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Media

Updated: Dec 2, 2025 You use 4 different endpoints to manage your media:
EndpointUses
POST /PHONE_NUMBER_ID/mediaUpload media.
GET /MEDIA_IDRetrieve the URL for a specific media.
DELETE /MEDIA_IDDelete a specific media.
GET /MEDIA_URLDownload media from a media URL.
See Supported Media Types for supported types and size limits.

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Get media ID

Some of the API requests described in this document require a media ID. Media IDs are returned by the API when uploading media, and are included in incoming media messages webhooks ( image messages, video messages, etc.) Media IDs returned by the API expire after 30 days. Media IDs in webhooks expire after 7 days.

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Upload media

To upload media, make a POST call to /PHONE_NUMBER_ID/media and include the parameters listed below. All media files sent through this endpoint are encrypted and persist for 30 days, unless they are deleted earlier.
EndpointAuthentication
/PHONE_NUMBER_ID/media
(See Get Phone Number ID)		Developers can authenticate their API calls with the access token generated in the App Dashboard > WhatsApp > API Setup.
Solution Partners must authenticate themselves with an access token with the whatsapp_business_messaging permission.

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Parameters

NameDescription
fileRequired.
Path to the file stored in your local directory. For example: “@/local/path/file.jpg”.
typeRequired.
Type of media file being uploaded. See Supported Media Types for more information.
messaging_productRequired.
Messaging service used for the request. In this case, use whatsapp.

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Request

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/media' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
-F 'messaging_product=whatsapp' \
-F 'file=@<FILE_PATH_AND_NAME>;type=<MIME_TYPE>'

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Response

Upon success: 
{
  "id": "<MEDIA_ID>"
}

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Example request

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/106540352242922/media' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...' \
-F 'messaging_product=whatsapp' \
-F 'file=@/media/template_assets/black_friday_2025.mp4;type=video/mp4'

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Example response

{
  "id": "1037543291543636"
}

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Get media URL

You can query a media ID directly to get a media URL, which you can then query directly with your access token to download the media asset. Starting November 12, 2025, incoming media messages webhooks ( image messages, video messages, etc.) will include the media url automatically, and assign it to a new url property. This property is being released to developers gradually over several weeks, so may not be available to you immediately. Media URLs expire after 5 minutes, after which you must query the ID again to get a new URL.

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Request syntax

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<MEDIA_ID>?phone_number_id=<BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB'
Note that phone_number_id is optional. If included, the request will only be processed if the business phone number ID included in the query matches the ID of the business phone number that the media was uploaded on.

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Response syntax

A successful response includes an object with a media url. The URL is only valid for 5 minutes. To use this URL, see Download Media. 
{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "url": "<MEDIA_URL>",
  "mime_type": "<MEDIA_MIME_TYPE>",
  "sha256": "<SHA_256_HASH>",
  "file_size": "&lt;MEDIA_FILE_SIZE&gt;",
  "id": "&lt;MEDIA_ID&gt;"
}

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Delete media

Use the DELETE /<MEDIA_ID> endpoint to delete a media asset.

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Request syntax

curl -X DELETE 'https://graph.facebook.com/&lt;API_VERSION&gt;/&lt;MEDIA_ID&gt;?phone_number_id=&lt;BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID&gt;' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...'
Note that phone_number_id is optional. If included, the request will only be processed if the business phone number ID included in the query matches the ID of the business phone number that the media was uploaded on.

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Example response

{
  "success": true
}

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Download media

To download media, make a GET request on the media URL and include your access token. If you omit your token, the request will fail. Note that when retrieving a media from a media ID received via webhook, the media ID will only be available to download for 7 days.

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Request syntax

curl '&lt;MEDIA_URL&gt;' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...' \
-o '&lt;DESIRED_FILE_NAME&gt;'
Upon success, the API will respond with the binary data of the media asset. Response headers contain a content-type header to indicate the mime type of returned data. Check supported media types for supported media types. If the download attempt fails, you will receive a 404 Not Found response code. In that case, we recommend you try to get a new media URL and download it again. If doing so doesn’t resolve the issue, renew your access token and attempt to download the media asset again.

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Supported media types

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Audio

Audio TypeExtensionMIME TypeMax Size
AAC.aacaudio/aac16 MB
AMR.amraudio/amr16 MB
MP3.mp3audio/mpeg16 MB
MP4 Audio.m4aaudio/mp416 MB
OGG Audio.oggaudio/ogg (OPUS codecs only; base audio/ogg not supported; mono input only)16 MB

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Document

Document TypeExtensionMIME TypeMax Size
Text.txttext/plain100 MB
Microsoft Excel.xlsapplication/vnd.ms-excel100 MB
Microsoft Excel.xlsxapplication/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet100 MB
Microsoft Word.docapplication/msword100 MB
Microsoft Word.docxapplication/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document100 MB
Microsoft PowerPoint.pptapplication/vnd.ms-powerpoint100 MB
Microsoft PowerPoint.pptxapplication/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation100 MB
PDF.pdfapplication/pdf100 MB

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Image

Images must be 8-bit, RGB or RGBA.
Image TypeExtensionMIME TypeMax Size
JPEG.jpegimage/jpeg5 MB
PNG.pngimage/png5 MB

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Sticker

WebP images can only be sent in sticker messages.
Sticker TypeExtensionMIME TypeMax Size
Animated sticker.webpimage/webp500 KB
Static sticker.webpimage/webp100 KB

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Video

Only H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec supported. Single audio stream or no audio stream only. Note that videos encoded with the H.264 “High” profile and B-frames are not supported by Android WhatsApp clients. We recommend that you use H.264 “Main” profile without B-frames, or the H.264 “Baseline” profile when encoding (or re-encoding with a tool like ffmpeg), and place moov boxes before mdat boxes, for broader compatibility. If you are using ffmpeg, you can use the -movflags faststart flag to place moov boxes before mdata boxes.
Video TypeExtensionMIME TypeMax Size
3GPP.3gpvideo/3gpp16 MB
MP4 Video.mp4video/mp416 MB
Note that mismatched MIME type (131053) is a common error. We recommend that you inspect your media files to verify their MIME type, and make sure that your file name extensions reflect their types. For example, if you are using UNIX, you can inspect a file via the command line to determine its MIME type: file -I your-image-asset.png

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Media message download constraints

The maximum supported file size for media messages on Cloud API is 100MB. In the event the customer sends a file that is greater than 100MB, you will receive a webhook with error code 131052 and title: “Media file size too big. Max file size we currently support: 100MB. Please communicate with your customer to send a media file that is smaller than 100MB”. We advise that you send customers a warning message that their media file exceeds the maximum file size when this webhook event is triggered.

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Learn more

WhatsApp Business Blog – Sending WhatsApp media messages from an app Did you find this page helpful? Thumbs up icon Thumbs down icon ON THIS PAGE Get media ID Upload media Parameters Request Response Example request Example response Get media URL Request syntax Response syntax Delete media Request syntax Example response Download media Request syntax Supported media types Audio Document Image Sticker Video Media message download constraints Learn more