Facebook Messenger has nearly a billion active users worldwide, making it one of the most popular messaging apps. It’s versatile and easy to use, as it allows you to send texts, emojis, GIFs, voice messages, and videos.
However, if you don’t have a lot of experience with Messenger and have never sent videos before, you might not know how it works. It’s an incredibly straightforward process which we’ll explain in detail.
Furthermore, we’ll talk about how to send Messenger videos to WhatsApp or in your device’s default messaging app. Finally, this article will show how to find a workaround solution to Facebook Messenger’s 25MB video size cap.
How to Send a Video in Messenger
You can use Messenger on your computer, via browser, or on your mobile device. If you’re talking to one of your Facebook contacts and want to share a fun or informative video, here’s what you need to do.
Sending videos in Messenger on your computer:
- Open Facebook and launch Messenger.
- Select the conversation to which you want to send the video.
- When a chat window opens, click the “Settings” icon in the top-right corner and open the Messenger desktop client.
- Click the photo icon on the left side of the chatbox.
- Select a video from your computer.
- Click the send icon.
Sending videos in Messenger on your mobile device:
- Launch the Messenger app on your iOS or Android device.
- Tap on the contact or existing conversation in Messenger.
- If you already have the video on your mobile device, tap the photo icon next to the chatbox.
- Select the video from your gallery.
- If you want to record the video first, select the camera icon instead.
- Press and hold the shutter button and record a video.
- Tap “Send.”
That’s it – your video is on its way.
Note: Messenger supports sending media files up to 25MB in size.
How to Send a Video in Messenger to Text
Sometimes you receive a video from a contact in Messenger, but you want to share it with someone who doesn’t have Facebook.
Perhaps their preferred communication method is the native messaging app on your phone. But the problem is that the Messenger app doesn’t support forwarding a video to another app directly.
What you need to do, instead, is download the video from Messenger first and send it to the text messaging app.
Here’s how to download a video from the Messenger app:
- Launch Messenger on your mobile device.
- Open a single or group conversation and search for the video you want to share.
- Tap the video and select the three dots in the screen’s bottom-left corner.
- Tap the download button at the bottom-right corner to save the video.
The selected video will be automatically saved to the gallery.
Sending the Video to Text Using iPhone
If you’re an iPhone user, you might already know how to send media from your phone to text, but let’s see what that looks like when sending video:
- Go to your gallery and open the video you want to share.
- Tap the share icon. You’ll see a list of apps where you can send the video.
- Select the “Messages” app and select the conversation to which you’re sending the video.
If you’re sending to another iPhone user and are connected to the internet, the video will be sent via the iMessage service, and additional charges won’t apply. But if you’re sending to an Android user or are not connected to the internet, the video will convert to a Multimedia Message (MMS), and charges may apply.
Sending the Video to Text Using an Android Phone
The built-in messaging app on Android may differ depending on the manufacturer. However, the process is roughly the same, regardless of which phone brand you’re using.
So, sharing a video you’ve downloaded from the Messenger app to your phone with a contact may look something like this:
- Open the phone gallery or photos on your Android phone.
- Select the downloaded Messenger video.
- Tap the share icon and select the default texting app from the list.
The Android messaging app will convert the video to MMS, which also means it will automatically compress. As a result, the video quality will decrease. Some Android message apps will suggest trimming the video to avoid losing quality.
How to Send a Video in Messenger to WhatsApp
Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are both subsidiaries of Meta. Regardless, you still can’t send a video from Messenger directly to WhatsApp.
While that might change in the future, for now, you first need to download the video to your mobile device and share it with WhatsApp.
It may seem like a complicated process, but in reality, users can download the video and forward it to WhatsApp in less than a minute, especially if their device and the internet connection are fast.
Follow these steps to download a video from the Messenger app to your phone:
- Open Messenger on your iOS or Android device.
- Tap a single or group conversation and find the video you want to share.
- Open the video.
- Tap the download button at the bottom-right corner to save the video.
Once the video is saved to your device, you can share it with a WhatsApp contact. The process is very straightforward. Here’s what you do:
- Open the video in your phone’s gallery.
- Tap the share icon after selecting a video.
- Find WhatsApp from the list of apps.
- Select the WhatsApp contact to share the video with.
- Tap the send icon.
Keep in mind that you can trim and edit the video or add a caption in WhatsApp before sending it.
How to Send a Video in Messenger Exceeding 25MB
Sending videos via Messenger can be fun and practical but having only 25MB to work with might seem somewhat limiting. When recording the video directly from the Messenger app, you get 15 seconds that fit into those 25MB.
But perhaps you want to send what you’ve previously made with your phone or have downloaded from a different location, and it’s way over the 25MB limit. If you try sending it through Messenger, you’ll only get an error message.
Therefore, you must find a workaround solution. It might not be ideal, but if you want to send the video to contacts in Messenger and not some other messaging app, you’ll need to compress the video. Fortunately, there are many excellent video compression apps available for free.
If you need to compress a video using your computer, the Media.io is a great solution. You can consider the Video Compress app if you’re an Android or iPhone user.
But another option doesn’t require using third-party video editing tools. You can upload a video directly to Facebook and share the link to the video with a contact in the Messenger app.
Here’s how to share a Facebook video link to anyone in your Messenger friend list from your computer:
- Below the uploaded video, select the share icon in the bottom-right corner.
- From the menu, select “Send in Messenger.”
- Select the contact in the Messenger.
The process is very similar when using the Messenger mobile app:
- Find the uploaded video and tap the share icon.
- Select “Send in Messenger.”
- Choose the Messenger conversation or contact.
The person you’re sending the video to will receive the link to the post on your Facebook feed.
Having All Solutions to Sending Videos in Facebook Messenger
Sending a video in Messenger doesn’t require too much effort, especially if you’re recording directly from the app. But if you’re sending a video from your phone, it gets a little more complicated due to media file size limits.
You might need to use third-party video editing tools or upload videos to your Facebook feed first before sharing. If you want to forward videos from Messenger to WhatsApp or the text messaging app on your phone, you’ll need to save them to your device first.
Either way, once you get the hang of it, this action will be swift and automatic.
How often do you share videos on Facebook Messenger? Let us know in the comments section below.