Image Size Limits for Every Platform in 2026
Whether you're sharing photos, uploading content, or building a website, every platform has its own file size limits and dimension requirements. This is the definitive 2026 reference — bookmark it for quick lookups. All limits verified as of April 2026.
Email Providers
Email attachment limits are per-message totals, not per-file. Compress images for email to fit more photos per message.
Gmail
- Attachment limit: 25MB total per email
- Recommended image size: Under 1MB per image (JPG at 75%)
- Best format: JPG for photos, PNG for screenshots
- Note: Files over 25MB automatically shared via Google Drive link
Outlook
- Attachment limit: 20MB (desktop), 34MB (web/365)
- Recommended image size: Under 1MB per image
- Best format: JPG
- Note: Corporate Exchange servers often set 10-15MB limits
Yahoo Mail
- Attachment limit: 25MB total per email
- Recommended image size: Under 1MB per image
- Best format: JPG
Apple Mail / iCloud
- Attachment limit: 20MB per email
- Recommended image size: Under 1MB per image
- Best format: JPG (HEIC for Apple-to-Apple)
- Note: Mail Drop handles files up to 5GB by uploading to iCloud
Social Media Platforms
Twitter / X
- Image limit: 5MB (JPG, PNG), 15MB (GIF)
- Video limit: 512MB (recommended under 15MB)
- Recommended dimensions: 1600x900 (tweet), 400x400 (profile), 1500x500 (banner)
- Best format: JPG for photos, PNG for graphics with text
- Note: Twitter re-compresses all uploads; pre-optimize at 85% JPG quality
- Image limit: 30MB (technically), but quality degrades over ~1MB
- Video limit: 650MB (feed), 250MB (stories/reels)
- Recommended dimensions: 1080x1350 (portrait), 1080x1080 (square), 1080x1920 (stories/reels)
- Best format: JPG at 80-85% quality
- Optimal file size: 500KB-1MB for best quality retention
- Note: Instagram applies heavy compression; smaller files get lighter treatment
- Image limit: 30MB
- Video limit: 10GB (240 minutes max)
- Recommended dimensions: 1200x630 (shared link), 2048x2048 (photo max), 170x170 (profile)
- Best format: JPG for photos, PNG for graphics
- Note: Photos over 100KB get re-compressed; upload at 2048px wide for best quality
TikTok
- Video limit: 287.6MB (mobile), 500MB (desktop)
- Photo limit: 20MB per photo in photo carousels
- Recommended dimensions: 1080x1920 (9:16 ratio)
- Best format: MP4 for video, JPG for photo slides
- Note: Videos up to 10 minutes; vertical format strongly preferred
- Image limit: 10MB (posts), 8MB (profile/banner)
- Video limit: 5GB (10 minutes max)
- Recommended dimensions: 1200x627 (post), 400x400 (profile), 1584x396 (banner)
- Best format: JPG or PNG
- Note: LinkedIn re-compresses images; upload at recommended dimensions
- Image limit: 20MB
- Video limit: 2GB (15 minutes max)
- Recommended dimensions: 1000x1500 (2:3 ratio) for pins
- Best format: JPG or PNG
- Note: Tall images (2:3 ratio) get the most engagement and screen real estate
Messaging Apps
- Media limit: 16MB (photos and videos sent as media)
- Document limit: 2GB
- Recommended dimensions: 1600x1600 max display
- Best format: JPG (pre-compressed at 80%)
- Note: WhatsApp crushes photos to ~100-200KB; pre-compressing produces better results
Discord
- Free: 10MB per file
- Nitro Basic: 50MB per file
- Nitro: 500MB per file
- Best format: PNG for screenshots, JPG for photos, MP4 over GIF
- Note: Discord doesn't re-compress under-limit images; uploads are preserved
Telegram
- File limit: 2GB per file (any type)
- Photo (as media): Compressed to 1280px on longest side
- Best format: JPG for photos; send as "File" for original quality
- Note: Send as document/file to avoid Telegram's compression
Signal
- File limit: 100MB per attachment
- Image quality: Configurable in settings (Standard/High)
- Best format: JPG at 80% quality
- Note: Signal compresses less aggressively than WhatsApp; "High" quality setting recommended
iMessage
- Image/video limit: 100MB per message (via iMessage)
- SMS fallback: 1MB (heavily compressed when sent via MMS)
- Best format: HEIC between Apple devices, JPG for cross-platform
- Note: iMessage preserves quality well; green-bubble (SMS) messages are heavily compressed
Slack
- Per-file limit: 1GB (all plans)
- Free plan storage: 5GB total for workspace
- Best format: PNG for screenshots, JPG for photos
- Recommended size: Under 1MB for fast loading
- Note: Slack doesn't compress uploads; file size affects load speed for all viewers
Microsoft Teams
- File limit: 250MB per file (chat), 250GB (channel files via SharePoint)
- Best format: PNG for screenshots, JPG for photos
- Note: Files are stored in OneDrive/SharePoint and count against storage quota
Web & CMS Platforms
For web platforms, the limit isn't just about what you can upload — it's about what your visitors experience. Compress images for web to keep pages fast.
WordPress
- Default upload limit: 2-50MB (varies by host, configurable)
- Recommended image size: Under 200KB for web display
- Best format: WebP (with JPG fallback), JPG for photos, PNG for graphics
- Recommended dimensions: 1200-1600px wide (most themes)
- Note: WordPress generates multiple sizes on upload; optimize the original for best results
Shopify
- Image limit: 20MB per image, 4472x4472px max
- Product images: 2048x2048 recommended (square)
- Best format: JPG for product photos, PNG for logos
- Note: Shopify auto-generates responsive images; upload at 2048x2048 for best quality across devices
Squarespace
- Image limit: 20MB per image
- Recommended size: Under 500KB for page speed
- Best format: JPG at 80% quality, 1500-2500px wide
- Note: Squarespace generates responsive variants but benefits from optimized originals
Quick Reference Table
At a glance — the most common limits you'll hit:
- Gmail: 25MB total — compress for email
- Discord (free): 10MB — compress for Discord
- WhatsApp: 16MB media — compress for WhatsApp
- Twitter/X: 5MB images — compress for Twitter
- Instagram: Best under 1MB — compress for Instagram
- Slack: 1GB limit but speed matters — compress for Slack
- Web/CMS: Under 200KB per image — compress for web
- General under 1MB: Fits most platforms — compress under 1MB
- General under 5MB: High quality sharing — compress under 5MB
General Compression Tips
- Photos: JPG at 75-85% quality is the universal sweet spot — 80-90% size reduction with no visible quality loss at normal viewing sizes
- Screenshots: PNG at 60-70% quality preserves text sharpness while cutting file size significantly
- Graphics with text: PNG or SVG — JPG compression creates artifacts around text edges
- Web images: WebP offers 25-35% smaller files than JPG at equivalent quality — use it when the platform supports it
- Animated content: MP4 video is 90% smaller than equivalent GIF — use video when the platform supports it
Tools for Every Use Case
- Compress JPG — the most common format for photos
- Compress PNG — lossless compression for screenshots and graphics
- Compress WebP — modern format with best size-to-quality ratio
- Compress GIF — reduce animated GIF file sizes
- Compress Video — shrink video files for any platform
- Resize Image — match platform-specific dimensions
- Compress to Target Size — hit an exact file size limit
- Bulk Compress — batch process many files at once
- HEIC to JPG — convert iPhone photos for universal compatibility
- PNG to JPG — reduce file size by switching formats
- Compress Under 1MB — universal size target for most platforms
- Compress Under 5MB — high-quality compression for sharing
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