How to Post Long Video on Facebook Story

Video is a medium that can help tell a great story in very convincing terms, so it’s no wonder it’s dominating modern social media platforms. Sharing a video of an event is much better than simply describing it with words, especially considering how easy it is to create great-looking clips using only your smartphone as recording equipment.

On the other hand, video files tend to be very large, and longer formats can take up a lot of storage space. For this reason, many social networks such as Facebook limit the length of videos that can be uploaded. One solution is to compress video for Facebook. While this can certainly be frustrating, there are ways to work around this limit and still put your video out for everyone to see.

In this article, we will show you how to post long videos to Facebook Story in several different ways.

Understanding the Benefits of Facebook Stories for Video Content

Originally, Facebook was a network focused on text and images, but more recently video content is being more and more represented. In particular, videos are frequently added through the Stories feature, which allows them to appear at the top of the feed and attract more attention than regular posts. One distinctive feature of Stories is they are only temporary, and they disappear from the feed without a trace after only 24 hours. While Stories can be populated with different types of content, using videos to create them has several clear advantages, including the following:

Limitations for Long Videos on Facebook Stories

If you intend to post your videos as Stories on Facebook, you should be aware there are certain limitations in place. In particular, this feature is meant to serve as a showcase for short videos so the maximum length of the clip is limited. The constraints are quite tight, with the platform nominally allowing a maximum of 120 seconds, even though a maximum of 26 seconds of video is the most you can practically upload. This is because Facebook will shorten the video to fit its size limitations and to keep the delivery fast and free of glitches.

Due to length restrictions, Stories are not well-suited for explainer videos or detailed presentations, and can only be used to convey situations and activities that can be well captured with a single scene. If you want to use this channel to post content with a slower pace and more embedded information, you will probably need to circumvent the limitation in some way. We will show you a few different methods to overcome this technical issue.

Methods to Post Long Videos on Facebook Stories

There are a few options available if your video exceeds the maximum length allowed in Facebook Stories. Depending on the type of video, the intended recipients, and its total length, you could try one of the following solutions.

Cut the video into multiple parts

Perhaps the most obvious way to fit under the limit is to split a long video into several shorter ones that meet the length standard. Technically, this is quite easy to do in Clippa – an online video editor. The trick is to make the parts as close to 26 seconds in length while still allowing for each part to make sense when viewed semi-independently. Then you can upload the clips to your Story one by one in the exact order in which they are supposed to be viewed.

Upload via Messenger app

You can share considerably longer videos if you decide to use the Facebook Messenger app. This app lets you share Stories that contain videos running up to 43 minutes, far longer than the standard for Stories. This can be done by starting a group chat and then choosing the video to share from the gallery. After you click on Edit, you will be given a chance to add the video to your Story.

Post a sharable link in your Story

Another savvy way to avoid burdensome uploads and stay within Facebook’s length limits is to host the video elsewhere and use Stories only to show the link leading to it. The link will take the viewer to the full version when clicked upon, but it doesn’t take up almost any space on the servers. While this method requires the viewer to take action and follow the link, it works great when full-length videos that already exist online need to be shared.

Use a Facebook Reel instead of a Story

If you are not happy with either of the methods presented above and still won’t post the full-length video on Facebook, it might be a good idea to give up on Stories altogether and use the Reels feature instead. Reels can last up to 90 seconds and are always displayed in a vertical format suitable for mobile screens. This is not a huge improvement upon Stories, but in some cases could be the best solution.

FAQs about Posting Long Videos on Facebook Stories

What is the main difference between a video posted in a Story vs. a regular Facebook post?

Most importantly, Stories automatically disappear from the feed after 24 hours, so they are seen as a way to post short-term content that won’t stay on the account. They also have more stringent limitations regarding video length, with only 26 seconds of continuous playback allowed in this format.

Yes, Facebook gives you full control over the privacy settings for each Story. You can set the post to Private or Public and determine who is going to see its content. Since stories appear at the top of your feed, they are typically noticed faster and shared more than other types of content on the profile.

Is it possible to view Facebook Stories that include video from a mobile device?

Of course, anything posted on Facebook can be accessed from a mobile app or a mobile browser. Since videos may require a bit more broadband than Stories only including images, you should make sure that your WiFi speed is good before you try playing multimedia on your phone.

Final Considerations

As we indicated in the main title, preparing long videos for Facebook and finding a way to post them despite technical limitations imposed by the network is a fine art. You can try several different approaches, and add your video to a Facebook Story in several parts, as a link, or through the Messenger app or Reels, and depending on your exact intentions each of them could serve you well. There is nothing complicated about any of these methods, and once you learn them you’ll be able to upload videos of any length to your favorite social network.