How to Send Large Videos on WhatsApp

While users can share videos, photos, and other documents over WhatsApp, there is a specific file size limit. This limit causes you to sometimes run into an error while sending a large video. 

WhatsApp only allows 16 MB of files if the video is recorded through WhatsApp. For anything larger, WhatsApp will either truncate the video or prompt you to trim the video. However, you can share a file up to 100MB from your PC. There are easy workarounds for this issue. Let’s take a look at these methods.

How to Send Large Videos on WhatsApp?

The easiest way to bypass WhatsApp’s video size limit is to disguise the video as something else entirely. To do so, you can attach a cloud storage link or send the video file as a document. You can also use third-party software that can resize the video to 16MB or less. These methods have been detailed below.

Sending Video as a File

Unlike the 16MB limit for videos, WhatsApp lets you share documents up to 100MB. Simply by accessing the video from Internal Storage on Android, WhatsApp will treat it as a document, and it will bypass the video size limit. On iPhone, you can use the Files app for the same purpose.

You can follow these steps to do so.

On Android

1. Open the conversation where you want to send the video
2. Click on the attachment option that looks like a paperclip
   
3. Click on the Document icon
   
4. Click on Browse other docs
   
5. Click on Videos from the options on the topmost part of the screen
   
6. Click on the video you wish to send
7. Click on the Send button in the dialogue box that appears

On iPhone

1. Open the Photo app
2. Long press on the video you want to send
3. From the panel that pops up, click on Save to Files
   
4. From the panel that pops up again, click on iCloud Drive
   
5. Click on Downloads. This will copy the video to Downloads in the iCloud Drive
   
6. Open the conversation in WhatsApp where you want to send the video
7. Click on the attachment option that looks like a paperclip
8. Click on the Document icon
   
9. Click on the video you wish to send and click on the Send button

On PC

1. Go to web.whatsapp.com or open the WhatsApp application on your PC
2. Open the conversation where you want to send the video
3. Click on the Attachment option that looks like a paperclip icon
   
4. Click on Document
   
5. Click on the video you wish to send

Compressing the Video 

There are several third-party apps that will compress a video. Compressing a video reduces the file size making it shareable on WhatsApp. 

On a computer, you can compress a video in the following way:

1. Right-click on the video
2. Hover your mouse over Send to
3. Click on Compressed (zipped) folder
   
4. A zipped file will be created. You can share this on WhatsApp using the methods shown above.

Note: In Windows 11, after right-clicking on the video, click on Show more options and then follow through with Steps 2-4. 

Using Cloud Storage Links 

Cloud storage provides easy file hosting services. Some popular cloud storage services are Google Drive, iCloud, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox. Google Drive is easy to use and provides 15GB of free storage. 

Using Google Drive

Here’re the steps you need to follow on your Android phones and PC:

On Android

1. Click on the Google Drive app on your phone
2. Click on the + option on the bottom right
   
3. Click on Upload
   v
4. Click on the More option on the top left
5. Click on Videos
6. Select the video you want to send
7. Scroll down to find the video you just uploaded and click on the three dots that are right beside it
   V
8. Click on Share
   
9. In the Add people or groups option, add the email address of the person to whom you want to send the video
   
10. Click on the arrow icon at the bottom right of the screen to send the invite
11. Click on the three dots on the video that you want to share
    
12. Click on Copy link
    
13. Open the conversation in WhatsApp where you want to send the video
14. Paste the link in the text input box and press Send 

On PC

1. Go to www.drive.google.com
2. Click on the + New option on the top left 
   
3. Click on File upload
   
4. Select the video you want to send 
5. On the bottom right corner, from the window that says 1 upload complete, click on the folder icon. It will show you where the file is
   
6. Right-click on the file and click on Share 
   
7. In the Add people and groups option, add the email address of the person to whom you want to send the video
8. Click on Copy link and then on Done
   
9. Open the conversation in WhatsApp where you want to send the video
10. Paste the link in the text input box and press Send 

Using iCloud

Here are the steps you need to follow on your Mac and iPhone:

On iPhone

1. Go to Settings and click on your name
   
2. Click on iCloud and on Backup to iCloud to turn the toggle on
   
3. Click on Backup Now
   
4. Once the video is uploaded, click on the Share File or Folder button
   
5. Click on Share Options to select who can access or make changes to the file
6. Click on Copy Link
7. In the text box that appears, enter the email address or phone number of the person you want to send it to
8. Copy the link from another window that appears
9. Open the conversation in WhatsApp where you want to send the video
10. Paste the link in the text input box and press Send

On Mac

1. Go to iCloud.com and log in with your Apple ID and password
   
2. Click on the Photos icon
3. In the left sidebar under Album, click on Video V
4. Click on Upload
   
5. Choose the video you want to upload
   
6. Once the video is uploaded, click on the Share File or Folder button
   
7. Click on Share Options to select who can access or make changes to the file
   
8. Click on Copy Link
   
9. In the text box that appears, enter the email address or phone number of the person you want to send it to. 
10. Copy the link from another window that appears
11. Open the conversation in WhatsApp where you want to send the video
12. Paste the link in the text input box and press Send

Using YouTube

Similar to cloud storage links, you can use YouTube to share your video. You do this by uploading the video to YouTube and then sharing the link on WhatsApp. You can change the setting so that only you and the other person can watch the video. 

On Mobile

1. Open the YouTube app
2. Click on Create and then Upload a video
   
3. Select the video you want to upload and click on NEXT
4. Click on the Visibility option and set it to Unlisted
   
5. Click on Upload
   
6. Share the link in the chat on WhatsApp

On PC 

1. Sign in to youtube.com
   
2. Click on Create from the top-right corner and then Upload videos
   
3. Click on the file you want to upload
   
4. Go to the Visibility tab
5. From Save or publish, click on Unlisted
   
6. Copy the video link and press Save
7. Open the conversation in WhatsApp where you want to send the video
8. Paste the link in the text input box and press Send