A low WordPress upload size limit stops you from uploading large files, plugins, and themes. If you're building a media-heavy website, that can be a considerable obstacle. It's necessary to increase the max upload size in WordPress or your server (or both) in such cases.

Depending on your hosting provider and server, there are many means to go about solving this issue. Nosotros'll encompass them all in this article and testify y'all how to increase the maximum upload size in WordPress quickly.

Let's dive in!

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What Is the Maximum Upload Size in WordPress?

Uploading large files to a server consumes a lot of the server'southward resource. To prevent users from causing server timeouts, the default maximum upload size in WordPress typically ranges from 4 MB to 128 MB. Usually, the hosting provider sets this limit at the server level.

WordPress also includes constants that define this limit, simply they cannot override the server-level settings in most cases.

To verify this, become to your WordPress site's Media Library. Here, endeavor to upload a file that crosses this maximum upload file size limit. You'll see an error bulletin that looks something similar this:

Error while uploading a large file in WordPress
Mistake while uploading a large file in WordPress

The "exceeds the maximum upload size for this site" error can be frustrating, but information technology exists for two chief reasons: security and efficiency. It hinders site owners and other users, including malicious actors, from uploading huge files (e.grand. high-resolution images, large videos).

Otherwise, it tin can effect in incapacitating your website's server, making your site come to a crawl. Or worse, it can bring your site down altogether!

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How to Check the Current Maximum Upload Size in WordPress

There are many ways to check your WordPress site'southward current max upload size. Let'southward go through all of them.

In the Media Library

The quickest manner to check your site'southward current maximum upload size is to go to your WordPress dashboard, and from there, go to Media > Library. Here, click on the Add New push button to activate the media uploader tool.

The "Maximum upload size limit" in WordPress
The "Maximum upload size limit" in WordPress

Every bit Kinsta hosts this site, the Maximum upload file size: 128 MB. bulletin displays below the Select Files button. If you're using a different spider web hosting provider, you may see a different limit listed here.

Y'all can also go to Media > Add New straight and see the aforementioned message displayed at the lesser.

The
The "Maximum upload file size" in WordPress' Media Library

Again, you tin can come across the 128 MB max upload file size here.

In the Site Wellness Info

WordPress 5.2 added the Site Health Info tool to help you lot debug your WordPress site better. Here, you can discover about all the information about your server and WordPress configuration.

Equally both the server and WordPress handle the max upload file size, there are ii ways to find its value on this screen.

First, you tin discover information technology listed under the Media Treatment dropdown. Here, look for the value of Max size of an uploaded file constant.

'Media Handling' settings in the 'Site Health Info' panel
'Media Handling' settings in the 'Site Wellness Info' console

The 2d method is to wait under the Server dropdown. You'll find many options related to your webserver's setup under here. Please search for the value for Upload max filesize constant to see what information technology is. On this site, the max upload file size limit is 128 MB.

'Server' settings in the 'Site Health Info' panel
'Server' settings in the 'Site Health Info' panel

You can also see other PHP constants and their values, such as:

  • PHP postal service max size: Defines the maximum upload limit for Mail requests.
  • PHP memory limit: Defines the memory allocated for PHP. It should be set up equal to or higher than the Upload max filesize limit. Or else the upload will fail.

Your web host sets these options. Normally, starter hosting plans will accept a lesser upload size limit than enterprise hosting plans. Some hosts may allow you lot to override these limits. But in most cases, you may need your hosting provider's help (and perchance a plan upgrade) to increase them.

Why Increase the Maximum Upload File Size in WordPress?

At that place are many reasons why you may need to increase your WordPress site'due south maximum upload file size. Here are the most common ones:

  • Yous want to install a large theme or plugin directly through the WordPress admin dashboard.
  • Updating your WordPress site regularly is a cracking way to keep your readers engaged and return for more. And that includes uploading new images, videos, audios, and other media regularly. Withal, that'due south not e'er feasible when in that location's a file size limit for your uploads.
  • You lot want to upload a big video or image as your site's background or header.
  • You plan to sell digital files such as ebooks, photographs, videos, themes, and plugins directly from your site. Sometimes, these files can run up to hundreds of megabytes (or more).

At present that we've covered the nuts of max upload file size in WordPress, allow'due south larn how to increase information technology.

ten Ways to Increase the Max Upload File Size in WordPress

There are many ways you tin can ready the WordPress maximum upload size upshot. We'll showtime with the easiest ones first, and so we'll move on to the intermediate-level tutorials.

