Compress Video

Make a video small enough to send. Pick the limit you need and the file is compressed to fit — on your own device, with nothing uploaded.

  • 100% private
  • No sign-up
  • No watermark
  • Unlimited files
Drop a video file hereor tap to browse · one file at a time · nothing is uploaded

    Compressing means re-encoding every frame, so this is slower than converting a format — minutes rather than seconds for a long video. It all runs on your own device; the video is never uploaded.

    Start from the limit, not the percentage

    Almost nobody wants a video "50% smaller". They want it under a specific number, because something is refusing to accept it: Discord stops at 8 MB without a subscription, Gmail at 25 MB, WhatsApp at around 16 MB for video. Missing the limit by a megabyte is exactly as useless as not compressing at all.

    So this tool works backwards from the limit. It reads how long the video is, divides the size you need by that duration, and encodes at the bitrate that arrives just underneath. Choosing a target is the whole interaction.

    Why length matters more than you expect

    File size is roughly bitrate multiplied by duration, so the same 25 MB budget is generous for thirty seconds and punishing for an hour. Half a minute at 25 MB allows a comfortable 6,500 kbps — visually excellent. An hour at 25 MB allows about 55 kbps, which no encoder can make watchable.

    If the target is impossible for the length, the tool compresses as hard as it usefully can and tells you the result is still over. That is more honest than silently producing something unwatchable, and usually the answer is to trim the video first or send a link instead.

    Reducing the resolution is the bigger lever

    Lowering the bitrate on a 4K video produces a blocky 4K video. Halving the resolution first means the remaining data is spread across a quarter as many pixels, so each one is described far better. A 720p file at a given size will nearly always look better than a 4K file squeezed to the same size.

    For anything being watched on a phone or in a chat window, 720p is genuinely enough. Drop the resolution first and you will often find you no longer need aggressive compression at all.

    What compression actually costs

    This is a real re-encode: every frame is decoded and written again, which is why it takes minutes rather than the seconds a format change takes. Some detail is permanently lost — that is what makes the file smaller.

    The visible artefacts show up first in motion and in fine texture: grass, water, confetti, film grain. A static talking head compresses beautifully. A handheld shot of a forest does not.

    Frequently asked questions

    Are my files uploaded to a server?

    No. The conversion runs inside your browser using your device's own processor. Your files are never transmitted anywhere, which is why the tool works even if you disconnect from the internet after the page loads.

    Why is my compressed file smaller than the limit I chose?

    The encoder never adds data it does not need. Simple footage — a screen recording, a static shot — reaches good quality below the budget and stops there. Undershooting is deliberate: going over a hard limit would make the whole conversion pointless.

    It says the result is still over the limit. What now?

    The video is too long for that target. Either trim it, choose a lower resolution, or accept a larger limit. There is a point past which no encoder can help — an hour of video inside 8 MB is not a solvable problem.

    Will it look bad?

    It depends far more on length than on the setting. A short clip at 25 MB is close to indistinguishable from the original. A long one at the same target has to discard much more. Lowering the resolution usually looks better than lowering the bitrate alone.

    How long does compressing take?

    Roughly real time or faster on a computer — a five-minute video takes a few minutes. Phones are considerably slower, and very long videos can exhaust the memory a browser tab is allowed.

    Is there a file limit or a paywall?

    There is no account, no watermark, and no upload cap. Because your device does the work, the only practical limit is your available memory. The site is funded by ads, not subscriptions.

    Further reading

    Related tools