WhatsApp File Size Limits: Photos, Videos, PDFs and API Media

The WhatsApp file size limit depends on how you send the file. In the WhatsApp app, documents can be up to 2 GB and videos have a default limit of 100 MB on a fast connection. On the WhatsApp Business API, images stop at 5 MB, video and audio at 16 MB, and documents at 100 MB.

That’s why a file that sends fine from your phone can fail in a campaign. Below is every limit in one table, followed by what to do when a file is too big and how the errors look.

WhatsApp file size limits at a glance

Each number comes from WhatsApp’s Help Center or Meta’s developer pages. “Not stated” means we couldn’t find a figure on the official page, so treat any number you see elsewhere with care.

The app column comes from WhatsApp’s “How to send media” article. It doesn’t give separate figures for the WhatsApp Business app, and we found none elsewhere, so we’ve treated them as one.

File size in the WhatsApp app

WhatsApp raised its document limit to 2 GB in May 2022, up from 100 MB. The Help Center still gives 2 GB today for documents on phones and computers.

• Videos: the Help Center calls 100 MB at 720p and 64 MB at 480p the “default” limits, depending on your connection. It accepts 3GP, AVI, FLV, MKV, MOV and MP4.
• Status videos: up to 90 seconds.
• HD: you can choose Standard or HD quality before sending, but HD isn’t available for status updates or profile photos.
• Photos and videos at once: up to 100 on Android and computers.

If you’ve seen 16 MB quoted as the app’s limit, it’s out of date for the app. 16 MB is still the API’s limit for video and audio, which is probably why the two get mixed up.

The usual way past the video limit in the app is to attach the video as a document, which puts it under the 2 GB rule. The Help Center doesn’t describe this as a feature, so send a test to yourself first.

Why 2 GB doesn’t apply on the API

The app and the Cloud API are separate products with separately published limits. Meta doesn’t explain the difference. The practical point is that a campaign or chatbot has to meet the API’s numbers, whatever your phone can send.

So plan for the smaller limits from the start. A brochure video your team shares happily in the app, at say 60 MB, can’t go out in a template as it is. And the limit is on the file, not on the viewer, so a customer on fast Wi-Fi gets no more than anyone else.

Size isn’t the only rule, either. Meta also requires:

• Images: 8-bit RGB or RGBA, with no edge over 4,096 pixels. Animated WebP is rejected.
• Video: H.264 video and AAC audio, with one audio stream or none. For Android, avoid the High profile with B-frames.
• Voice notes: OGG with the OPUS codec. The play icon only appears for files of 512 KB or less.
• Captions: up to 1,024 characters on images, video and documents.

For the requests themselves, see how to send images and media with the WhatsApp API. Voice notes have their own guide: WhatsApp voice messages on the API.

What to do when your file is too big

Fit a video into 16 MB

Work out your bitrate first. Multiply the limit by 8 and divide by the seconds of video: that’s the total megabits per second you can use. As a worked example with made-up numbers, a 60-second clip gets 16 × 8 ÷ 60, or about 2.1 Mbps for picture and sound together. Stay a little under it.

If you use ffmpeg, this produces a file that follows Meta’s video guidance. Change the 2M and try it on your own clip:

ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -profile:v main -bf 0 -pix_fmt yuv420p -b:v 2M -c:a aac -b:a 96k -movflags +faststart output.mp4

1. Trim first. Cutting seconds saves more than any setting.
2. Check the output size, then lower the -b:v value if it’s still too big.
3. Play it on a real Android phone and an iPhone before you use it in a campaign.

Send a link instead

For anything too big, put the file on your own website or a file-sharing service and send a link, ideally in a template with a URL button. Make sure it opens without a login. Use your own domain where you can, as customers are rightly wary of unfamiliar links.

How API errors look for oversized media

Meta’s image page says a request fails if the file is over the limit or the format isn’t supported, and you get an error instead of a message ID. Meta doesn’t list one error code just for “file too large”, so read the code together with the details text. Errors look like this, with Meta’s own wording in the placeholders:

{ "error": { "message": "(#<code>) <title>", "type": "<type>", "code": <code>, "error_data": { "messaging_product": "whatsapp", "details": "<description>" }, "fbtrace_id": "<id>" } }

Some failures only arrive later, by webhook, so watch both the API response and your messages webhook. A message that was accepted can still fail. Full error handling is in WhatsApp API error codes.

Uploaded media is also temporary. Meta keeps it for 30 days unless you delete it sooner, and download URLs expire after 5 minutes. IDs from webhooks expire after 7 days, so save any customer file you want to keep.

File limits in Automate AI

Automate AI sends through the WhatsApp API, so Meta’s limits apply. The app also has a limit of its own for files you upload:

The inbox checks the size before uploading and tells you what’s wrong, so you don’t wait for a file that would be refused. For a document over 48 MB, send a link. The inbox doesn’t shrink pictures or videos: it refuses ones over 5 MB or 16 MB.

Header uploads for templates and campaigns are capped at 48 MB too, documents included. Within that cap, Automate AI fits header media for you: a picture over 5 MB, or a WebP, becomes a JPEG of 5 MB or less, and a video over 16 MB, or not in WhatsApp’s format, becomes an MP4 of 16 MB or less. Compliant files and documents aren’t changed. Plans are on the pricing page.