Contact Your Hosting Provider for Assist

If you're facing bug with uploading files and file size limits, reaching out to your hosting provider for assistance is 1 of the quickest solutions. Increasing the upload limit is a picayune task for tech support, so most hosting companies can help you set this outcome speedily.

Tinkering with your server or site configuration files tin always be a claiming. Hence, we always recommend y'all effort this method first.

If you're hosting your site with Kinsta, our knowledgeable support team is just a click away and available 24/7. To get started, go to your MyKinsta dashboard and click the chat icon in the lesser right corner.

Contact Kinsta support easily through MyKinsta
Contact Kinsta back up easily through MyKinsta

We have representatives to assist yous in many languages, including English language, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese.

Increment the Max Upload File Size in WordPress Multisite

If you're running a WordPress Multisite network, then you can change the max upload file size for your network.

First, head to your Network Admin dashboard, and so go to Settings > Network Settings screen. Here, scroll down till you notice the Upload Settings section. You'll find the Max upload file size field in this area.

The 'Max upload file size' in 'Network Settings'
The 'Max upload file size' field in 'Network Settings'

The default value of Max upload file size in a WordPress Multisite is 1500 KB (~1.v MB). You can alter this to a higher value and click the Save Changes button.

Note: You cannot circumvent the server-level max upload size limit from here. If the limit you set here is higher than the server'southward max upload size limit, the server will ignore information technology. You can use the methods described above to find your webserver'southward configuration.

The new 'Max upload file size' field in 'Network Settings'
The new 'Max upload file size' in 'Network Settings'

Here, we've set the new max upload file size to 131072 KB (~128 MB).

You can too limit the total size of files uploaded to an private site in the Multisite network. Nonetheless, it's disabled by default.

Update Your '.htaccess' File

If your webserver runs on Apache, you lot can update your site's .htaccess file to increment the max upload size in WordPress. Yous can notice your .htaccess file in the WordPress site'due south root directory.

As per PHP documentation, three PHP directives are responsible for how WordPress handles uploads. They are:

  • upload_max_filesize
  • post_max_size
  • memory_limit

We've already discussed them in the Site Health Info section above. It would assist if you modified these three directives' values to admit your file sizes. For instance, if the largest file you're planning to upload is 32 MB, we recommend the following settings:

  • upload_max_filesize = 32M
  • post_max_size = 64M
  • memory_limit = 128M

Notice, all the values use M instead of MB. That's how PHP handles its directives.

Uploads can incorporate extra information in improver to the file itself. And then, giving all other upload-related directives some breathing space is a good idea. Y'all tin can read our in-depth tutorial on how to improve PHP memory limit in WordPress for more information.

Admission your .htaccess file via FTP/SFTP or your hosting provider'south File Director.

Finding the '.htaccess' file
Finding the '.htaccess' file

Open the.htaccess file with a text editor or code editor, and so add the following code:

          php_value upload_max_filesize 32M php_value post_max_size 64M php_value memory_limit 128M php_value max_execution_time 300 php_value max_input_time 300        

You can notice two other PHP directives in the to a higher place code: max_execution_time and max_input_time . They ascertain how long a server spends on a single PHP task. The bigger your uploads, the bigger the fourth dimension spent will be. You need to ready their values to a number that's advisable for your use example.

Note: You lot may get a 500 Internal Server Mistake after using the method above. About probable, it'south because your server is running PHP in CGI mode. In such cases, yous cannot apply the above commands in your .htaccess file.

Create or Modify the 'php.ini' File

The php.ini file is where yous define changes to your default PHP settings. Typically, it contains directives that define file timeouts, max upload size, and resource limits.

Using SSH or FTP, you can detect the php.ini file in your WordPress root directory. In some cases, yous may not locate information technology there. Fret not! Yous tin create a new file with the same name in your site's root directory.

How to create a new php.ini file
How to create a new php.ini file

With a code or text editor, add the following code to your existing or new php.ini file:

          upload_max_filesize = 32M post_max_size = 64M memory_limit = 128M        

Don't forget to save your file after making the changes. Some hosts don't allow you to modify PHP settings via this method. In such a instance, you can continue to try the following solution instead.

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Create or Alter the '.user.ini' File

If your hosting provider has locked downward the global PHP settings, they may have configured the server to work with .user.ini files instead of php.ini files.

