Video Compressor
Shrink large video files so they're easy to share — right in your browser.
Private by design
Files are processed in your browser.
Free & no sign-up
No account, no email, no limits.
Fast
No upload wait — work starts instantly.
No watermarks
Clean output, every time.
Large video files are awkward to email, slow to upload and quick to fill up storage. Compressing a video re-encodes it more efficiently, cutting the file size while keeping it clear enough to watch comfortably.
The compression runs in your browser, so your footage is never uploaded. Choose how hard to compress and download a smaller MP4 you can share without hitting size limits.
How to use the video compressor
- 1
Add your video
Drag a video file into the box, or click to select it from your device.
- 2
Choose a compression level
Light keeps the most quality; Strong makes the smallest file. Balanced is a good default.
- 3
Compress and download
Click Compress video and download the smaller MP4 when it's done.
What makes a video file large
Video size comes from bitrate — how much data is spent on each second — multiplied by duration. Resolution, frame rate and how much movement is in the shot all feed into it. A phone recording 4K at 60 frames per second can spend over 50 megabits per second, which is why a two-minute clip refuses to attach to an email.
Compressing re-encodes the video at a lower bitrate, and usually a smaller resolution, so it carries the same content in far fewer bytes.
Choosing how hard to compress
- Match the destination
- A clip for a messaging app or a slide does not need 4K. 1080p is enough for almost any screen and roughly a quarter of the data.
- Consider the content
- Static shots — a talking head, a screen recording — compress far harder than fast motion before anything is visible.
- Watch for the wrong artefacts
- Over-compression shows up as blockiness in shadows and smeared detail in movement. If you see either, step back one level.
- Compress once
- Each re-encode loses quality permanently. Keep the original and compress from it rather than compressing an already-compressed copy.
Compressed on your device
Video compression normally means uploading a very large file and waiting in someone else's queue. Here the encoder runs in your browser, so the work starts immediately and the video never leaves your machine — which matters for family footage, client work and anything under embargo.
The trade-off is that encoding uses your own processor, so a long clip takes real time and works best on a laptop or desktop. Keep the tab in the foreground while it runs.
Video Compressor guides
Step-by-step walkthroughs for the things people most often need to do.
Frequently asked questions
How much smaller will my video get?
It depends on the source. High-bitrate phone and screen recordings often shrink a lot, while already-compressed videos save less. The output is an efficient MP4 (H.264).
Will compressing reduce quality?
Some quality is traded for size. Light barely changes it; Strong is noticeably smaller with more visible compression. Balanced suits most sharing.
Is my video uploaded anywhere?
No. Compression happens entirely in your browser, so your video stays private on your device.
Why does compressing take a while?
Re-encoding video is intensive and runs on your own device, so larger or longer videos take longer. A progress bar shows how it's going.