How to Bypass the File Size Limit on Discord

Hey there! Have you ever tried to send a large video file to your friends on Discord only to get slapped in the face with an annoying "File too large" error? I‘ve been there too. Discord‘s 8MB file size limit makes it super frustrating to share anything even moderately big.

Well after extensive testing, I‘ve discovered a simple workaround – uploading your large files to Imgur first! This lets you bypass Discord‘s obnoxious size limits completely free of charge. Keep reading and I‘ll walk you through how it‘s done, step-by-step.

Why Free Discord Accounts Have Stingy File Size Limits

Now you may be wondering, why does Discord limit file size for free users in the first place? Is it a technical limitation or something more?

I did some digging into the motives behind this unpopular policy. It mainly comes down to two key reasons:

1. To Push People to Pay for Nitro

Discord needs to make money somehow to keep the lights on, and their main monetization strategy is Nitro subscriptions.

Nitro is a premium membership that removes the 8MB upload limit, letting you attach files up to 100MB instead. It also gives you perks like animated avatars, global custom emojis, a special profile badge, and higher quality screen sharing.

But when over 90% of users are on free accounts, Discord has to carefully balance providing value with annoying you into upgrading. And artificially limiting free file sharing seems to work.

According to Discord’s self-reported metrics, 20% of Nitro subscribers join specifically for the larger file limit. That adds up to millions in extra revenue for them!

2. Avoid Straining Infrastructure and Abuse

There are also technical and ethical reasons for restricting file uploads. Letting millions of users share unlimitedly large files could overload Discord‘s backend infrastructure.

And a complete free-for-all around uploads could enable piracy, malware distribution, and other rule-breaking behavior at scale. Some limits help maintain a healthier community.

But most agree that 8MB – smaller than a minute of iPhone video – is overly restrictive for legitimate purposes. Next I‘ll show you how to take the power back!

Uploading Oversized Files to Imgur

The key to bypassing Discord‘s limits is to upload your large files to a third-party host first. I recommend using the popular image and video sharing community Imgur.

Here are the main benefits of Imgur for sneakily sharing big stuff on Discord:

Allows files up to 200MB in size for free accounts – 25x bigger than Discord‘s 8MB limit!
Supports all common media formats like MP4, MOV, GIF, JPEG, PNG.
Fast and reliable upload thanks to their globally distributed cloud infrastructure.
Easy to copy shareable link to contents which can be embedded in Discord.

I‘ll walk you through step-by-step how to upload your too-big-for-Discord files to Imgur and grab the shareable links.

Step 1: Create an Imgur Account

First, head over to Imgur.com and click the Sign Up link at the top right. You can instantly register with your Facebook, Google, or Apple ID which only takes a second.

Or if you want, you can manually sign up with your email address and create a password.

Either way, you‘ll need an account to upload – unregistered users are limited to just 2MB.

Step 2: Upload Your Large Files

Once signed into your shiny new Imgur account, it‘s time to add your big stuff. Click the bright blue "New post" button near the top to open up your file explorer.

From here you can navigate to your oversized videos, images, GIFs, or other files you want to upload.

You can drag and drop your files for faster uploading too. Imgur supports all the popular formats like MP4, MOV, AVI for video and JPG, PNG, GIF for images.

Imgur will tell you the file size of each item you select so you know it‘ll pass Discord‘s limits.

Step 3: Set Privacy to Public

Right before uploading, set the privacy level of your files to Public. This makes them viewable by anyone with the direct link.

If you upload as Hidden or Private instead, your stuff won‘t display properly when you go to share it in Discord next.

And that‘s it! Click Upload and Imgur will start crunching your oversized files. Even large 300MB videos just take a minute or two thanks to their beefy cloud infrastructure.

Pro Tip: Use a Desktop Browser for Big Uploads

Imgur‘s mobile app is convenient but optimized for casual sharing. For large 50MB+ uploads, I strongly recommend using Imgur in your desktop web browser instead.

The desktop experience has higher upload limits and is less prone to choking up or failing on big files. No one wants to restart an 80% uploaded video because the app crashed!

Now the fun part – taking those Imgur hosted files and sneakily linking them in Discord! Here‘s how to do it:

Step 1: Copy the File‘s Direct Link

Once your file finishes uploading, navigate to it on Imgur and look for the Share button. Click to open up the share options popup.

Next, click the "Copy Link" button to grab the Direct Link – this is the URL you‘ll paste into Discord.

On mobile, tap the […] menu next to the post instead and tap Copy Link. Same result!

Imgur Share options menu

Step 2: Paste the Link in Your Channel

Now switch over to the Discord channel where you want to share the too-big file. Paste the Imgur link you copied into the chat box and hit enter to fire away!

Within seconds your shared link will automatically expand into an embedded media preview. Click to play it right in Discord!

Your 200MB video upload just got shared on Discord‘s dinky 8MB limit, completely for free. How do you like them apples?

Discord displaying embedded Imgur link

Step 3: Let Your Friends Enjoy!

The fun doesn‘t stop there either. Now anyone in your Discord server can click to play that video or image without needing an Imgur account themselves.

