What is Telegram's real video size limit?
The Telegram app accepts very large files. The 50 MB figure that circulates online is the Bot API limit and does not apply to messages you send yourself.
- Uploaded to a server
- 0.00 KB
- Processing
- WebAssembly, this device
- Offline engine
- warming up
Don't take our word for it — check it yourself in DevTools.
The number most tools give you is wrong
- Commonly published
- Telegram limits you to 50 MB.
- Actually
- That is the Bot API limit. The app itself accepts far larger files.
- Why the confusion
- core.telegram.org documents limits for bots, and it is the most machine-readable Telegram source, so it gets quoted as though it described the app. If you are sending a video from Telegram on your phone, none of the Bot API numbers apply to you.
Telegram limits in full
| Platform | Tier | Limit | Applies to | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telegram | Bot API — send Quoted: "Bots can currently send files of any type of up to 50 MB in size." | 50 MB | API only | Telegram Bot API reference primary checked Bot API only. The consumer Telegram app has a much higher limit. |
| Telegram | Bot API — download Quoted: "bots can download files of up to 20MB in size." | 20 MB | API only | Telegram Bot API reference primary checked Bot API only. The consumer Telegram app has a much higher limit. |
| Telegram | Consumer app | not confirmed | People | Telegram FAQ disputed checked Not yet confirmed from a primary source. Widely reported as 2 GB, 4 GB with Premium. |
Rows marked API only apply to bots and integrations, not to messages you send yourself. Mixing those two up is the single most common source of wrong advice about file sizes.Compare every platform →
Questions
Is it true that Telegram limits you to 50 MB?
That is the Bot API limit. The app itself accepts far larger files. core.telegram.org documents limits for bots, and it is the most machine-readable Telegram source, so it gets quoted as though it described the app. If you are sending a video from Telegram on your phone, none of the Bot API numbers apply to you.
Does compressing for Telegram upload my video?
No. The encoder runs in your browser through WebAssembly. Your video and the compressed result stay on your device; only the encoder itself is fetched, once.