The Complete Upload Size-Limit Table
'How many KB do I actually need?' is the question to settle before you compress — too aggressive and it's blurry, too loose and it's rejected. But each system buries its limit in some tooltip, and it's hard to find them all at once. This page collects the common upload caps for visas, government portals, exams, email and social platforms into a few tables, with a safe 'compress to' value for each (leaving headroom — usually 80% of the cap). Note: the real limit is whatever the official note next to your upload field says; this table is a reviewed reference of common ranges.
Visa documents: common caps at visa centers
A visa application means uploading a stack of documents, and many portals cap each PDF at 1–2MB. The table below summarizes common ranges — defer to the official note on your application page, since the same country can differ by visa class and by visa center (e.g. VFS Global vs. TLScontact).
| Authority / platform | Common per-file cap | Compress to |
|---|---|---|
| US DS-160 photo upload | Photo ≤240KB (and ≥600×600px) | ≤200KB |
| UK visa (UKVI / TLScontact) | Per file ≤6MB (some stricter) | ≤3MB |
| Schengen (VFS Global, many states) | Often ≤1–2MB each | ≤1MB |
| Canada IRCC online | Per file commonly ≤4MB | ≤3MB |
| Australia ImmiAccount | Per file ≤5MB (total capped too) | ≤4MB |
| India / some Asian visa centers | Often ≤1MB each | ≤800KB |
Government & agency portals
Filing through tax, benefits, business-registration and property portals, you'll often hit a ≤500KB cap when uploading licenses, contracts and certificate scans — and oversized files are rejected outright at submission. Standards vary by jurisdiction; the table shows common ranges.
| Category | Common per-file cap | Compress to |
|---|---|---|
| Business license / registration docs | PDF/JPG ≤500KB | ≤400KB |
| Benefits / social-security documents | Commonly ≤500KB–1MB | ≤500KB |
| Tax-filing attachments | Commonly ≤1MB | ≤800KB |
| Property / notarized scans | Commonly ≤2MB | ≤1.5MB |
| License / permit application photos | ID photo often ≤100KB | ≤80KB |
Exam registration: photo and form caps
Exam-registration systems are often strict about photo and form size — the photo field can be ≤30KB–50KB, frequently with a fixed pixel size (e.g. 295×413) as well.
| Field | Common cap | Other rules | Compress to |
|---|---|---|---|
| ID photo (single) | ≤30KB–100KB | Often fixed px like 295×413 | Near cap, stay legible |
| Form / certificate PDF | ≤200KB–500KB | Usually JPG / PDF only | ≤200KB |
| Diploma / qualification scan | ≤500KB | No special characters in name | ≤400KB |
Email & social platforms: attachment / send limits
Email counts the whole message (all attachments plus body), while social platforms count a single document. Estimate by the recipient's platform, not just yours — receiving gateways often add a stricter limit of their own.
| Platform | Limit | What happens over | Compress to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gmail | Whole message ≤25MB | Auto-converts to a Drive link | ≤20MB |
| Outlook / Microsoft 365 | About ≤20MB | Rejected / 'too large' | ≤15MB |
| WhatsApp (document) | Single file ~≤100MB | Won't send | 5–10MB for speed |
| Telegram | Up to 2GB per file | Rarely a blocker | Optional, for speed |
| Slack (free workspace) | Per file ≤1GB | Blocked over plan limit | Optional |
Rule of thumb: what fraction of the cap is safest?
Once you've seen the numbers, one rule covers most cases: aim for about 80% of the cap, leaving room for the body, margin, and the recipient's stricter gateway. Pair it with 'clarity-first, tighten in steps' — compress to a slightly looser target first, confirm it looks right, then go smaller only if needed.
- Target = cap × 0.8: a 1MB cap means aim for ~800KB so you don't get rejected at the edge.
- Clarity first: IDs, stamps and amounts must stay legible — bigger is better than blurry.
- Tighten in steps: try a looser target first, confirm clarity, then go smaller.
- Page count is a hard floor: trim pages before compressing a long document — it beats brute force and stays sharper.
Frequently asked questions
How many KB do visa documents actually need to be?
Most visa centers (VFS Global, Schengen states) cap files at 1–2MB, so aim for ≤1MB with headroom. But some fields are stricter — the US DS-160 photo is ≤240KB. Defer to the official note on your application page; this table is a common-range reference.
A government portal says 'file too large' — what's the usual limit?
Government and filing portals commonly cap files at 500KB, sometimes 1–2MB, with ID-photo fields around ≤100KB. Standards vary, so aim for ~80% of the cap (e.g. ~400KB for a 500KB limit) and defer to the submission page.
Why aim for 80% of the cap instead of exactly the limit?
Because the cap often counts a whole email or includes margin, and the recipient's gateway may add a stricter limit — cutting it close risks rejection. Leaving 20% headroom is much safer and barely costs any clarity.
Will the numbers in this table go out of date?
They can — platforms and agencies adjust limits over time. This table is a periodically reviewed reference (current: 2026-06), but the final word is always the official note next to your upload field.
Updated · compress cat team