Reference · Updated July 2026
Telegram video size limit
Telegram takes videos up to 2 GB per file on a free account and 4 GB with Premium — unchanged since 2022 and more than any other mainstream chat app allows. There is no time limit; only the file size counts. A phone recording rarely gets near 2 GB, so the more common question is why a video looks worse after sending, which comes down to how you send it.
Telegram video limits at a glance
| What | Limit |
|---|---|
| File size | 2 GB free · 4 GB Premium — The most generous mainstream chat app; unchanged since 2022. |
| Video length | No time limit — only the file size counts. |
| Quality | Videos sent as media are recompressed by the app; sent as a file they arrive exactly as they are, up to the same 2 GB. |
In practice the 2 GB cap only matters for long screen recordings, exports from a camera, or a film. For everything else the choice that changes what the recipient sees is media versus file: media previews and plays inline but gets recompressed; a file arrives untouched but has to be downloaded.
Shrink a recording that's over the limit
Drop the video below and pick a target. Even 50 MB holds a minute of full-HD video at the original quality, and a long recording steps down gracefully instead of turning to mush. Compression runs on your own device — nothing is uploaded — and the result is checked so it never lands over the target.
How much video fits in 50 MB?
Length decides the picture size: the same 50 MB is spread across every second. These rows are what this compressor actually produces from a typical phone recording — full HD, 30 frames a second, with sound — at a 50 MB target.
| Video length | What you get |
|---|---|
| 1 minute | Full HD at the original quality — nothing is lost |
| 5 minutes | About half of full HD each way — clear on any phone |
| 10 minutes | Reduced size — fine on a phone, soft on a laptop |
| 30 minutes | Small picture; watchable, blocky on a big screen |
With Telegram's 2 GB ceiling you rarely need to go this small. Use a large target — or the 512 MB custom maximum — to bring a huge recording under the cap while keeping nearly all of the picture.
Over 2 GB, or looks worse after sending?
Over the cap: compress to a large target such as 512 MB — for a recording of ordinary length that keeps full HD and most of the detail — or cut it into parts with the trimmer. Looks worse: you sent it as media and Telegram recompressed it. Send it as a file instead (attach, then choose File rather than Gallery), or compress it yourself first so the app has nothing left to squeeze.
Everything on this page runs locally in your browser — your video never leaves your device, and there is no account or watermark. Not sure a clip will fit at a decent quality? The bitrate calculator tells you the picture size a target supports for your video's exact length.