Gemini file upload limit: 10 files and 100 MB on every plan, but the free plan reads about 48 pages

What is the Gemini file upload limit?

Gemini takes 10 files in one prompt, up to 100 MB each, or up to 2 GB for a video. Google's upload help page, which we read on 18 October 2026, prints every cap in the Gemini app. It splits only two of them by plan:

A folder doesn't get around the count. Google says "each file inside will count towards this limit", so a folder of 12 PDFs takes two prompts. Code is the one exception, with its own cap of 5,000 files. Google lists no blocked file types either. It says only that "Gemini Apps support most file types."

How much of an uploaded file does Gemini read on each plan?

Gemini reads far less of a file than it accepts unless you pay for AI Pro. Google's limits page gives the context window, the text Gemini holds at once: 32K tokens without a plan, 128K on AI Plus and 1 million on AI Pro and AI Ultra. The upload page says a 1 million token window covers "up to 1,500 pages of text or 30,000 lines of code." Scaling that ratio down is our math, not Google's:

So a 300 page PDF under 100 MB uploads fine on the free plan. Gemini then holds about a sixth of it at once. Google's warning for this case is "Your uploads may be too large for the best results", and its help page says big files can make Gemini miss details spread through the content. Code scales the same way. At 30,000 lines per million tokens, the free window holds about 960 lines, while a code folder can carry 5,000 files.

Deep Think is the odd row. Google says "If you use Deep Think, there is a 192 thousand token window", so turning it on cuts a 1 million token plan to about 290 pages. Paste a sample into the Whizi tokenizer to see how many tokens your own document runs to.

Is there a Gemini file upload limit per day?

Google publishes no daily number. Its help page says "there are rolling limits for how much you can upload and analyze files in a period of time", and it gives no count and no reset time. When you hit it, the message is "You've reached your limit for chats with files." Google's only promise is this: "After some time, the limit will reset."

That's a real gap next to ChatGPT. OpenAI's File Uploads FAQ prints 3 uploads a day on Free and 80 files every 3 hours on other plans. Google prints neither kind of number. Its limits page says Gemini usage in general "refreshes every 5 hours until you reach your weekly limit", but it doesn't say whether the file limit runs on that clock. Each message points at a different wall:

The storage row trips people up. Google says this storage "is independent from your Google Drive or Google Workspace storage limit", so even the 5 TB of storage that comes with AI Pro doesn't help. Files you add from Drive or NotebookLM "take up more storage space in Gemini Apps", per the same page.

Does Google AI Pro raise the Gemini file upload limit?

AI Pro doesn't raise the 10 file count or the 100 MB size cap. A file too big for the free plan is too big for AI Ultra too. What a plan buys is time and reading room. Here's what each plan gets, from Google's two help pages as of October 2026:

From no plan to AI Pro, the window grows about 31 times, video 12 times and audio 18 times. Google names only AI Pro and AI Ultra for the longer clips, so AI Plus keeps the free lengths as far as the page says. The upload count grows too, but only in words: a plan brings "the ability to upload more files or ask Gemini Apps to reference uploaded files in more chats." Pay for AI Pro if your documents run past 190 pages. Don't pay for it to fit a bigger file.

What are the Gemini API, Gemini Notebook and Gems file limits?

Each Google surface has its own cap, and the app's 100 MB is not the largest. We compiled these from Google's own pages on 18 October 2026:

For developers, the Files API docs (updated 14 October 2026) say "store up to 20 GB of files per project, with a per-file maximum size of 2 GB", at no cost. Google tells you to use the Files API once a request passes 100 MB. The document processing docs cap a PDF at 50 MB or 1,000 pages. At 258 tokens a page, a 1,000 page PDF is about 258,000 tokens, which fits a 1 million token model.

Gemini Notebook, the tool that was NotebookLM, takes twice the app's file size. Its help center FAQ says "The current limit is 500,000 words per source or up to 200MB for local uploads." Gems have no caps of their own. Google's Gems page sends you to the same upload limits, and it adds a date: "Starting in November 2026, Gems will go away on personal Google accounts and automatically transition to skills."

How do you get around the Gemini file upload limit?

Match the fix to the cap you hit. Most of them take a minute:

1. Merge small files. Ten short PDFs combined into one PDF count as one file of the ten.
2. Cut a big file to the part you need. Save a PDF as .txt or delete the pages you won't ask about to get under 100 MB.
3. Trim the clip. Free accounts get 5 minutes of video and 10 of audio in total, so cut to the scene you're asking about.
4. Move long documents to Gemini Notebook. It takes 200 MB and 500,000 words per source.
5. Ask one section at a time on the free plan. About 48 pages fit at once, so a 400 page report goes in as parts, one chat each.
6. Use the Files API for anything over 100 MB. It takes 2 GB a file, if you can write a few lines of code.

If the 100 MB cap is the wall, other assistants take bigger files. OpenAI's FAQ allows 512 MB per document, as covered in the ChatGPT file upload limit by plan. Anthropic's upload page gives 500 MB and 20 files in a Claude chat, and the Claude file upload limit has its Project caps. Whizi, which publishes this page, runs Gemini Flash and Gemini Pro on its Pro plan next to Claude and GPT. Its website takes 6 files per message at up to 100 MB each (why a file upload failed). Where it loses: attachments need a paid plan, Starter has no Gemini model, and Whizi accepts no video or audio files. Gemini's own 2 GB video upload has no match there.