Troubleshooting video uploads

Most upload problems come down to a handful of causes. Work through these.

The file is rejected before uploading

The upload check enforces three limits:

• Format — MP4, MOV, or WebM only. Export from your editor accordingly; container renames don't count.
• Size — up to 4 GB.
• Duration — up to 30 minutes.

If your file busts a limit, re-export. For FOOH spots, an H.264 MP4 is the safe bet.

The upload is slow or seems stuck

Files over 200 MB are compressed in your browser before uploading — you'll see "Compressing video..." first, which can take a moment for long clips. Uploads resume automatically if your connection drops mid-transfer, so a brief blip won't lose your progress — just keep the tab open, since a laptop that goes to sleep still pauses the upload.

Uploaded, but no thumbnail or playback yet

After upload, Cloudflare processes the video for streaming. The thumbnail and player usually appear within a minute or two. If an entry still shows no video after several minutes, reload the editor — and if it's genuinely stuck, delete the video and upload again.

The thumbnail is wrong or ugly

The thumbnail is grabbed automatically from early in the video. If your clip opens on black, that's what you'll get — set a custom thumbnail in the work editor instead.

Still stuck?

Send us a message via the form at the bottom of the support page with the entry title and what you tried — we'll take a look.