Like php.ini and .htaccess files, y'all can detect the .user.ini in your site'southward root directory. If yous can't observe it, and so you can create a new .user.ini file in the same location. Follow the aforementioned procedure described in the previous method to create a newphp.ini file.

Side by side, add the following lawmaking to your .user.ini file:

          upload_max_filesize = 32M post_max_size = 64M memory_limit = 128M        

You'll discover that it's a repeat of the previous method, except with a unlike filename.

Modify PHP Options via cPanel

If your hosting provider uses the cPanel dashboard to help you lot manage your server and site configuration, you tin change the max upload file size through its interface.

To go started, go to your cPanel dashboard, and select the Select PHP Version under the Software department.

Click 'Select PHP Version' in cPanel dashboard
Click 'Select PHP Version' in the cPanel dashboard

Hither, you lot tin can alter your server's current PHP version and enable/disable many PHP extensions. Click on the Options link in the navigation carte du jour to go to the PHP Options panel.

Go to the 'PHP Options' settings in cPanel
Go to the 'PHP Options' settings in cPanel

Scroll down here to modify the values of PHP directives such as upload_max_filesize , post_max_size , memory_limit , max_execution_time , and max_input_time . The max values you tin can gear up here depend on your current hosting program.

The 'PHP Options' screen in cPanel
The 'PHP Options' screen in cPanel

If y'all have any doubts about these values, we suggest yous contact your hosting provider. The latest cPanel dashboard saves changes automatically, so y'all don't have to click annihilation. But if you lot're using an older cPanel version, make certain to click the Salvage Changes button.

Increase the Max Upload File Size in Nginx

Nginx is another webserver like Apache, just information technology's also a lot more. Typically, Nginx can handle more concurrent requests than Apache, making it a lot faster. Kinsta uses Nginx to ability its functioning-optimized hosting solutions for WordPress.

If y'all're running your WordPress site on Nginx, you lot'll need to modify both your php.ini and nginx.conf files. We've dealt with the onetime file earlier. The latter one is chosen an Nginx config file.

On an Nginx server, you tin find the php.ini file at /etc/php/7.4/fpm/php.ini . Depending on which PHP version you've installed, the exact path may vary slightly.

          upload_max_filesize = 64M post_max_size = 128M        

Y'all don't have to ready the memory_limit in the above file every bit Nginx handles it differently. For more than, you lot tin check out this Stack Overflow thread. After saving your php.ini file, enable the changes by restarting PHP-FPM using the beneath code in your terminal:

          sudo service php7.4-fpm restart        

Once again, the exact lawmaking may vary slightly depending on the PHP version installed on your server.

Next, use Nginx's client_max_body_size directive to set up the new max upload size limit. You need to declare this directive in the nginx.conf file, which you can detect at /etc/nginx/nginx.conf .

You tin declare this directive within the http {...} cake, the server {...} block, or the location {...} block.

Setting information technology in the http block volition affect all the sites/apps hosted on this server.

          http {     ...     client_max_body_size 128M; }        

Defining it in the server block volition only affect a specific site/app hosted by this server.

          server {     ...     client_max_body_size 128M; }        

The location block only affects the specified directory (due east.yard. files, uploads) inside a site/app.

          location /files {     ...     client_max_body_size 128M; }        

Don't forget to save the file and restart Nginx to apply the changes. To do that, you can utilize the following control in your concluding:

          sudo service nginx reload        

If y'all're a Kinsta client, you can't admission your Nginx config direct. However, you lot can accomplish out to our support squad, and they can rapidly make the changes for you lot.

Use the WordPress 'upload_size_limit' Filter

WordPress ii.v introduced the upload_size_limit filter, which filters the maximum upload size allowed in php.ini. Even WordPress uses this filter to bear witness you lot the max upload size allowed, like in the Media Library and Site Health Info screens.

Beneath is an example of this filter in action from WordPress contributor Drew Jaynes. It defines the upload size limit for all non-admin roles.

          /** * Filter the upload size limit for non-administrators. * * @param string $size Upload size limit (in bytes). * @return int (perchance) Filtered size limit. */ office filter_site_upload_size_limit( $size ) { // Prepare the upload size limit to 10 MB for users lacking the 'manage_options' capability. if ( ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) { // ten MB. $size = 1024 * 10000; } return $size; } add_filter( 'upload_size_limit', 'filter_site_upload_size_limit', 20 );        

The above code uses WordPress' manage_options adequacy to ready this limit only for not-admins. You can modify the lawmaking to target specific user roles or user ids. Read our in-depth WordPress roles and capabilities article for more information.

