Video Compressor

Compress video on Mac

No app to download. Drop a video from Finder or Photos, choose how small, and save an MP4 that plays anywhere.

Why videos on a Mac get so big

The biggest videos on a Mac are usually screen recordings and videos AirDropped from an iPhone. A screen recording is saved as a MOV at the screen’s full Retina resolution and a high bitrate, so a few minutes can take hundreds of megabytes even when little on screen moves. iPhone videos are recorded at a high bitrate, and usually in HDR, too.

macOS can make a video smaller on its own, but not to a size you choose. QuickTime Player’s File › Export As offers only resolutions such as 1080p, 720p and 480p, Finder’s Encode Selected Video Files has a few presets, and iMovie exports by quality. None of them lets you type 25 MB and get a file just under it, which is what an email, a chat app or an upload form asks for.

Here you drop the video on the page, in Safari, Chrome, Firefox or Edge, and type the size you need or pick a preset. When your browser can handle the video, it’s compressed on your Mac and never uploaded. HDR videos from an iPhone, and formats the browser can’t read, go to our server, where they’re compressed and deleted 2 hours later.

Why compress on your Mac here

  • The size you type, not a guess

    QuickTime only offers resolutions. Type 20 MB here and the MP4 comes out just under it.

  • Good at screen recordings

    Screen recordings are mostly still, so they shrink a lot. A 1080p copy keeps text readable at a fraction of the size.

  • HDR iPhone videos look right

    AirDropped HDR videos are converted on our server to standard colors, so they don’t look grey and washed out on other screens.

  • Several videos at once

    Drop a handful of videos together. They’re compressed one after another, each to the size you set.

How to compress a video on a Mac

  1. 01

    Drop the video

    Drag it from Finder or Photos onto the page, or click to choose it.

  2. 02

    Set the size

    Pick a preset, or type the size in MB that your email, app or site allows.

  3. 03

    Save the MP4

    Compare it with the original, then download it to your Downloads folder.

Questions

Can’t find your answer? Write to feedback@videocompressor.xyz.

Can I compress a video with QuickTime instead?

You can make it smaller by exporting it at a lower resolution, with File › Export As › 720p or 480p. But you can’t choose the size, so it may take a few tries to get under a limit, and a long video can still be too big at 480p. Here you type the size and get it in one go.

Do I need to install anything on my Mac?

No. It runs in Safari, Chrome, Firefox or Edge, with no app, no extension and no account, and there’s no watermark on the result.

Is my video uploaded from my Mac?

Only when it has to be. If your browser can compress the video, it never leaves your Mac. HDR videos, and formats the browser can’t read, are uploaded to our server over an encrypted connection and deleted 2 hours after compressing. The page shows which one it will use, and you can switch.

Why is my screen recording so large?

macOS records the screen at its full Retina resolution, often more than 4K wide, at a bitrate meant for editing. A 1080p or 720p copy is plenty for sharing, and compressing it can take off well over half the size.

Should I choose H.264 or H.265 on a Mac?

Every Mac since macOS High Sierra plays H.265, so it’s a good choice when the video stays on Apple devices: the same size keeps more detail. Choose H.264 when it’s going to Windows PCs, older phones or a website.

How big a video can I compress on a Mac?

In your browser there’s no fixed limit; it depends on your Mac’s memory and free storage. On our server a video can be up to 1 GB, 60 minutes and 4K (3840×2160), and you can compress 5 videos a day there.

Does it work with videos in Photos?

Yes. Drag a video out of the Photos app onto the page, or export it to a folder first with File › Export and choose it from there.

Will the video play on Windows and Android?

Yes, with the default H.264. A MOV straight from an iPhone often won’t play on a Windows PC without an extra codec, but the MP4 you get here plays on any computer, phone, TV and browser, and in every chat app.

More ways to compress video

Make your video smaller now

Free, with no sign-up and no watermark.