Facebook allows users to upload photos and create photo albums to share with friends. With billions of users worldwide, storing all those photos requires a massive amount of server capacity. So does Facebook limit how many photos you can upload?
The Short Answer
There is no explicit limit to the number of photos you can upload to Facebook. However, there are some technical limits based on file size and platform that can impact how many photos you upload.
Understanding Facebook’s Photo Upload Limits
When considering whether Facebook limits photo uploads, it helps to understand how Facebook stores and serves photos. Here are some key points:
- Facebook compresses and resizes photos to save space. This allows storing more photos without needing more storage capacity.
- The number of photos allowed per album varies by platform. For example, the Facebook mobile app allows up to 200 photos per album.
- There are limits on video length and file size that indirectly limit photo uploads.
So while there is no single photo limit, technical constraints still shape how many photos users can realistically upload. Next we’ll look at those constraints in more detail.
Facebook Photo File Size and Format Limits
Facebook places limits on photo file size and dimensions to manage its storage capacity:
- Max File Size: Photos up to 25 MB. Videos up to 4 GB.
- Max Image Dimensions: Photos up to 9,999 x 9,999 pixels.
- Recommended Image Resolution: At least 720 pixels on the shortest side.
- Accepted Formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, MP4, MOV, MP3, WAV
By compressing and resizing photos, Facebook can display high-quality previews to users while storing lower-resolution versions on its servers. This allows serving billions of photos without exorbitant storage costs.
Per-Album and Per-Video Limits
While Facebook does not limit your total photo uploads, there are some per-album and per-video limits:
| Platform | Max Photos Per Album | Max Video Length |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop Website | 5000 | 60 minutes |
| Mobile App | 200 | 60 minutes |
So you won’t hit an overall upload limit, but may need to split photos between multiple albums. Particularly on mobile where albums max out at 200 photos.
Factors That Indirectly Limit Uploads
While there are no explicit Facebook-imposed limits on total photos, there are some indirect limits to consider:
Storage Capacity of User Devices
The storage capacity of phones, tablets, cameras, and computers can limit the number of photos users have available to upload. For example:
- iPhone 14 Pro has up to 1 TB storage. At around 2.5 MB per photo, that’s around 400,000 photos.
- A Sony Alpha 7R V has 61 MP resolution. At around 80 MB per RAW photo, that’s around 750 photos.
So even high-end gear limits total photos, and most users have much less storage capacity.
Upload Speed of User’s Internet Connection
Upload speed also throttles how quickly users can upload photos. With a 1 Gigabit (Gb) per second connection you can upload around 400 photos per minute. But most connections are much slower:
| Connection Type | Typical Upload Speed | Photos Per Minute |
|---|---|---|
| 5G | 100 Mbps | 150 |
| Cable Internet | 10 Mbps | 15 |
| DSL | 1 Mbps | 1.5 |
So upload speed creates a main bottleneck, even if you have unlimited storage capacity.
Time Needed to Upload Large Libraries
The combination of storage capacity and upload speed means uploading a large library of photos to Facebook takes significant time. For example:
- 1,000 photos will take around 1 hour on a fast 5G connection.
- 10,000 photos will take 11 hours on a 5G connection.
- 100,000 photos will take over 1 week on a typical cable connection.
Few users will invest the time needed to upload their entire photo library. This effectively limits the number of photos they will upload.
Managing Photo Storage on Facebook
While you can upload an unlimited number of photos to Facebook, you may eventually want to remove some to manage your storage. Here are some tips:
Use Albums to Organize Photos
Organize photos into different albums rather than dumping everything into your main timeline. This makes it easier to find and manage photos later.
Download Photos to Archive Them
Periodically download albums from Facebook to archive on your devices. Then you can remove those photos from Facebook while retaining a backup.
Delete Old or Unwanted Photos
Actively delete photos you no longer need rather than letting your library grow indefinitely. Delete blurry pics, duplicates, or other unwanted photos.
Review and Prune Photos Regularly
Make it a habit to review your Facebook photos every month or two. Delete unwanted photos to limit your active library.
Conclusion
Facebook does not impose any hard limit on how many photos you can store. However, technical factors like storage capacity, upload speed, and time constraints effectively limit most users to uploading a few thousand photos total. While Facebook’s systems can handle billions of photos, be thoughtful about only uploading photos you need to share. And actively manage your uploads by deleting old or unwanted photos periodically.