What is Discord's file size limit in 2026?
| Plan | Upload limit per file |
|---|---|
| Free | 20 MB (10 MB from late 2024 until August 13, 2026) |
| Nitro Basic | 50 MB |
| Nitro | 1 GB (500 MB until September 29, 2026) |
| Boosted servers | Level 2 and Level 3 boosts raise the limit for every member of that server |
With the August 2026 change, Discord also started measuring file size on mobile before its own compression, the way desktop already worked. A large original photo from a phone can now hit the limit even though Discord used to shrink it first, so compressing it yourself is the reliable fix.
Why are PNG screenshots so big?
PNG is lossless: it stores every pixel exactly. That is ideal for a small interface screenshot, and costly for a game scene or a photo with millions of slightly different colors. JPEG and WebP throw away detail you cannot see and come out several times smaller. Discord shows WebP images inline, and it added animated WebP and AVIF support in 2025.
Typical sizes for one screenshot (game scenes and photos; interface screenshots with flat colors are smaller as PNG)
| Screenshot | PNG | JPEG, quality 85 | WebP, quality 85 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,920 × 1,080 game scene | 2–5 MB | 300–600 KB | 200–450 KB |
| 2,560 × 1,440 game scene | 4–8 MB | 0.5–1 MB | 350–750 KB |
| 3,840 × 2,160 game scene | 10–20 MB | 1–2 MB | 0.7–1.5 MB |
Screenshots of an app, code or a chat are different: their flat colors suit PNG, and JPEG blurs their text. Keep them PNG and reduce the colors instead; the compressor turns them into a palette of up to 256 colors, which keeps the text sharp and usually cuts the file by more than half. More settings in the screenshot compression guide.
How do I compress an image for Discord?
- Open the compressor on your computer or phone browser.
- Drop the screenshot or photo.
- Choose the output: WebP for game screenshots and photos, Same as original for PNG screenshots of text and interfaces.
- Set Quality to 80–85. Optionally turn on Limit width at 2560 (or 1920) for 4K captures.
- Compress, download and drag the file into Discord. For a fixed size, such as keeping phone uploads light, Image to 2 MB does it in one step.
How do I post a big phone photo on Discord?
Photos from recent phones, especially in high-resolution modes, can pass 20 MB, and Discord now checks the original size on mobile. Open the compressor in Safari (iPhone, which also reads HEIC) or Chrome (Android), pick the photo, choose JPG or WebP, turn on Limit width at 2560, and download. Then attach the downloaded file in Discord instead of the original from your gallery.
What size should Discord emoji and stickers be?
From Discord's help center and blog, October 2026
| Item | Max file size | Dimensions | Formats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom emoji | 256 KB | 128 × 128 px recommended | JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP or AVIF |
| Sticker | 512 KB | Exactly 320 × 320 px | PNG (APNG or GIF when animated) |
For a static emoji or sticker over the limit, compress it as PNG, which keeps transparency: Compress PNG with Target size set to 250 or 500 KB. If a square sticker image is larger than 320 px, set Limit width to 320 as well.
What about GIFs?
Do not use the compressor for animated GIFs: in the browser it keeps only the first frame, so the animation is lost. For a GIF over the limit, use Discord's own options instead: the GIF search in the message bar, a link to a GIF hosted elsewhere (Discord previews it, and a link is not an upload), or Nitro's higher limit. A dedicated GIF tool that cuts frames, colors or dimensions can also bring the file down.