Commons:Maximum file size
The maximum file size for any file on Commons is 5 GiB (5,368,709,120 bytes[1]). Uploads using the Upload Wizard, other tools that support chunked uploads, and server-side uploads must be smaller than this limit.[2][3] Otherwise the limit is 100 MiB (104,857,600 bytes)[4] because of technical issues in the uploading.[5][6]
This means that it is not possible to upload a file larger than the maximum file size without first breaking it into smaller parts, and uploading those parts as separate files. The template {{Split file}} can be used to link the parts of files split in this way.
Please note that every effort should be made to keep files under the file size limit without splitting them. There are various means to do this, including changing file formats, removing parts of a file not really needed, and downsampling resolution, increasing compression levels, etc. Only where these measures aren't enough (because further loss of detail would reduce quality too much) should files be split.
In particular, TIFF images are often very large, but can have their file size reduced by enabling compression. As long as the compression method is lossless (such as “deflate” or “LZW”), the file size reduction does not affect image quality (but beware of obscure compression methods which can cause data loss, or make the file incompatible with some software).
On the other hand, there is no limit to the total size of uploads by an individual account. However, if you plan batch uploads amounting to several TB, it may be wise to warn the sysadmins.
Note: Large SVG files (> 5 MiB) need to have the translations appear closer to the beginning of the file.
Maximum upload size[edit]
While hosting files up to 5 GiB is supported, the maximum file size for uploading is 100MB. The UploadWizard and several community-supported tools can use chunked uploading to upload such files in smaller (<100MB) pieces that are reassembled on the server.
In general you should be able to upload files close to the 5 GiB limit using chunked uploads without any issues. In the past bugs broke most large uploads, but as of October 29, 2021, these have been fixed now.[7]. Large uploads using the upload-by-url functionality may still timeout (especially those from archive.org[8]). In these cases you are recommended to download the file locally and then re-upload it using chunked uploads.
If you are still unable to upload the file (receiving 503/504 or "stash failed" type errors), request a server-side upload.
Maximum size for thumbnails[edit]
Since December, 17th, 2021 the servers have no size limit for generating thumbnails. Instead, a timeout of 59 seconds for generating thumbnails was configured by using the new Thumbor service.[9]
However, for large GIF animations the limit is currently 100 megapixels. For files where the software does not provide thumbnails because of this limitation, a thumbnail version (either a full-sized JPEG or a smaller PNG) should be uploaded for thumbnail/preview purposes, and linked with the main file. The templates {{Archival version}} and {{Compressed version}} are available for this.
An unrelated reason thumbnails may fail to display (example) is for very long filenames – so long that they approach the 255-byte limit of filename length (which for some cases with non-ASCII characters may be much less than 255 characters, due to UTF-8). It is impossible to upload a file that has a name this large, but it is possible to move a file to such a name.[10]
Technical notes[edit]
- ↑ gerrit:280831, gerrit:1002813
- ↑ Originally 500 MiB, increased to 1,000 MiB in November 2013, increased to 2,047 MiB in Feb 2016, increased to 4 GiB in April 2016, increased to 5 GiB in Feb 2024
- ↑ 4 GiB were a hard limit because of how MediaWiki stored file sizes, as 32-bit integers. It is highest number of bytes that a 32-bit integer can represent (phab:T191805). The 5 GiB limit comes from the container size supported by the OpenStack Swift software.
- ↑ It has been 20 MB for a while and was raised to 100 in November 2008.[1]
- ↑ Village pump (2011-11)
- ↑ Wikitech-l: Upload file size limit (2010-07)
- ↑ wikitech:Incident documentation/2021-11-04 large file upload timeouts
- ↑ T295009: Improve download speed from archive.org on appservers
- ↑ configuration change, Phab:T291014#7367570: 59 seconds timeout
- ↑ phab:T32202