discord upload cap
Compress a video to fit the Discord file size limit
Discord rejects anything over its upload cap with no explanation and no partial upload. These presets aim at the specific limits rather than making you guess at a quality slider.
Files are processed on your device · nothing is uploaded, stored or logged
How it works
Pick your file. The browser reads it straight from disk. There is no upload progress bar, because there is no upload.
The encoder loads once. A WebAssembly build of FFmpeg, around 30 MB, downloads the first time you use the site and stays cached afterwards.
Your processor does the work. Everything happens in this tab, at roughly half of real time on a modern laptop.
Save the result. The finished file is assembled in memory and handed to your downloads folder.
Why Discord clips fail to send
Discord enforces a hard cap on attachment size and gives almost no feedback when a file exceeds it. The upload simply refuses, which sends most people looking for a compressor.
Gameplay clips are the usual casualty. A minute of 1080p60 capture from OBS or ShadowPlay routinely lands between 80 and 200 MB, far above the free tier's ceiling.
The good news is that game footage compresses well. Much of the frame — HUD elements, static backgrounds, menus — barely changes between frames, and that is exactly what a compressor exploits.
If the result is still over the line
Cut the clip shorter before compressing. Size scales almost linearly with duration, so halving the length halves the file, while pushing quality further down starts to visibly smear motion. For a 30-second highlight the free-tier preset almost always lands under the cap on the first try.
The single most effective step before compressing is shortening the clip. Trim it first with cut video.
Common questions
How close to the limit will it get?
The presets aim below each cap with headroom. Exact size depends on how much motion your clip contains.
Does it work for gameplay recordings?
Yes, and unusually well. Screen and game capture compress far better than camera footage.
Will the quality be bad?
At the free-tier setting there is visible softening in fast motion. For a highlight clip watched in a chat window it holds up fine.
Do my files get uploaded?
No. That would defeat the point — everything runs on your own machine.