WhatsApp Media Sizing Guide: Images, Videos & More

WhatsApp has clear rules for the media you can send. Stick to them and your campaigns look great and deliver reliably. Ignore them and previews break, quality drops, or messages fail.

Here is everything you need to know to prepare media for WhatsApp campaigns through Chatarmin.

Quick Reference

Images

Formats: JPEG or PNG. Max 5 MB.

Recommended sizes:

• Square: 1080 × 1080 px

• Portrait: 1080 × 1350 px

• Story-style: 1080 × 1920 px

• Product image: 1200 × 1200 px

• Wide / link preview: 1125 × 600 px

Tips:

• Keep important content centered with some padding near the edges. Some devices crop the edges.

• Avoid tiny text. Most people read WhatsApp on a phone.

• Use high contrast so visuals pop.

• iPhone photos in HEIC format do not work. Convert to JPEG first.

• WhatsApp compresses images slightly on upload, so design for a clean, simple look.

Videos

Format: MP4. Max 16 MB. Keep videos under 30 seconds for best results.

Recommended sizes:

• 1280 × 720 px or 1920 × 1080 px

• 16:9 aspect ratio

• 30 frames per second

Tips:

• Add captions. Many people watch with sound off.

• Make the first 3 seconds count.

• The first frame is the preview thumbnail, so make it strong.

• Compress before upload to stay well under 16 MB.

• Videos do not autoplay. Users tap to play.

Formats that do not work: MOV, AVI, MKV, WEBM, FLV. Export to MP4 first.

Audio

Formats: MP3 or M4A. Max 16 MB.

Tips:

• Normalize the volume so users do not need to adjust their phone.

• Remove background noise.

• Keep voice notes short and on point.

• Audio does not autoplay. Users tap to listen.

Documents

Formats: PDF, Word (DOC, DOCX), Excel (XLS, XLSX), PowerPoint (PPT, PPTX), TXT. Max 100 MB.

Tips:

• Use a clean, readable filename. Your customer sees it.

• Avoid special characters in filenames.

• Compress large PDFs before uploading.

• Open the file on your phone once to confirm it looks right.

Stickers

Format: WEBP. 512 × 512 px.

Size limit: 100 KB for static stickers, 500 KB for animated stickers.

Tips:

• Use a transparent background.

• Keep the design simple. Tiny details disappear at sticker size.

Carousels

Carousels let users swipe through multiple images in one message.

Per image: JPEG or PNG, 1125 × 600 px, max 5 MB.

Tips:

• Use the same style across all images so the carousel feels like one set.

• Keep text minimal. Strong visuals do the work.

Sending Media by Link

You can also send media by linking to a public URL instead of uploading the file.

The link must:

• Be public (no login required)

• Use HTTPS

• Stay live (temporary or expiring links break)

If a media message fails, the URL is the first place to check.

A Note on Quality

WhatsApp may compress your media depending on the recipient's phone and connection. Uploading a huge, high-resolution file does not guarantee that quality reaches your customer. Optimize for mobile from the start.

Common Issues and Fixes

"File format not supported" The file type is not on WhatsApp's list. Re-export to JPEG, PNG, MP4, or MP3.

"Unable to upload media" The file is too big or the link is unreachable. Reduce the file size or check the URL in an incognito browser.

"This media is no longer available" The file or link expired. Re-upload or use a permanent host.

Image colors look wrong The image is in CMYK. Save it as RGB and re-upload.

Video does not play The video file is fine but its internal encoding is not supported. Re-export from your video editor with default MP4 settings.

Pre-Send Checklist

• Images are JPEG or PNG, under 5 MB.

• Videos are MP4, under 16 MB, under 30 seconds, with captions.

• Audio is MP3 or M4A, under 16 MB.

• Documents are under 100 MB with a clean filename.

• Stickers are WEBP, 512 × 512 px.

• Links are public, HTTPS, and stay live.

• Test the message in Chatarmin on both Android and iPhone before sending to your full list.

For full technical specs, see Meta's official documentation.