Compress a Video for Discord's Upload Limit

Video compression guides · 5 min read

Discord's upload limits depend on your subscription tier: 10MB for free accounts, 50MB for Nitro Basic, and 500MB for full Nitro. Miss the cap by even a few hundred KB and Discord rejects the upload outright — there's no partial upload or auto-compression like some other apps offer.

Why "close enough" doesn't work here

Unlike WhatsApp or Instagram, which silently re-compress whatever you send, Discord just refuses files over the limit. That means guessing a CRF value and hoping the output lands under 10MB is a gamble — you might end up 200KB over and have to start again. The reliable approach is to tell the compressor your exact target size and let it calculate the right bitrate.

Step-by-step for the free 10MB limit

  1. Open Shrynk and drop your clip in.
  2. Switch to Target file size mode and set it to 9MB — leaving a safety margin for container overhead so you don't get rejected on a technicality.
  3. Download and drag the result straight into your Discord chat.

For Nitro Basic, target 45MB; for full Nitro, target 480MB (though at that size, resolution and quality can usually stay close to the original).

What to expect at 9MB

A 9MB budget is tight. For a 15-second clip you can usually keep 720p and still look decent. Past 30–45 seconds at that size, expect visible quality loss — this is where trimming the clip first (cutting dead air, intros, or replays) matters more than any compression setting.

FAQ

Does Discord support any format besides MP4?

Discord plays MP4, WEBM, and MOV inline, but MP4 (H.264/AAC) has the broadest compatibility across desktop, mobile and embeds, so it's the safest default.

Can I compress a screen recording the same way?

Yes — screen recordings often compress even better than camera footage because there's less motion detail, so you can usually afford a slightly higher target size or better quality at the same file size.

Why does my video get rejected even though it says 9.8MB?

Discord's limit is calculated in binary megabytes (MiB), and file managers sometimes display decimal MB. Leaving at least a 5-10% buffer under the stated limit avoids this edge case entirely.

Uploading clips to Discord constantly? The Shrynk desktop app remembers your target size and batch-compresses a whole folder of clips at once, for a one-time $29.