All of Signal's file sharing size limits in every version of the app (2024)

• Signal's file size limits change depending on what device you're using, and what you're trying to share.
• You can generally share videos up to 100 MB large, GIFs up to 25 MB, and images up to about 8 MB.
• The Android Signal app lets you bypass most size limits, but will compress your files down to a smaller size.

Signal isn't just for sending encrypted texts. Like most chatting apps, Signal lets you send all sorts of files, from videos to images to PDFs.

But each type of file has a maximum size limit, and you might need to compress your files before you can share them. Here are the limits for each type of file, based on what version of the Signal app you're using.

In general, Signal splits the files that you can share into four types: Images, GIFs, videos, and everything else.

Each version of the Signal app (Android, iOS/iPadOS, Desktop) gives each of these file types its own maximum file size. So when sharing files, you'll need to consider both what you're trying to share and what device you're using.

We contacted Signal directly to ask about their file size limits, and in response we got to look inside the open-source code that powers the app.

The file size limits work out like this:

*Depending on your settings, these files might get compressed to a smaller size after you send them.

†It's possible to send larger files, but there's a chance that they'll be either rejected or compressed to a smaller size.

If you regularly need to send large files over Signal, your best bet is to use the Android app. It has the highest file size limits, although you might find that some files get compressed.

Otherwise, you might instead want to upload your files to a cloud storage service like Google Drive. You can then share the files by sending your Signal contacts a direct link to them, instead of sending the files directly.