How Do You Send Long Videos on Discord?
Published October 14, 2026 · Updated October 14, 2026 · BitSized Team
How do you send long videos on Discord?
The five reliable ways to send a long video on Discord are: compress the video below Discord's upload limit (20MB free, 50MB Nitro Basic, up to 1GB Nitro), subscribe to Nitro and send it directly, upload the file to a cloud service and paste the share link, stream the video using Discord's Go Live screen share, or split the video into chunks that each fit under the limit. The best choice depends on your audience: compression keeps everything inside the chat, while links and Go Live trade convenience for zero quality loss.
Discord's upload limit exists because attachments are stored and relayed on Discord's infrastructure, and video is by far the most expensive content type to store. According to Discord's official File Attachments FAQ (updated September 30, 2026), the free upload limit is 20MB as of August 2026 — raised from 10MB — with Nitro Basic at 50MB and Nitro at up to 1GB. Those numbers frame every method below, because either your file fits inside them or it doesn't.
Which method keeps the video playable inside chat?
Compression is the only method that keeps the video as a native Discord attachment — meaning it plays inline, right in the chat window, with no clicks out to other services.
When you compress a video to fit the limit, Discord treats it like any other attachment: a thumbnail appears, clicking plays it in Discord's built-in player, and it works identically on desktop, iOS, and Android. That's a materially better experience for your viewers than a cloud link, which opens a new tab, may show ads or a download prompt, and can expire. If the clip is under about ten minutes, compression is almost always the right call.
The trick to compressing well is targeting the exact size rather than using a generic "compress" button. A tool like our Discord Video Compressor computes the maximum bitrate your video can carry while staying under your chosen target (20MB, 10MB, or a custom cap), so the result lands under the limit on the first try instead of failing and forcing you to re-encode blind. Because it runs in your browser with WebAssembly, the file never leaves your device — which matters when you're sending personal or unreleased footage.
When is Nitro the simpler answer?
If you regularly share clips longer than a few minutes, Nitro (up to 1GB uploads) or Nitro Basic (50MB) removes the problem at the source — no re-encoding, no quality trade-off, no third-party services.
Nitro Basic costs $2.99 per month and covers the majority of real-world clips: 50MB holds roughly five to ten minutes of 720p gameplay at typical bitrates. Full Nitro, which includes larger uploads alongside profile perks and HD streaming, handles raw camera files that no free-tier workaround would fit. Per Discord's official Nitro & Nitro Basic page, upload capacity is a headline feature of both tiers.
Two caveats keep Nitro from being a universal answer. First, the upload limit is tied to the uploader's plan, but bots and some integrations re-upload files under their own limits, which can still clip large files in automated pipelines. Second, if you're sending to a community that quotes clips or watches on mobile data, a smaller compressed file can actually be kinder to the recipients than a 500MB original.
How do cloud links compare to attachments?
Cloud links (Google Drive, Dropbox, or a transfer service like transfer.zip) bypass Discord's limit entirely because Discord only carries the URL, not the file — but they move the viewing experience outside the chat.
The workflow is simple: upload the video to your drive of choice, copy the share link, and paste it into Discord. Discord's link preview may embed a player for supported services, and recipients can download at full quality. There's no size ceiling in practice — a two-hour recording sends exactly like a two-minute one.
The costs are privacy and permanence. You're trusting a third-party host with the footage; link permissions are a common foot-gun ("anyone with the link" folders get forwarded); and free tiers hide expiration dates that silently break shared links months later. For public clips this is trivial; for private sessions, unlisted VODs, or anything with personal data, a compressed attachment that lives only in Discord is the safer default.
Can you screen share a video with Go Live instead?
Yes — Discord's Go Live (screen share) can stream a video to a voice channel in real time, which works for watch parties but is the wrong tool for sending a file someone can rewatch or download.
Go Live shines for group viewing: everyone joins a voice channel, you share a window playing the video, and Discord streams it live at up to your plan's streaming quality. Nobody gets a copy, chat reactions happen live, and there's no upload wait at all.
But Go Live is a broadcast, not a delivery. Recipients can't save the clip, quality depends on your stream settings and connection, and anyone who misses the session misses the video. Use it for premieres and watch-alongs; use compression or links for anything that needs to persist in a channel's history.
Does splitting a video into parts still work?
Splitting a long video into consecutive chunks that each fit under 20MB absolutely works, but it's the most annoying option for both sender and receiver — treat it as a last resort.
Most desktop editors (and even some mobile apps) can export segments, and a 30-minute recording becomes a numbered set of 20MB pieces. The problems are coordination and context: viewers must open six attachments in order, Discord's file list makes ordering error-prone, and any re-upload after a fix means re-sending the whole set.
If you must split, make every chunk self-sufficient: cut at natural scene boundaries rather than at exact byte limits, name files with zero-padded numbers (clip-01, clip-02), and compress each chunk to a uniform target so quality doesn't jump between parts. Better yet, compress the whole video once to fit in a single attachment — our compressor handles hour-long source files if you accept 480p or mute the audio.