Video compressor
Reach for a video compressor when a few seconds of phone footage turns into hundreds of megabytes. Drop the file in, say how small you need it, and the whole job runs inside your browser, so the video never leaves your device. It is free, runs online and handles MP4 and other common formats.
Drop a video here, or click to choose one
MP4, MOV, WEBM, MKV, AVI or audio, up to 2GB. Nothing is uploaded.
See the flow, step by step
A walkthrough of one file being processed in your browser.
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Your result
- Smaller file, same watchable quality
- Original never leaves your device
Why people use it
Files stream straight to your device. We keep no copy of the video or the link.
No sign up, no email, no tracking pixel. Paste a link and save the file.
Every tool on the site is free to use, with no daily download cap.
We pick the highest stream the source offers, up to 4K where it exists.
One paste, one click. No queues, no waiting rooms, no forced ads between steps.
Runs in any modern browser on phone, tablet and desktop. Nothing to install.
How to compress a video online
Choose a file from your device, or drag it onto the box. MP4, MOV, WEBM, MKV and AVI all work, up to two gigabytes.
Pick one of the three targets. Smallest file drops the frame to 720p and squeezes hardest, balanced keeps 1080p for social posts, and high quality keeps the original frame size and only trims the wasted bitrate.
Press compress and watch the progress bar. When it finishes you see the old size next to the new one, then save the MP4.
How much smaller will it get
Most phone recordings come down by sixty to eighty percent at the balanced setting with no visible change, because cameras record at a far higher bitrate than any platform needs.
Footage that is already compressed, a clip you downloaded from TikTok for example, has less room left. Expect a smaller saving there, and use the 720p target if you have a hard limit to hit.
Nothing is uploaded
The compressor runs on your own machine using a video engine that loads into the browser tab. There is no upload, no queue and no copy of your file on any server.
The trade off is that speed depends on your device. A short clip finishes in seconds, a long recording on an old phone takes patience, so trim first when you only need part of it.
Common size limits worth knowing
WhatsApp caps a shared video at sixteen megabytes on most accounts, Gmail attachments stop at twenty five megabytes, and Discord free accounts allow ten.
For those, start with the smallest file target. For Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, balanced is plenty since they re-encode everything on their side anyway.
What actually shrinks a file
Three things drive size, the resolution, the bitrate and the length. Cutting the bitrate is what shrinks a file most without touching how big the picture looks.
Dropping from 1080p to 720p roughly halves the pixel count, which is the blunt option when a file has to fit a strict limit.
Length is the one thing compression cannot help with. A twenty minute clip stays large even at a modest bitrate.
Choosing a target
Messaging apps and email attachments are where limits bite, commonly in the region of twenty five megabytes.
Talking heads and screen recordings survive heavy compression well, because little moves between frames.
Fast motion, confetti, rain and grain are the hard cases. They need more bitrate to avoid blocking, so aim less aggressively there.
Reading the result before you send it
Always play the compressed copy back before sending it on, and watch a busy section rather than the opening frame.
Blocky squares in dark areas mean the bitrate went too low. Softness overall usually means the resolution dropped further than needed.
Compressing an already compressed file loses more each time, so start from the original whenever you still have it.
Questions people ask
Is the video compressor free?
Yes. No account, no watermark on the result and no limit on how many files you compress.
Does compressing lose quality?
Some detail always goes, but at the balanced setting the change is hard to see on a phone screen while the file gets several times smaller.
Is my video uploaded to a server?
No. Everything happens inside your browser, so the file never leaves your device.
What size file can I compress?
Up to two gigabytes. Longer clips work but take longer, because your own device does the encoding.
What format do I get back?
An MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio, which plays on every phone, browser and editor.
Will compressing hurt the audio?
Audio is a small share of the file, so it is left generous. Most of the saving comes from the picture.
Can I get an exact file size?
Sizes land close to the target rather than exactly on it, because the encoder spends more on complicated scenes and less on still ones.
Is the original changed?
No. A new file is produced and your original stays as it was.