WordPress’s file upload limit is usually 4 to 128 MB, which ensures server ef­fi­ciency. This limit can be increased in different ways, however. You can contact your web hosting provider, adjust the con­fig­ur­a­tion values in the wp-config.php or php.ini file, or choose one of the al­tern­at­ive options.

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WordPress upload limit: defin­i­tion and scope

The WordPress upload limit is the maximum size of files you can upload to your WordPress website. It is usually between 4 and 128 MB (although this depends on the host). You can find the exact limit in the backend of your WordPress website. The reason for the upload limit is because when you try to upload files that are too big, it can cause the server to time out and in the worst-case crash. Therefore, its purpose is to preserve the site’s per­form­ance and prevent (cy­ber­crim­in­al) users from impairing it.

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When and why increase WordPress upload size?

It makes sense to increase the default upload size in WordPress if you want to upload files that are too large. This can happen when building websites that should have high-res­ol­u­tion photos, longer videos, etc. Pho­to­graph­ers who plan to sell their photos online know how important it is to upload images in optimal quality.

In­struc­tions: How to check and increase your WordPress upload limit size

Check WordPress upload limit

As mentioned, you can find out what the limit of up­load­able files is in the WordPress backend. To do this, tap on ‘Media’ and ‘Add file’. Below the uploader, you’ll find the maximum file size for uploads. In our case this is 128 MB. If this is exceeded, then the following error message will be displayed: ‘[File name] exceeds the maximum upload limit for this site.’

Image: Screenshot of the file uploader in the backend of a WordPress website
In the media library of the WordPress dashboard, you can find the file uploader in­dic­at­ing the WordPress upload limit.

Another way to check the WordPress upload limit is via ‘Tools’ and ‘Site Health’. There you will see all the important in­form­a­tion listed in the report, including the maximum file size.

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Increase the WordPress upload size

If you want to increase the WordPress upload size, you have several options to choose from, which we will present to you in detail:

  • Contact the support of your web hosting provider
  • Increase the upload limit for a WordPress multisite
  • Edit the wp-config.php file
  • Edit the php.ini file
  • Access the PHP options in the cPanel

Contact the support of your web hosting provider

The simplest method that can be used to increase your WordPress upload size entails con­tact­ing your host. Depending on the provider, this can be done by phone, email, chat, or contact form. It is advisable to mention what your desired upload size is. Check the size of the files you want to upload so that you’ll know what limit to request. IONOS has all the contact in­form­a­tion on its extensive contact page.

Image: Screenshot of the IONOS contact page
Contact your web hosting provider and ask them to increase the WordPress upload size for your website. / Source: https://www.ionos.co.uk/contact

Increase the upload limit for a WordPress multisite

If you run a WordPress multisite, which is a network of various WordPress websites, then you can adjust the upload limit for the whole network. To do this, open the settings in your WordPress backend and access the network settings. Here you have the option ‘Maximum upload file size’ where you can enter your desired WordPress upload limit. Be sure to specify the value in kilobytes (e.g. 200000 KB would be 200 MB) and save your changes.

Tip

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Edit the wp-config.php file

The WordPress upload limit can also be increased using the WordPress wp-config.php file. This file can be found in the main folder of your WordPress in­stall­a­tion and is only ac­cess­ible via FTP.

Enter the following code in the file:

define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '200M');

This piece of code increases your upload limit to 200 MB. Change the amount if you have a different limit in mind.

Image: Screenshot of wp-config.php file with code to use to increase upload limit
Enter the code ‘define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '200M');’ in the wp-config.php file, to increase your WordPress upload limit to 200 MB.

Edit the php.ini file

Another con­fig­ur­a­tion file that can be used is the php.ini file, which you may have to create first via FTP or SSH. Here is where the following con­fig­ur­a­tions (possibly with other values) will be displayed:

upload_max_filesize=128M;
post_max_size=128M;
memory_limit=1024M;

Adjust the first two values to increase your WordPress upload size and save your changes at the end.

Image: Screenshot of php.ini file with selected configurations highlighted
Adjust the con­fig­ur­a­tion values in the php.ini file to increase your WordPress upload limit.

Access the PHP option in the cPanel

If you are using the cPanel con­fig­ur­a­tion tool, there is another way you can increase your WordPress upload size. To do this, first search for ‘Select PHP version’ and then select the PHP options. Now you just need to adjust the con­fig­ur­a­tion values mentioned in the previous section and save your changes.

Tip

You can create a WordPress site in just a few steps. However, un­ex­pec­ted problems or errors can always occur. These can be found quickly thanks to WordPress debug mode, but they often aren’t fixed as quickly. Therefore, it is a good idea to create a test en­vir­on­ment — known as a WordPress staging site. It is also advisable to create a backup of your WordPress website regularly.

Summary

If you want to upload very large files to WordPress that exceed the upload limit, there are various ways you can increase the limit to make the upload possible. The easiest way is via web hosting provider support. Otherwise, you can set the desired con­fig­ur­a­tion values yourself. For example, if you plan to create a WordPress blog that will contain high-res­ol­u­tion photos, long videos, etc., you will most likely need to increase the WordPress upload size.

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