How to compress a video for Discord
Get any clip under Discord’s 20 MB limit for free accounts, without Nitro and without uploading it anywhere first.
You try to drop a clip into a Discord chat and get "Your files are too powerful". The video is simply bigger than Discord lets you send. You don't need Nitro to fix that: shrink the video to fit, and it uploads like any other file.
Discord's size limits right now
- Free accounts: 20 MB per file. Discord raised this from 10 MB on 13 August 2026.
- Nitro Basic: 50 MB.
- Nitro: 500 MB.
Since the same change, the Discord mobile app checks the size of your video before it compresses it, just like the desktop app. So a phone video that is 40 MB on your phone won't go through on a free account, even if Discord would have shrunk it.
How to compress a video for Discord, step by step
- Open the compressor. Go to clipabay.com/video-compressor and press the button. It works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, on a computer or a phone. There's nothing to install and no account.
- Choose your video. It is opened on your own device, so there is no upload wait, even for a big file.
- Pick 20 MB · Discord. On Nitro Basic, type 50 instead. Clipabay works out the best picture size and quality for the length of your video.
- Check the estimate. You see the size before and after, and the picture size it will use. If it warns that the picture will look soft, read the tips below.
- Press Save video. If the result comes out too big, Clipabay tries again with a little less, so the file always fits.
- Drag the MP4 into Discord. It plays inline for everyone, on every device.
What fits in 20 MB?
The longer the video, the less data each second gets. This is roughly what 20 MB gives you, with the sound kept at good quality:
| Length | Picture data per second | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| 15 seconds | 11.1 Mbit/s | 1080p, looks great |
| 30 seconds | 5.5 Mbit/s | 1080p, looks great |
| 1 minute | 2.7 Mbit/s | 1080p, looks good |
| 2 minutes | 1.3 Mbit/s | 720p, looks good |
| 3 minutes | 0.8 Mbit/s | 720p or 480p, a little soft |
| 5 minutes | 0.4 Mbit/s | 480p, soft. Trim it or send a link |
Game clips with lots of fast motion need more data than a calm screen recording, so expect them to look a bit softer at the same size.
Tips for a sharper result
- Trim first. Nobody needs the 20 seconds before the play. Cut the clip down with the video cutter and the part you keep gets far more quality.
- Remove the sound if it's not needed. Removing the audio frees up a little room for the picture.
- Long video? Above about 5 minutes, 20 MB is too little for a good picture. Upload it to YouTube as unlisted, or to Google Drive, and paste the link instead.
More help with Discord clips: turn a clip into a GIF, crop a video or speed a video up.
Questions
What is the Discord file size limit for free users?
20 MB per file since 13 August 2026. Before that it was 10 MB. Nitro Basic allows 50 MB and Nitro 500 MB.
Why does Discord say my file is too powerful?
That message means the file is over your upload limit. Compress the video to 20 MB, or 50 MB on Nitro Basic, and it will upload.
Does compressing for Discord lower the quality?
A little, and how much depends on the length. Clips under a minute still look sharp at 1080p in 20 MB. Longer videos are made smaller in picture size so they stay clean instead of blocky.
Is my video uploaded to Clipabay?
No. The compressing happens inside your browser, on your own computer or phone. Nothing is sent to a server.