Overriding maximum file upload limits in WordPress

There are WordPress plugins that let you raise or effectively remove file‐size limits (up to what your server / storage can handle). But a caveat: even with a plugin, you’ll still be constrained by your host’s PHP limits, disk space, and execution time constraints. Here are some good ones + what to watch out for:

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✅ Plugins to allow “unlimited” or very large uploads

Plugin	What it does	Notes / limitations
Big File Uploads	Lets you upload large media files (through the WP media uploader) by using chunked uploads, bypassing many host limits. You can set the maximum upload size “as large as your disk allows.” (WordPress.org English (Canada))	Works well for backend uploads. Frontend uploads (e.g. via forms) might not be handled by this method. Also, your server must have enough resources. (WordPress.org English (Canada))
WP Maximum Upload File Size (MaxUploader)	Lets you increase the upload file size and execution time. (WordPress.org)	But again, if your host has hard caps you may still hit them.
WP Upload Size	Lets you set the upload size via the Tools menu. (WordPress.org)	Simple, but may not overcome deeper server limits.

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⚠️ Things to watch out for (and what “unlimited” really means)

• Server / PHP limits: upload_max_filesize, post_max_size, max_execution_time, and memory_limit in php.ini or via your host might impose hard caps that a plugin can’t override fully.
• Timeouts: Very large uploads may fail mid-transfer if the server or network times out. Chunked uploads (splitting into pieces) help alleviate this (as Big File Uploads does).
• Disk space & storage costs: “Unlimited” in plugin terms usually means “up to your available disk or cloud storage.” If your hosting plan has limited storage, you’ll still be limited.
• Frontend uploads: If you allow visitors to upload via forms, those plugins or forms may not use WordPress’s core uploader, so the plugin might not affect them.
• Security & resource usage: Accepting very large files can open you to denial of service or resource exhaustion attacks. Validate file types, limit who can upload, monitor usage.

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