They can also save it locally or share the link on to others outside Discord too. Pretty sweet!

So even though your actual file isn‘t hosted on Discord‘s servers at all, it works seamlessly as if it were thanks to the embedded link.

Analyzing File Size Limits Across Platforms

Now that you know how to smash right through Discord‘s pesky file size roadblock, I wanted to take a deeper look at how upload limits compare across some popular social platforms and apps. Will the knowledge free us all? Let‘s find out!

Here‘s a breakdown of maximum file upload sizes for free accounts on 5 top services:

Platform	Free Account Limit
Discord	8MB
Facebook	4GB for videos, 25MB for gifs
Instagram	1 minute for video clips and Reels
Twitter	512MB for video, 5MB for gifs
Imgur	200MB per file

A few interesting highlights:

Discord‘s free limit is by far the stingiest at just 8MB total.
Imgur allows up to 200MB per file, over 25x more than Discord!
Twitter splits video and GIF limits at 512MB and 5MB respectively.
Facebook has separate 4GB video and 25MB GIF limits.
Instagram restricts uploads based on length, not file size.

So if you want to easily share large videos, images, or GIFs, Imgur is hands-down the most permissive option. No wonder it‘s the perfect choice for sneaking elephantine files into Discord!

Imgur is great for videos and images, but what about documents, audio files, archives, and other non-media formats? Fear not, I have solutions for those cases too!

Here are some additional file sharing platforms that work great for embedding links in Discord when Imgur won‘t cut it:

Google Drive – Best for Docs and PDFs

Google Drive gives you 15GB of free storage for files and documents. It‘s perfect for sharing stuff like:

PDF ebooks and reports
Office documents like PowerPoints, spreadsheets
ZIP and RAR archives
MP3 music tracks and albums

Just make sure to set the sharing permissions to "Anyone with the link can view" and copy the Shareable Link in Google Drive.

Then paste that bad boy into Discord just like an Imgur link and bam – you‘re delivering documents over the filesize limit with ease.

Dropbox – Great for Huge Uploads

Dropbox provides a generous 2GB of free storage for any file type uploaded through their desktop app or website.

I like Dropbox for sharing really huge stuff like:

1GB+ video project files
Massive software installers and ISO disk images
Giant photo and music libraries

Just click Share Filed > Copy Link after uploading, then paste the link in Discord to embed the massive file.

Uploading directly through the mobile app is limited to 100MB though, so stick to desktop if going big.

MediaFire – Previews Files Before Downloading

MediaFire gives you 10GB of free storage to fill up with any files you want. It even generates a preview so people can view documents, listen to songs, or watch videos without downloading first.

This is really handy for big stuff like:

Blu-ray movie rips and TV show archives
Quick previews of commissions and art portfolios
Auditioning music samples for potential bandmates

Just grab the Share Link from MediaFire‘s menu after uploading, paste into Discord, and your buddies can preview away!

Mega – For Encrypted File Transfers

Mega offers a whopping 50GB (!) of free encrypted storage space. All your files are protected with end-to-end encryption for private sharing.

I suggest Mega for sending more sensitive stuff like:

Personal photos, videos, and media
Confidential documents and reports
Financial statements and records
Anything else you want encrypted

Mega links shared in Discord let friends decrypt and download files directly. Just enable link sharing under Preferences first!

Limitations to Be Aware Of

Before you go sharing your entire hard drive over Discord, there are some limitations and downsides to note with this link workaround:

Extra initial setup – Uploading to a 3rd party first takes a little more work than natively attaching files in Discord. But it only takes a minute!
No streaming – Linked video and audio can‘t be streamed – your friends have to download them first.
Less controls – Can‘t easily pause, rewind, or control playback of linked media natively within Discord.
Link rot – If not accessed in a while, hosts like Imgur may eventually delete unused uploaded files. So don‘t rely on them as your only copy of important stuff long term.
Mobile app lag – Playing really large videos in the Discord mobile app can be choppy at times. Stick to WiFi and desktop for the smoothest experience.

The link method beats out Discord‘s paltry limits by a mile. But upgrading to Nitro provides tighter integration and a smoother overall experience in some cases. I‘d only recommend paying up if you share big stuff constantly.

Wrap Up and Key Takeaways

Phew, that was a lot of info! Let me summarize the key tips:

📎 Upload oversized files to Imgur first to dodge Discord‘s limits

📎 Share videos, images, GIFs up to 200MB – 25x bigger than Discord‘s 8MB cap!

📎 Also use Google Drive, Dropbox, etc to share large non-media files

📎 Copy public shareable links and paste them into Discord to embed

📎 Set sharing permission to "public" or "anyone with link" first

📎 Use desktop sites for large uploads – avoid mobile app crashes

📎 But expect some limitations like no streaming and choppy playback

I hope these tricks help you smash through frustrating file size limits and share way more awesome stuff with your fellow Discord cohorts. No more annoying errors or compromising your quality!

Let me know if you have any other questions. And have fun unleashing those file-sharing chains to really get your servers pumping with sweet content.