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What video formats are supported in the WhatsApp for Android and Whatsapp Windows desktop apps (specially the later one)?

I receive the error Video is not supported when I drag a video file into the interface.

I've tried the following formats and resolutions:

MP4 MPEG4 480x360, 640x360
MP4 MPEG4 720P
AVI 720P XVID
AVI 720P MPEG4
AVI 480x360 xvid
avi 360p xvid
avi 320x240 avc

FernandoSBS
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  • Are your videos smaller than 16MB? Also, which formats have you tried? – music2myear Jan 05 '17 at 20:44
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    Yes, smaller. I would like an oficial document from whatsapp developers with the supported format list, but I couldn't find one after googleing a long time. – FernandoSBS Jan 05 '17 at 21:29
  • Well, we're not exactly a "find it for me" service. If WhatsApp has published their technical documentation, you have as good a chance of finding it as we do. The limited documentation WhatsApp does offer does not appear to include a list of officially supported video formats, and only notes the file size limitation. If you could tell us what format(s) you have tried to upload, it might help. – music2myear Jan 05 '17 at 23:08
  • Also, do you get the "Video is not supported" on the sending side or the receiving side? Is the issue that the videos will not play inside the WhatsApp app after they've been sent/received? – music2myear Jan 05 '17 at 23:12
  • I get it when I paste the video into the wpp desktop window, on windows. I did not try on my cell phone with the same video because it's pointless to me, since I want to send videos with desktop version of wpp. – FernandoSBS Jan 06 '17 at 01:08
  • Can you please get us a list of at least some of the video formats you tried sending? – music2myear Jan 06 '17 at 16:40
  • yes, sorry, MP4 MPEG4 480x360, 640x360, MP4 MPEG4 720P, AVI 720P XVID, AVI 720P MPEG4 – FernandoSBS Jan 06 '17 at 18:48
  • now AVI 480x360 xvid, avi 360p xvid, avi 320x240 avc, northing works!!!! – FernandoSBS Jan 06 '17 at 18:54
  • What about MP4? Not that many devices create Xvid these days unless it is done on purpose. Others to try are FLV or MOV. I've seen others with issues with FLV files, but they report the WhatsApp servers transcode these automatically into MP4. – music2myear Jan 06 '17 at 19:08
  • look in first reply: MP4 MPEG4 480x360, 640x360, MP4 MPEG4 720P, – FernandoSBS Jan 06 '17 at 19:12
  • Oh, got it. Sorry, missed there were two replies. – music2myear Jan 06 '17 at 19:20
  • @FernandoSBS - You should (always) update your question to include information like that instead of submitting a comment. Most of the time when I read information in a comment I just glaze over it, I will read a response, but I fully expect the information in the question body. – Ramhound Jan 06 '17 at 19:33
  • By `MP4 MPEG4 480x360`, do you mean MPEG-4 Part 2 video? or H264? What app do you use to convert? – Gyan Jan 06 '17 at 19:42
  • @Mulvya how can I check that please? I am using FormatFactory app. – FernandoSBS Jan 08 '17 at 10:12
  • Use Mediainfo from mediaarea.net. Check in View -> Text mode – Gyan Jan 08 '17 at 10:13
  • Format : MPEG-4 Format profile : Base Media Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/mp41) File size : 1.57 MiB Overall bit rate mode : Constant Overall bit rate : 599 kb/s Writing application : Lavf57.41.100 Video ID : 1 Format : MPEG-4 Visual Format profile : Simple@L1 – FernandoSBS Jan 10 '17 at 20:55
  • dude do you perhaps know what settings to use on ffmpeg to encode/convert any video into Android/iOS/Web/whatsapp/Desktop compatiable video, here is my example nodejs code using fluent-ffmpeg pastebin.com/Ep6ExM3H – Dean Van Greunen Nov 24 '20 at 13:34

2 Answers2

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I convert video to mp4 using this settings:

  • codec: H.264
  • resolution: 960x540 (quater of FullHD)

  • bitrate: 2-5 Mbit VBR

  • audio codec: aac

  • bitrate: 128kbit

And it's working.

amimciptimdim
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    While this is a valid answer, it appears that the asker was looking for a list of formats, not just one. – Karu Feb 13 '17 at 16:17
  • Have you tried other formats that have worked? Please elaborate. – ValarMorghulis Jul 21 '17 at 10:30
  • codec: H.264 audio codec: aac MP4 Can be any size – Craig Jul 21 '17 at 10:29
  • dude do you perhaps know what settings to use on ffmpeg to encode/convert any video into Android/iOS/Web/whatsapp/Desktop compatiable video, here is my example nodejs code using fluent-ffmpeg https://pastebin.com/Ep6ExM3H – Dean Van Greunen Nov 24 '20 at 13:33
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    ffmpeg for the above would be something like: `ffmpeg -y -i "C:\MyVideo.mkv" -b:v 2M -bufsize 2M -codec:v h264 -b:a 128k -codec:a aac -s 960x540 "C:\MyVideoForWA.mp4"`. This conversion worked for me also, allowed me to post to WhatsApp from https://web.whatsapp.com/ on Windows. – nmbell May 12 '23 at 05:05
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I had the same problem, no matter what video format I used, I still coudln't send videos. I think the problem lies in the audio format, I switched to aac audio format and the couple of videos I wanted to send are now working.

danielpepo
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