How to Send Large Video Files on WhatsApp

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: June 8, 2021

The WhatsApp messaging service can be useful for staying in touch with friends, but its 16MB size limit on videos can be frustrating. If you have a file larger than 16MB, you'll need to split it into smaller parts to be able to send it via WhatsApp. This wikiHow shows you how to send large video files using WhatsApp.

Steps

1
Tap the WhatsApp icon to open it. The icon looks like a white phone inside a white speech bubble on a green background.
2
Tap the Chats icon. This icon is on the bottom of your screen.

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3
Tap the
icon. This icon is in the upper right corner of the screen.
4
Tap the name of your intended recipient. This opens a chat page with the intended recipient.
- You may need to scroll down the list to see all your contacts. You can also search for an intended recipient by tapping the search field at the top of the screen and entering a name, then tapping the name from the search results.
5
Tap the
icon. This opens your phone's camera application.
6
Tap on the large video file you want to send.
- Alternatively, you can record a new video file at this point. Hold your thumb on the circle to start recording a video. Remove your thumb from the circle to stop recording.
7
Slide and drag the right side of the video timeline toward the left side. This cuts off the end of the video, creating a smaller clip. The further to the left you slide the marker, the shorter the clip will be.
- The still image updates to show the last frame in the video clip once you remove your finger from the slider. You can continue to make left or right adjustments to make sure the video cuts off at an ideal moment.
8
Tap
to send the video clip to your recipient. This brings you back to the chat page.
- If tapping the Send icon results in an error message that says "The media file that you have selected is larger than 16 MB. Unable to send file," you'll need to start over and retrim the file to make the clip shorter.
9
Tap the
icon again.
10
Tap the video you just clipped in the previous steps.
11
Slide and drag the left side of the video timeline toward the right side. This cuts off the beginning of the video, creating a smaller clip. The further to the right you slide the marker, the shorter the clip will be.
- Your goal is to include the part of the video you previously cut off in Step 7, while cutting off the part of the video you previously included. Depending on how large your video file is, you might need to clip the video multiple times to make sure all segments come in under the 16MB limit, or you might only need to clip it once.
12
Tap
to send the video clip to your recipient. This brings you back to the chat page.
13
Continue to send segments until you've sent the whole video.^{[1]
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