of setting used and a reason from a fixed list; a failure also carries the step, your browser’s error and the kind of video (codecs, resolution, frame rate, size and length in broad bands). Never the video or its name. If a compression fails you can choose to send us the file, which is deleted within 30 days. See the privacy policy.

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