File Size Limits of Every App in 2026 (Email, WhatsApp, Discord & More)
Almost every app caps how big a file you can send, and the limits are all over the place. This is an up-to-date reference for 2026: the attachment and upload limits for email, messaging apps, and social platforms, plus the simple way to send a file that is bigger than any of them.
Email attachment limits
Email is the strictest. Gmail caps attachments at about 25MB to send and 50MB to receive. Outlook.com is around 20MB, and Microsoft 365 mailboxes are usually about 33MB. Yahoo Mail is around 25MB, and iCloud Mail about 20MB, though Apple's Mail Drop can attach files up to 5GB by sending a link instead.
The practical takeaway: anything past roughly 25MB will bounce or get rejected by most email providers, which is why a single phone video almost never sends as an attachment.
Messaging app limits
Messaging apps are more generous but still vary a lot. WhatsApp now allows files up to 2GB. Telegram allows up to 2GB on a free account and up to 4GB with Telegram Premium. Signal is around 100MB, and iMessage is about 100MB per attachment.
Discord is the one that catches people out: the free limit is 25MB per file, rising to 500MB with Nitro. Facebook Messenger is around 25MB. For work tools, Slack allows up to 1GB per file on most plans, and Microsoft Teams allows very large single files but is gated by your organization's storage.
Social media upload limits
Social platforms limit by both size and length. YouTube is the most generous at up to 256GB or 12 hours per video. X (formerly Twitter) allows around 512MB for standard accounts and up to 2GB or more for premium, with length limits that depend on your plan. Reddit allows video up to about 1GB and images up to about 20MB.
Instagram and TikTok limit more by duration and by the app you upload from. TikTok uploads from the phone app are capped around a few hundred megabytes, while the desktop uploader accepts much larger files. Instagram compresses what you post, which is a separate problem from the size cap.
Cloud and transfer service limits
Cloud lockers are built for big files. Google Drive allows up to 5TB per file, and Dropbox accepts very large files through its desktop app. Dedicated senders like WeTransfer allow about 2GB per transfer on the free tier.
The catch with these is that they usually expect an account, an app, or both for the smoothest experience, and links can expire. If you just want to hand someone one big file fast, that overhead is the slow part.
How to send a file bigger than the limit
When your file is over an app's limit, do not try to compress it until it looks terrible or split it into parts. Upload it once to a host with no size limit and send a link instead. The link slips through every app above, because email, chat, and social only have to carry a short URL, not the file itself.
On SAVEDLY this takes seconds with no account and no size limit: drag the file in, copy the link, and paste it into Gmail, WhatsApp, Discord, or anywhere else. Videos and images even preview inline on the link, and you can add a password if it is private.
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Upload a file freeFrequently asked questions
What is the WhatsApp file size limit?
WhatsApp allows files up to 2GB. If your file is larger, or if you want to avoid WhatsApp compressing a video, upload it to SAVEDLY instead and paste the link into the chat. The link has no size limit and opens the original full-quality file.
What is the Discord file size limit?
Discord allows 25MB per file for free accounts, rising to 500MB with Nitro. To share something larger without paying, upload it to SAVEDLY and post the link in the channel. It plays or downloads for everyone with no Nitro needed.
What is the Gmail attachment limit?
Gmail lets you send attachments up to about 25MB and receive up to 50MB. Anything bigger will be rejected. The fix is to upload the file to SAVEDLY and paste the link into your email, since the attachment limit no longer applies to a short link.
How do I send a file that is too big for an app?
Upload it once to a host with no size limit, like SAVEDLY, and share the link instead of the file. The link works in email, WhatsApp, Discord, and every app in this list, because they only carry the URL, not the file.
Do these limits change?
Yes, apps update their limits over time, and some depend on your plan, your device, or your organization's settings. The numbers here reflect 2026, but the safe approach in any year is to send a link for anything large so the limits never block you.