Discord caps uploads at 20 MB per file on free accounts (50 MB Nitro Basic, 500 MB Nitro). A link has no such limit: up to 1 GB, no compression, no Nitro, and it previews right inside Discord.
Upload a fileAny file up to 1 GB — videos, audio, design files, archives.
1 hour, 12 hours, 24 hours, or one-time download.
It previews in most servers, and nobody needs an account or Nitro.
About 50x Discord's free 20 MB limit.
The link previews inside the chat — no download, no compression.
Links delete themselves after 1h, 12h, 24h, or one download.
Free for you and whoever opens the link.
On free accounts Discord limits every upload to 20 MB per file (50 MB Nitro Basic, 500 MB Nitro). For video that is only about 20 seconds of 1080p phone footage, and the mobile app can lower upload quality further to save data.
The file doesn't have to pass through Discord at all: paste a link instead, and the chat simply shows a message pointing at it.
Upload once, copy the link, and paste it into the channel. It previews inside Discord for the people who can see the channel — nobody else gets access, and it deletes itself when it expires.
Want the full walkthrough? Read the Discord file size limit guide.
20 MB per file on free accounts, 50 MB with Nitro Basic, and 500 MB with Nitro (per Discord's Help Center, September 2026). If your file is bigger, a link is the way to go.
Because it's over the per-file cap for your account tier. File size isn't negotiable inside Discord — but the file doesn't have to travel through Discord at all.
Yes. The link previews in most servers, and viewers can watch without downloading — in the original quality, because nothing passes through Discord's compressor.
No. The link opens in any browser, on any device — Discord or not.
No. It's free and requires no account, for you or for the people you share with.
Yes — completely free, no ads, no speed limits, up to 1 GB per file.