Normally, the WordPress upload limit is from 4MB to 128MB.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You may need to increase the maximum upload file size for various reasons. Let\u2019s look at the most common ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regular updates are the key to success for many websites, particularly, blogs. Adding media is an essential part of such updates. Thus, file limits, especially very low ones, can frustrate you when you can\u2019t include a desired video or image of good quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, if you want to change your WordPress theme or install a new plugin via the WordPress admin dashboard, these elements can exceed the maximum upload file size. So, to get the desired look or functionality, you should change the limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you wish to create a website selling digital files of various kinds (e.g., videos, books, pictures, etc.), you\u2019ll definitely need to increase the limit of file uploads. Digital goods can be hundreds of megabytes and even more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similar to online stores, portfolios usually feature the best works of a person, and these files can also exceed the set limit. If you don\u2019t want to choose what to present in your portfolio just by file size, you\u2019ll need to increase the upload file size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s possible to set a video or a high-resolution image as a site\u2019s background. Such files can be pretty big<\/a>, so you have to make sure that you increase the limits to be able to add quality media to your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever the case is, if you need to upload a big file and get an alert informing you that it\u2019s impossible, you need to increase the maximum upload file size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can check your current maximum file upload size in several ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The easiest and fastest way to check file sizes is to try to upload a large file to your WordPress Media Library. To do this, you should<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your file exceeds the limit, the upload will fail, and you\u2019ll see the \u201cMaximum upload file size\u201d in the message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the screenshot below you can see that the maximum upload file size is currently 50MB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Starting with WordPress 5.2, you can see detailed information about your WordPress website configuration on the site health info screen<\/a>. It is here that you\u2019ll find technical information about your permissions, including file sizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To open Site Health info, it is necessary to press on \u2018Tools\u2019 on your dashboard, select \u2018Site Health\u2019, and go to the \u2018Info\u2019 tab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Afterward, you can scroll to the Media Handling dropdown and check the maximum size of an uploaded file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, you can check the information in the Server dropdown. If your server settings limit your maximum upload file size, you\u2019ll see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, let\u2019s speak about various ways of increasing the maximum upload file size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WordPress themes include a template called functions.php<\/strong> or the theme functions file. When you install a theme, it gets activated automatically. You can edit this file by modifying its PHP code to change the default features on your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To increase the upload size, you can add the following code to your functions.php file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have access to your WordPress root folder, you can try this method. With the help of the FTP or File Manager app in your cPanel dashboard, you can change or create the php.ini file. This file includes your default PHP settings. So, open your WordPress root directory and look for the php.ini file. If there is one, open it. If your folder doesn\u2019t contain this file, you can easily create it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, with the help of any text or code editor, add the following code to the php.inin file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember to save the changes in the file. Sometimes this method will not work if your hosting provider doesn\u2019t let you change PHP settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another way to increase the WordPress upload limit is the .htaccess method. It is suitable for those whose servers run on Apache. To change the upload file size, you have to update the .htaccess file<\/a> located in the WordPress website\u2019s root folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Open the file manager of your cPanel and find the .htaccess file. Afterward, right-click on the file, choose \u2018View\/Edit and add the code below to the file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Save the changes in the file and make sure you upload it back to the server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your server is running PHP in CGI mode, you won\u2019t be able to add the directives to the .htaccess file. In this case, you\u2019ll get a 500 Internal Server Error, and you should try another method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most hosting providers offer technical support, and helping you to increase your upload file size is an easy undertaking for them. Hence, reaching out to your hosting company is one of the easiest ways to change file upload limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can usually get support via emails, chat, or phone. Contact the company, explain what you need, and ask them to modify the necessary settings for you (if this is possible in your hosting plan).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In case you have several websites <\/a>running <\/a>as a network<\/a> in WordPress Multisite<\/a>, you can change the upload file size for all sites in the network simultaneously. To do this, open the Network Admin dashboard and choose Network Settings in the Settings section. The latter contains the \u2018Max upload file size\u2019 field. Simply increase the value (which is in Kilobytes) and save the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note that editing settings via this method will not override the server\u2019s limits. In other words, if the server upload file size is smaller than the one you set in the WordPress Multisite, the server will not follow the WordPress settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you can\u2019t change your php.ini files because your hosting provider doesn\u2019t allow you to change the global PHP settings, you can try configuring the .user.ini file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similar to php.ini and .htaccess files, the .user.ini file is located in the website\u2019s root folder. If it is not there, you can create it yourself. Then, add the code below to the .user.ini file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can see, this method is the same as changing the php.ini file, and you just have a different file name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another WordPress increase upload size method is to use your server\u2019s cPanel dashboard. If you can configure your server in this way, you\u2019ll be able to adjust upload limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you log in and open the cPanel dashboard, choose \u2018Software\u2019 and \u2018Select PHP Version\u2019 in it. Then, you\u2019ll see a page with the PHP extensions where you should switch to the PHP options. You should find the upload_max_filesize option and choose the desired file size in the dropdown menu. Remember to check post_max_size and memory_limit, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the newest cPanel versions, there\u2019s no need to click the \u2018Save\u2019 button, as all the changes are saved automatically. Yet, if you have an older version and do see such a button, remember to save the settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For WordPress websites running on Nginx servers, you have to edit both the php.ini and nginx.conf files to change WordPress max file upload size. Follow the steps below to adjust the settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) Modify the php.ini file. It is usually located in the \/etc\/php\/7.4\/fpm\/ folder. Open the php.ini and add this code:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember to save the changes in the php.ini file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Enable the applied configuration by restarting PHP-FPM. To do this, run the following code in your terminal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n sudo service php7.4-fpm restart<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) Add the directive which sets the upload size limin to the nginx.conf file. Use this address to find the file: \/etc\/nginx\/nginx.conf. After opening the nginx.conf file, add the directive below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n client_max_body_size 128M<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s possible to declare the directive in various blocks: <\/p>\n\n\n\n You should note that if you add the directive to the http block, you\u2019ll modify the settings for all the sites\/apps hosted on your server. If you only want to modify a particular site\/block hosted by the server, you should define the directive in the server block. Additionally, you can use the location block to change a specific directory inside the website or app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember to save the changes and restart Nginx by running the command below in your terminal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, providers restrict access the Nginx configuration file. Then, you\u2019ll have to contact the support team so that they can adjust the settings for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WordPress includes the upload_size_limit filter that regulates the maximum upload size for the php.ini file. If you want to edit this filter, you need to find your theme\u2019s functions.php file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After you log in to your WordPress website, open the Theme Editor in Appearance on the left side of the dashboard. You\u2019ll open the functions.php file where you need to add the following code:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can see, the last line of this code sets the maximum upload file size of 128MB. You may choose another value and change the code if necessary. Afterward, remember to press the \u201cUpdate File\u201d button to save the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t want to deal with coding and changing root files manually, you can install a WordPress plugin developed for these purposes. Let\u2019s consider several plugins that will assist you in modifying upload limits hassle-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) WP Increase Upload Filesize<\/a> by CodePopular is compatible with WordPress 4.0 and newer versions. After installing and activating the plugin, you can find it on the main dashboard of your WordPress website. When you click on the settings, you\u2019ll see the upload limit set by your hosting provider. If this limit is bigger than your WordPress maximum upload size, you can increase the latter. Use the dropdown menu to apply the necessary settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Increase Maximum Upload File Size<\/a> by Imagify is another plugin suitable for changing the upload file size. It works with WordPress 3.0 and newer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you have installed and activated this plugin, you should go to Settings on your dashboard and click on the \u2018Increase Maximum Upload File Size\u2019. The plugin automatically identifies the limits set by your hosting provider and WordPress. Thus, you can increase the WordPress limit so that it doesn\u2019t exceed the server limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) WP Upload Size<\/a> by Husain Ahmed can also be used to change the limit for uploading files. It\u2019s compatible with WordPress 3.7 or newer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the plugin\u2019s installation and activation, you\u2019ll find it in the Tools section of your dashboard. To increase the limit for WordPress files, you have to enter a numeric value in bytes. Remember to save the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike the plugins described previously, the WP Upload Size doesn\u2019t show you the limit set by the hosting provider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides uploading files with WordPress Media Library, you can also upload them via FTP or SFTP. If the methods described above didn\u2019t work for you, uploading files with FTP\/SFTP will solve the problem of a limited file size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FTP, or File Transfer Protocole, lets you add files from your local computer to your website\u2019s server. Follow these steps: <\/p>\n\n\n\n It may happen that WordPress doesn\u2019t recognize the files that you added via FTP\/SFTP. Then, you can take advantage of the free Add from Server plugin<\/a>. It is suitable for WordPress 5.4 and newer. After installing and activating the plugin, you\u2019ll see the \u2018Add from Server\u2019 section under the Media menu on your dashboard. You should choose the folder to which you have imported the files via the FTP client. Then, select the files and press \u2018Import\u2019. Then, you\u2019ll be able to see these files in your Media Library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever method you have chosen to change the file upload limit, it\u2019s better to check that it has worked. The easiest way to ensure this is to go to the Media Library and check the maximum upload file size there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, you can go to the Site Health Info page and check the data under Media Handling and Server dropdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To conclude, the variety of methods to increase the WordPress upload limit is vast. If you are ok with coding, you can edit php.ini, .htaccess, and .user.ini files or change the limit with the WordPress filter. If you prefer to keep away from coding, install plugins and change the limit in several clicks. Even when these methods don\u2019t work, you can always upload files directly to the server with an FTP client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having trouble increasing the WordPress upload limit or performing another task to make your website fast and functional? Our WordPress developers<\/a> will help. With 16+ years of industry experience and thousands of successfully completed WP projects, we know everything about the world\u2019s most popular CMS.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact <\/a>us with any WordPress-related task, from developing custom themes to improving your website\u2019s Core Web Vitals scores.