Slack gives you two ways to send video, and they stop in two different places: a clip is capped at five minutes, and a regular file upload is capped at 1GB.
This guide covers the file-upload path, the one that works for anything longer than five minutes. You need the video as a file on disk, a channel or DM you can post to, and a way to get it under 1GB first.
Before you start
Know which of the two paths you are on. Slack documents them separately:
| Clips | Regular file upload | |
|---|---|---|
| Length limit | "up to five minutes long" | Not stated in Slack's documentation |
| Size limit | Not stated separately | "You can add files up to 1GB in size." |
| Plan availability | "Available on all plans" | See official docs |
Slack's help article on clips states the ceiling in its first line: "Share audio and video clips up to five minutes long in Slack". That five minutes governs clips. It is not a limit on video files in general — Slack's documentation does not state any duration limit for an ordinary file upload, only the 1GB size cap.
Check whether your workspace has tightened the cap. The 1GB figure appears unconditionally on Slack's "Add files to Slack" page, with no per-plan breakdown. But Slack's API error reference includes file_upload_size_restricted: "The size of provided file is too large, as the team has restricted uploads of large files." A rejection well under 1GB is possible when an admin set something stricter — ask an owner rather than compressing harder.
Check whether the conversation is a Slack Connect channel or DM. Slack notes on the same page that "Uploading and sharing files may be restricted for Slack Connect conversations, and certain file types can't be added at all." The usual workaround makes it worse — see the mistakes below.
Step 1: Pick the path — five minutes is the dividing line
If the video is under five minutes and you are recording it right now, record a clip. Clips are available to "All members and guests" and "Available on all plans".
If it runs longer, upload it as a file instead. Slack's clip options do include "Upload an existing video as a clip", but the documentation does not state which containers, file sizes or durations that path accepts — so for a long recording, a plain file upload is the predictable route.
Step 2: Get the file under Slack's 1GB ceiling
Slack's documentation does not say whether it re-encodes uploads, or at what point size is measured. So the only number you can plan around is the size of the file on your disk. Check it before you upload.
Try it right here
Runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded anywhere.
This runs in your browser tab: the video is read from disk, re-encoded locally, and handed back. It is never uploaded to a server.
If you want the knobs rather than a preset, see how to compress a video without losing quality, or pick another job from all Clapr tools. Footage that lands as .mov can go through MOV to MP4 the same way.
Step 3: Upload it
Slack's own instructions for the desktop app: "Drag and drop up to 10 files into the Slack message field, or click the plus icon next to the message field and choose files to add."
Slack states that "Files you add to Slack will be scanned for viruses and other malware, and won't be uploaded if any are detected." It also says to contact them if a block was wrong. A refusal is not always about size.
Step 4: Check that the person receiving it can actually use it
Slack's help center says, in the section on downloading files: "On your mobile device, you can only download image files."
A teammate on a phone cannot save the video you just uploaded through the normal download path — they need to open the message on desktop.
There is one documented alternative, with conditions: "If your workspace is on a paid plan, you can create links to share files outside of Slack." Who can create one depends on the channel — "In a public channel, any member can create an external link for a file. In a private channel, only the person who uploaded the file can create an external link for it."
If you are on a free workspace, the clock starts the moment you upload
Two separate mechanisms apply to files on the free plan.
Ninety days is a visibility limit. Slack: "You can view and search messages and files from the last 90 days" — and video counts, since the same passage lists "clips, PDFs, documents, images, screenshots, and audio and video files." Past that, Slack starts "hiding messages and files older than 90 days to make room for new ones." Hidden is not gone: "the remaining 275 days will become available should you upgrade to a paid plan."
One year is a deletion limit. From the same page: "Messages and files more than one year old will be permanently deleted." No undo — "It will not be possible to restore messages and files once deletion occurs."
There is also a trap in the workspace settings. Slack describes the basic retention choices as "either keep all messages and files for one year, or delete them after 90 days". It adds that with the 90-day option, "this will automatically delete any that become hidden by the message and file limit." On a workspace configured that way, upgrading later will not bring the video back.
Common mistakes
Zipping the video first — in a Slack Connect conversation. Slack states that "To help keep Slack secure, certain types of files cannot be added to Slack Connect channels and direct messages (DMs)." The published list of blocked extensions includes .7z, .gz and .tar. It does not include .mp4, .mov, .mkv or .webm. So archiving a big video to get it "through" a Slack Connect channel is the one move that guarantees a rejection, while the raw video file is not on the blocked list at all. Mind the qualifier: that list applies to Slack Connect channels and DMs, not to Slack as a whole.
Treating five minutes as a video limit. It is the clip limit, not a limit on file uploads.
Assuming a paid plan raises the per-file cap. Slack's help page gives one unconditional number, 1GB, with no per-plan table beside it. Check the current limit in Slack's official help center rather than a third-party blog.
Reading preview rules as upload rules. An image previews inline only if it is "smaller than 25,000 pixels on the longest side, and less than 45 million pixels total" (both conditions, not either), and "Microsoft Office files that are larger than 50 MB will not display a preview." Those govern display, not whether an upload succeeds — and Slack publishes no equivalent thresholds for video.
Blaming the 1GB cap for every failure. An upload can also fail on the virus scan, a Slack Connect file-type restriction, or an admin-tightened limit. Free workspaces have one more: Slack's developer documentation describes a storage_limit_reached error as "File storage limit has been reached. This occurs when free teams have uploaded 5GB of files." That is a workspace-wide storage total, not a per-file cap, and it appears in the API error reference and a 2019 developer changelog rather than in current user-facing help pages.
FAQ
What is the longest video I can send on Slack? It depends on the path. Clips are documented as "up to five minutes long". For regular file uploads, Slack's documentation states no duration limit at all — only the 1GB size cap.
Can I send a video longer than 5 minutes as a Slack clip? No. The clip feature is documented with the five-minute ceiling, so a longer recording goes in as a file. Slack does list "Upload an existing video as a clip" among the clip options, but publishes no size or duration rules for that path.
Why can't I download a video someone sent me in Slack on my phone? Because Slack's help center states that "On your mobile device, you can only download image files." Open the message on desktop to save the file.
Does Slack compress my video when I upload it? Slack's official documentation does not state whether it re-encodes uploads, or whether any size check happens before or after. Plan around the file on your disk and shrink it yourself — see Discord says your file is too large.
Do paid Slack plans let me upload bigger files? Slack's "Add files to Slack" page states the 1GB figure without any per-plan breakdown, so there is no official tiered table to point to. Check the current limit in Slack's official help center before assuming an upgrade changes it.
How long do videos stay in Slack on the free plan? Ninety days for visibility and search, then hidden; past one year they are permanently deleted with no recovery. Upgrading restores the hidden window — unless your workspace is set to delete content after 90 days, in which case it is already gone.
Same problem, different app? See WhatsApp video too large to send, or browse the rest of the how-to guides.
Limits cited from Slack's help center articles on adding files, clips, free-workspace usage limits and Slack Connect restricted file types, plus Slack's developer documentation, checked 16 September 2026.
