Imgur size and format limits
Last updated: 7 October 2026
Almost every "why did my upload fail" question comes down to one of three things: the file is too big, the format is not accepted, or the host is applying a stricter limit than it advertises. Here is how to work through all three.
Be careful with numbers you find online
Image hosts change their limits quietly, and old forum answers and blog posts keep circulating long after they stop being true. Imgur's own published limits have moved more than once over the years, and there are also different caps for different things — a still image, an animated GIF, and a video upload are not treated the same. If you need the exact current figure for a specific host, check that host's own help centre rather than a listicle, including for Imgur.
Our own limit is simple and stable: 32MB per image, up to 100 images per batch.
Formats: what nearly every host accepts
| Format | Still works? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| JPG / JPEG | Yes, universally | The safest choice for photos. |
| PNG | Yes, universally | Best for screenshots, text and transparency. |
| GIF | Usually | Animation may be preserved or re-encoded, depending on the host. |
| WebP | Often, but not always | Newer format; some hosts refuse it outright. |
| SVG | Rarely | Treat as vector code, not an image. Most image hosts reject it for that reason. |
| HEIC / HEIF | Sometimes | What iPhones produce by default. A frequent cause of failure. |
| AVIF | Sometimes | Newest format; support is uneven. |
On this site, JPG, PNG, GIF and WebP are accepted, and WebP is converted to JPG in your browser before it is sent — so a WebP file behaves like a JPG by the time it reaches the host.
Animated GIFs: expect a change
GIF is an old format, and large animated files can be many times the size of the same clip as video. Since October 2014 Imgur has converted uploaded animated GIFs into WebM and MP4 video. The result is much smaller and loads faster, but it uses lossy compression and it is no longer strictly a GIF. If exact fidelity of an animation matters, expect to be disappointed somewhere along the way, whichever host you use.
The upside
Small files are also the ones that survive. A 3MB photo renders instantly on a phone; a 40MB one makes your reader wait.
Getting a photo under the limit without ruining it
- Check the dimensions first. A 6000×4000 photo straight off a camera is far larger than any screen needs. Downscaling to around 2000px on the long edge usually drops the file size by 80–90% with no visible loss.
- Then adjust quality. Most editors let you re-save a JPG at 80–85% quality. Below that, artefacts start to show on faces and fine text.
- Choose the right format. Photos as JPG, screenshots and diagrams as PNG. Saving a screenshot as JPG blurs text; saving a photo as PNG can triple the size for no benefit.
- Convert HEIC. If your phone produced a
.heicfile and the host refuses it, convert to JPG first — this is the most common single fix for iPhone uploads.
When an upload is refused
| What you see | Most likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| "File too large" | Over the per-file cap | Downscale, then re-save at 80–85% quality |
| "Unsupported format" | HEIC, AVIF or SVG | Convert to JPG or PNG |
| Refused with no clear reason | File is empty or near-empty — hosts reject icons and 1×1 pixel files | Upload a real image; check the file is not corrupt |
| Works for one image, fails for the next | Rate limiting on repeated uploads | Wait a few minutes and retry the batch |
| GIF comes back as a video | Normal re-encoding, not an error | Nothing to fix |
More failures and their causes are covered in imgur upload not working.