Compress to KB topic guide

Compress images for Notion: stay under the 5 MB inline limit

Direct answer

When you drop a photo into a Notion page or upload from your phone, the file has to pass Notion’s upload rules. Notion Help — Images, files & media states that on the Free Plan every uploaded file must be under 5 MB (per file, not total). Paid plans allow much larger files in general — Help notes you can upload files of up to 5 GB each — but the same page requires that on paid plans images (PNG, JPG) must be under 5 MB and PDFs under 20 MB. If Notion says the image is too large to be displayed, Help suggests uploading it as a file instead. The practical job is getting a photo or screenshot under 5 MB while keeping text readable.

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What this workflow handles

Treat Notion Help’s 5 MB PNG/JPG inline image rule as the byte budget for pictures you want to see on the page, not just stored as attachments. Free Plan: each upload under 5 MB with no limit on how many files you add. Paid plans: files up to 5 GB each for many types, but PNG and JPG still must stay under 5 MB for normal inline image display; PDFs have a separate 20 MB cap. Supported image types listed in Help include HEIC, ICO, JPEG/JPG, PNG, TIF/TIFF, GIF, SVG, and WEBP — pick a format Notion accepts, then compress PNG or JPG to meet Help’s 5 MB image cap on paid (and the 5 MB per-file cap on Free). The published “5 MB” label is ambiguous (5,000,000 bytes vs 5 MiB), so aim for about 4000–4500 KB in Compress to KB rather than riding exactly 5120 KB. Phone HEIC or large JPEG exports: convert to JPEG or WebP and resize to a sensible width — about 2000 px is plenty for a typical Notion column and often shrinks bytes more than quality alone. Screenshots with small text: keep PNG or high-quality WebP and downscale pixel dimensions before you crush quality. When you need the untouched original, upload as a file block per Help. Beita’s Compress to KB uses a temporary analysis upload with no long-term storage; see the Privacy Policy for retention details.

Use Compress to KB with a target around 4000–4500 KB before you paste a photo into Notion. For the same 5 MB number on WhatsApp image messages, see Compress image for WhatsApp. For X API still photos at 5 MB, see Compress image for Twitter / X.

How to use it

  1. Open Notion Help — Images, files & media and note 5 MB per file on Free, plus 5 MB PNG/JPG inline on paid; read plan-downgrade Help if you recently moved to Free.
  2. Decide whether you need an inline image or can upload as a file block when the original must stay lossless.
  3. Pick JPEG/WebP for photos or PNG/WebP for text-heavy screenshots; convert HEIC from your phone if Notion or your OS does not already.
  4. Enter a Compress to KB target around 4000–4500 KB (under the 5 MB inline cap), quality-sweep at the current dimensions first, and resize width (for example near 2000 px for photos) before you drop quality to the floor.
  5. Upload or paste the compressed image into Notion, confirm it displays inline, and re-read Help if validation still fails.

Frequently asked questions

What is Notion’s file size limit on Free vs paid plans?

Notion Help and pricing state Free plan file uploads up to 5 MB each (per file, unlimited count). When the workspace is on Free — including after you downgrade to Free — plan-downgrade Help states each file you upload will need to be 5 MB or less. Paid plans allow files up to 5 GB each (~5 GB max per file on pricing), but Images, files & media still requires PNG and JPG images to stay under 5 MB, with PDFs under 20 MB. Downgrading from Plus or Business does not change file caps in plan-downgrade Help; those columns show no change until the workspace is on Free.

Why does Notion say my image is “too large to be displayed”?

Notion Help says if you upload an image and get an error that the image is too large to be displayed, you can try uploading the image as a file. Compressing under Help’s caps — 5 MB per file on Free and PNG/JPG under 5 MB on paid — often clears the error when size was the blocker.

Does compressing for Notion change Notion’s upload limits?

No. Notion Help on these pages describes per-file upload limits, not a workspace storage quota. Compressing reduces bytes so each upload meets those published caps — 5 MB per file on Free and PNG/JPG under 5 MB on paid — before you add the file to Notion.

Which format works best for Notion pages?

Use JPEG or WebP for photographs and HEIC exports after conversion. Use PNG or high-quality WebP for UI screenshots with text. GIF and SVG are among the image types Help lists as supported. When in doubt, JPEG under 5 MB is the usual fix for camera photos on Free or for PNG/JPG on paid.

Sources

Explore the compress to kb topic cluster

This guide covers Notion inline image and Free-plan upload size. Related guides cover general KB budgets, email, WhatsApp, LinkedIn share photos, Instagram Graph JPEG caps, Twitter / X still-image caps, GitHub, Discord, Telegram caps, and the Compress to KB tool.

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