Use a WordPress Plugin

Messing with code using SSH or FTP/SFTP is not for everyone. If you're non comfy with writing or editing code, you tin use a WordPress plugin instead.

WP Maximum Upload File Size plugin
WP Maximum Upload File Size plugin

Nosotros'll be using the WP Maximum Upload File Size plugin here. As of writing this, information technology'south the merely upwards-to-date plugin on the WordPress plugin repository that helps you get this done.

To get started, install and activate the WP Maximum Upload File Size plugin. Next, go to its settings screen in your WordPress dashboard. Here, yous tin see the maximum upload file size set past both your hosting provider and WordPress.

WP Maximum Upload File Size settings screen
WP Maximum Upload File Size settings screen

Here, you tin see that the maximum upload file size fix by WordPress is lesser than that set by your hosting provider. Hence, you can creepo it up by choosing the Maximum Upload File Size with the dropdown presented.

Annotation: If y'all desire to set a max upload file size limit that's larger than the 1 set up by your hosting provider, information technology's not possible to practise it via this plugin. For that, you need to contact your hosting provider.

Upload Files via FTP/SFTP

Are you all the same struggling with all the above methods? Or with your hosting provider to have them raise the upload file size limit? You tin always upload large files via FTP/SFTP.

FileZilla window with a site connected
Drag and drop files to and for your server and computer with SFTP

If you have a lot of big files to upload, this is the fastest method. You tin can read our in-depth tutorial on how to bulk upload files to the WordPress media library for more data.

Sometimes, WordPress doesn't recognize files uploaded via FTP/SFTP. If that's the case, you lot tin use the complimentary Add From Server plugin to import the uploaded files into WordPress.

Alternatively, y'all can do the same straight from the command line by importing images using WP-CLI. The wp media import command allows y'all to create attachments from local files or URLs.

Don't Edit the 'wp-config.php' File

Editing the wp-config.php file doesn't work anymore. We're adding information technology here because we've found many spider web tutorials that listing information technology every bit a legitimate way to increase the max upload size in WordPress.

It involves going to your site's root directory via FTP/SFTP or SSH and then editing the wp-config.php file.

Finding the 'wp-config.php' file
Finding the 'wp-config.php' file

You're suggested to add the post-obit code to the wp-config.php file:

          @ini_set( 'upload_max_size' , '64M' ); @ini_set( 'post_max_size', '128M'); @ini_set( 'memory_limit', '256M' );        

It fails to work because y'all tin simply apply the ini_set() function to set PHP directives that belong to the PHP_INI_ALL changeable way.

As upload_max_size and post_max_size belong to the PHP_INI_PERDIR changeable fashion. You can only set them via php.ini, .htaccess, http.conf, or .user.ini.

If you've tried this method before without seeing any results, now yous know why it fails.

Verify Your WordPress Site's New Max Upload File Size

Finally, it'south time to verify whether the new max upload file size limit is implemented in your WordPress site. To do this, follow the same procedure nosotros discussed above to check the max upload file size in WordPress.

Go to your Media Library in the WordPress dashboard and check whether the max upload file size limit has changed.

Verifying the new max upload file size limit
Verifying the new max upload file size in 'Media Library'

Yes, it has changed. That's a success!

You can likewise go to the Site Health Info panel and check for the aforementioned under Media Treatment and Server dropdowns.

Verifying the new max upload file size limit in 'Site Health Info'
Verifying the new max upload file size in 'Site Health Info > Media Library'
Verifying the new max upload file size limit in 'Site Health Info'
Verifying the new max upload file size in 'Site Health Info > Server'

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Summary

Equally yous've seen, increasing the maximum upload file size in WordPress isn't too complex. Whether you lot're building a media-heavy portfolio site or installing a large theme, it's just a affair of knowing where to look for and what commands or tools to employ.

In about cases, reaching out to your hosting provider should be enough. However, if y'all're stuck with a troublesome host, we've shown you some alternative methods you lot can endeavour earlier migrating to better hosting.

Go uploading!

Did we encompass it all? If you've experienced a stubborn case of upload file size limits, permit u.s. know how you managed to fix it.


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