<\/em> Helping your business succeed is our top priority!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this post, we discuss the main methods to increase the WordPress upload limit – a problem that many users face when trying to add files to their websites. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[740,752],"tags":[763,822,857,814],"class_list":["post-13363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorial","category-wordpress-development","tag-maintenance","tag-php","tag-troubleshooting","tag-wordpress"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Dmytro Mashchenko","author_link":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/author\/dima"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/14172542\/Intro-preview-3-300x300.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Tutorial<\/a>","WordPress development<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Tutorial<\/span>","WordPress development<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Maintenance<\/a>","PHP<\/a>","Troubleshooting<\/a>","WordPress<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Maintenance<\/span>","PHP<\/span>","Troubleshooting<\/span>","WordPress<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on February 14, 2022","modified":"Updated on March 30, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on February 14, 2022 5:34 pm","modified":"Updated on March 30, 2025 11:32 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","featured_image_urls":{"thumbnail_723x315":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/14172542\/Intro-preview-3-400x315.png","thumbnail_723x315-2x":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/14172542\/Intro-preview-3.png","thumbnail_723x315-3x":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/14172542\/Intro-preview-3.png","thumbnail_770x510":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/14172542\/Intro-preview-3.png","thumbnail_770x510-2x":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/14172542\/Intro-preview-3.png","thumbnail_770x510-3x":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/14172542\/Intro-preview-3.png"},"featured_post_color":"#f3a345","author_avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/97bd036a871c68c70de0956108719ad9489849769ee15e25e0bee81f3bdd7286?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_position":"CEO of GetDevDone","reading_time":"<\/span> 10<\/span> min read<\/span><\/span>","prev_post":{"slug":"common-myths-about-traditional-wordpress-vs-headless-wordpress-debunked","name":"5 Common Myths About Traditional WordPress vs. Headless WordPress Debunked"},"next_post":{"slug":"3-main-reasons-to-use-wordpress-for-building-your-minimum-viable-product","name":"3 Main Reasons to Use WordPress for Building Your MVP Website"},"related_posts":["create-your-own-wordpress-plugin-in-4-easy-steps","how-we-redeveloped-website-for-agency","dinghy-daily-charter-responsive-wordpress-website-case-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13363"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24637,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13363\/revisions\/24637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why Increase the Maximum Upload File Size in WordPress?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/14172703\/reasons-to-increase-wordpress-upload-limit.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nKeeping Your Website Up-to-date<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Installing New Themes or Plugins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Creating a Digital eCommerce Store<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Publishing an Online Portfolio<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Adding Media as Website\u2019s Background<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How to Check Your Maximum File Upload Size Limit in WordPress?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. In the Media Library<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
![\"50](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30231314\/max-upload-50-mb.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n2. In the Site Health Info<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Site](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30231815\/02_Site_Health_Info_tab.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Media](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30231858\/03_Site_Health_Media_Handling.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow to Change Maximum Upload Size in WordPress<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Modify Theme Functions File<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Modify](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30232823\/05_Theme_Functions.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n@ini_set( 'upload_max_size' , '128M' );\n@ini_set( 'post_max_size', '128M');\n@ini_set( 'max_execution_time', '300' );<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
2. Create or Edit an Existing PHP.INI File<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
upload_max_filesize = 64M\npost_max_size = 64M\nmemory_limit = 128M<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
3. Change the .htaccess File<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
php_value upload_max_filesize 128M\nphp_value post_max_size 128M\nphp_value memory_limit 256M\nphp_value max_execution_time 300\nphp_value max_input_time 300\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
4. Contact Your Hosting Provider for Help<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Increase the Max Upload File Size in WordPress Multisite<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Create or Modify the \u2018.user.ini\u2019 File<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
upload_max_filesize = 64M\npost_max_size = 64M\nmemory_limit = 128M<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
7. Change PHP Options via cPanel<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
8. Increase the Max Upload File Size in Nginx<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
upload_max_filesize = 64M\npost_max_size = 128M<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n
sudo service nginx reload<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
9. Use the WordPress \u2018upload_size_limit\u2019 Filter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
function filter_site_upload_size_limit( $size ) { \n return 1024 * 1024 * 64; \n} \nadd_filter( 'upload_size_limit', 'filter_site_upload_size_limit', 128 );<\/pre>\n\n\n\n10. Use a WordPress Plugin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"WP](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30232946\/06_Plugin_Increase_Upload_Filesize.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Increase](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30233048\/07_Plugin_Increase_Maximum_Upload_File_Size-1024x689.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"WP](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30233145\/08_Plugin_WP_Upload_Size.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n11. Upload Files via FTP\/SFTP<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Verify Your WordPress Site\u2019s New Max Upload File Size<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Verify](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30233230\/09_verify_upload_size.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWorld-Class WordPress Development Services from GetDevDone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n