> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://whatsapp-docs.kap.so/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Video messages

# Video Messages

Updated: Nov 3, 2025

Video messages display a thumbnail preview of a video image with an optional caption. When the WhatsApp user taps the preview, it loads the video and displays it to the user.

![](https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.2365-6/440793312_1179905419842171_7706273386179077435_n.png?_nc_cat=100\&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=e280be&_nc_ohc=6YGM0dpLIjwQ7kNvwFKkybu&_nc_oc=AdkGITwrHkjAcEmnLQSA9bvpv1o3GSeClZR0XxbNVSZyyqK6KatLiwkLDuhiG-yqpDw&_nc_zt=14&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-2.xx&_nc_gid=r3UmcxAz3vA1PpzTw45e8Q\&oh=00_Afmu6jTH2o5LA5nQBusF6h_1xlgt5oXpSYRjIfP6bW_XWQ\&oe=69551993)

## Sending Video Messages

Use the **[POST /\<WHATSAPP\_BUSINESS\_PHONE\_NUMBER\_ID>/messages](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/reference/whatsapp-business-phone-number/message-api)** endpoint to send a video message to a WhatsApp user.

### Request Syntax

```
POST /&lt;WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID&gt;/messages
```

### Post Body

```
\{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "{{wa-user-phone-number}}",
  "type": "video",
  "video": {
    "id" : "&lt;MEDIA_ID&gt;", /* Only if using uploaded media */
    "link": "&lt;MEDIA_URL&gt;", /* Only if linking to your media */
    "caption": "&lt;VIDEO_CAPTION_TEXT&gt;"
  }
}
```

### Post Body Parameters

| Placeholder                                        | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        | Example Value                                                       |
| -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `&lt;VIDEO_CAPTION_TEXT&gt;`<br />*String*         | **Optional.**<br />Video caption text.<br />Maximum 1024 characters.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               | `A succulent eclipse!`                                              |
| `&lt;MEDIA_ID&gt;`<br />*String*                   | **Required if using an uploaded media asset (recommended)**.<br />[Uploaded media](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/business-phone-numbers/media#upload-media) asset ID.                                                                                                  | `1166846181421424`                                                  |
| `&lt;MEDIA_URL&gt;`<br />*String*                  | **Required if linking to your media asset (not recommended)**<br />URL of video asset on your public server. For better performance, we recommend that you [upload your media asset](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/business-phone-numbers/media#upload-media) instead. | `https://www.luckyshrub.com/assets/lucky-shrub-eclipse-viewing.mp4` |
| `&lt;WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER&gt;`<br />*String* | **Required.**<br />WhatsApp user phone number.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     | `+16505551234`                                                      |

## Supported Video Formats

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 Type | Extension | MIME Type  | Max Size |
| ---------- | --------- | ---------- | -------- |
| 3GPP       | .3gp      | video/3gpp | 16 MB    |
| MP4 Video  | .mp4      | video/mp4  | 16 MB    |

## Example Request

Example request to send a video message with a caption to a WhatsApp user.

```
curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/106540352242922/messages' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...' \
-d '{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "+16505551234",
  "type": "video",
  "video": {
    "id" : "1166846181421424",
    "caption": "A succulent eclipse!"
  }
}'
```

## Example Response

```
\{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "contacts": [\
    {\
      "input": "+16505551234",\
      "wa_id": "16505551234"\
    }\
  ],
  "messages": [\
    {\
      "id": "wamid.HBgLMTY0NjcwNDM1OTUVAgARGBI1RjQyNUE3NEYxMzAzMzQ5MkEA"\
    }\
  ]
}
```

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ON THIS PAGE

Sending Video Messages

Request Syntax

Post Body

Post Body Parameters

Supported Video Formats

Example Request

Example Response

***