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How to Compress a Video for Discord
Follow a simple browser workflow for desktop, mobile, or Discord Web. Your source video stays on your device from start to finish.
Drop your video here
or choose a file from your device
MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI, MKV and moreChoose your Discord plan
Processed locally with ffmpeg.wasm. No upload, no server, no one sees your video.
Step-by-Step: Compress a Video for Discord
The basic process is select, compress, download, and attach. The tool above runs ffmpeg.wasm in your browser and calculates an appropriate bitrate from the clip's duration. You do not create an account or transfer the source to an upload server. What changes between devices is mainly how you select the original and where the finished MP4 is saved.
Desktop browser workflow
Open this page in a current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. Drag a video into the upload area, or use Choose video to browse your computer. Select 20MB for Discord Free, 50MB for Nitro Basic, or 500MB for Nitro. Start compression and keep the tab open. When the download button appears, save the new MP4, review it, and drag that file into the Discord desktop app.
Phone and tablet workflow
Tap Choose video and pick a recording from Photos, Gallery, or Files. Leave the browser visible while encoding because mobile operating systems may suspend a background tab or a locked screen. After downloading, find the MP4 in your browser's Downloads folder or share sheet, return to Discord, and attach the compressed copy. Very long 4K clips may need more memory than a phone browser can provide and are better handled on a computer.
Discord Web workflow
Use the compressor in one browser tab and Discord Web in another. Finish and download the file before opening the Discord attachment picker; Discord cannot take a partly generated browser file. The web client follows the same plan limits as the native apps. If you need extra margin for a strict destination, the separate guide to compress a video to 10MB starts the tool at that smaller target.
What File Size Does Discord Allow in 2026
Discord checks an attachment against the account that sends it. The receiver's subscription does not increase the sender's allowance, and changing from the desktop app to Discord Web does not bypass the check.
Free: 20MB after the August 2026 update
Discord Free now has a standard 20MB attachment limit. The previous limit was 10MB, which is why many older tutorials and forum replies still recommend that number. In August 2026 Discord doubled the Free allowance to 20MB. A 20MB target gives an ordinary free user more bitrate than the historical target, which can preserve sharper text and cleaner motion.
Nitro Basic: 50MB
Nitro Basic members can send files up to 50MB. Choose this preset only when the account doing the uploading has Basic or a higher plan. A smaller source does not need to be expanded to fill the allowance; if it already fits, the tool simply prepares it for download without unnecessary re-encoding.
Nitro: 500MB
Full Nitro raises the attachment limit to 500MB. This is helpful for longer recordings, but upload time and the recipient's connection still matter. Compressing below 500MB can make a large file easier to deliver. Discord notes that it may test different limits for selected users, so check the number shown in your own client if it conflicts with the standard tiers.
Common Mistakes When Compressing for Discord
Good compression is not just a matter of lowering one setting. Duration, frame rate, audio, resolution, codec, and motion all compete for the same file-size budget. Avoiding the following mistakes usually produces a clearer result.
Judging size by resolution alone
A 1080p label does not tell you how many megabytes a video uses. A short, slowly changing screen capture can be small at 1080p, while a fast game recording can be large at 720p. Bitrate multiplied by duration is the stronger predictor. The tool lowers resolution only when the available bitrate would not support the original frame cleanly.
Choosing an arbitrary bitrate
A fixed bitrate copied from a tutorial may work for its example and miss your target because your clip has a different length or audio track. This compressor calculates the budget for the selected plan, reserves room for audio and MP4 overhead, and makes a second pass when the first result is still too large.
Confusing a container with a codec
Two files ending in .mp4 can contain different video and audio codecs. A rare codec may fail to preview even though the extension looks correct. Start from a common MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI, or MKV that your browser can decode. For format comparisons and workflows involving several clips, see how to compress your video files for Discord without repeatedly degrading the same copy.