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Sharing Files & Media

Tavrn supports image and audio sharing in all chats, drop a photo, share a voice memo, send a screenshot. Here’s everything you need to know.

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Supported File Types

🖼️ Images

JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, AVIF
Max size: 25MB

🎵 Audio

MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, AAC, M4A, WebM
Max size: 50MB
Cocoa members get higher quality image uploads and larger file size allowances. Learn about Cocoa →

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How to Send a File

  1. Click the 📎 attachment icon in the message toolbar
  2. A file picker opens, select your file(s)
  3. Add an optional message caption
  4. Click Send

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Upload Progress

When you’re uploading a large file, you’ll see a progress indicator so you know how it’s going. Tavrn tracks each file separately if you’re uploading multiple at once. If an upload fails partway through, Tavrn will automatically retry it a few times with exponential backoff (meaning it waits a little longer each time before retrying, to avoid hammering a struggling connection).

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How Media Displays in Chat

Images appear as inline previews — click any image to open it in the lightbox, a fullscreen viewer. In the lightbox you can:
  • Navigate between multiple images with the arrow keys or on-screen arrows
  • Close with Esc or clicking outside
Audio files get a custom audio player with a play button, scrubber, and duration display.
Every conversation has a media gallery that shows all the files that have been shared between you and another person (or in a room channel). It’s great for finding that photo someone sent three weeks ago. To open the gallery:
  1. In a DM, click the Gallery or Media icon in the top-right of the chat
  2. Browse by type (Images, Audio) or search by filename
  3. Filter by date or conversation
The gallery paginates lazily as you scroll — it loads more as you go, so even a year of shared media won’t slow it down.

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Image Optimization

Tavrn automatically optimizes images when you upload them:
  • WebP conversion — Images are converted to WebP format for smaller file sizes with no visible quality loss (with fallback for older browsers)
  • Dimension extraction — Image dimensions are stored so previews can be accurately sized before loading
  • EXIF data stripping — Any metadata embedded in your photos (including GPS location data!) is automatically removed before the image is stored
EXIF stripping means that sensitive metadata like your location won’t be exposed in shared photos. This happens automatically — you don’t need to do anything.

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Downloading Shared Files

To download a file someone shared:
  1. Hover over the image or file in chat
  2. Click the Download icon (or right-click → Save Image/Save File on images)

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File Privacy

Files you share in DMs are only accessible to you and the person you’re chatting with. Files shared in room channels are accessible to all members of that channel. Uploaded files are stored in secure storage buckets. They’re not publicly searchable or indexable.

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File Size Limits & What To Do If You’re Over

If your file is too large:
  • Compress the image — Use a tool like Squoosh (free, in-browser) to reduce image size
  • For audio — Try re-exporting as MP3 at a lower bitrate if FLAC or WAV is too big
  • Use an external host — Upload to Google Drive, Dropbox, or Imgur and share the link. Tavrn will auto-generate a link preview.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes — delete the message that contains the file. This removes both the message and the uploaded attachment from Tavrn’s storage.
Yes! You can select multiple files in the file picker or drag multiple files at once. They’ll all queue up and upload together.
Yes, GIF image files can be uploaded as attachments (up to 25MB). But for sending GIFs from the internet, the GIF picker is way more convenient. See Using GIFs.
Usually due to the file being too large, an unsupported file type, or a network issue. Check the file type and size against the limits above. If everything looks right and it’s still failing, try again — Tavrn will retry automatically in most cases.