Video Compressor

Compress video on Windows

Nothing to download. Drop a video from File Explorer, choose how small, and save an MP4 that plays on any PC or phone.

Making a video smaller on Windows

Windows has no simple “make this video smaller” button. Clipchamp, which replaced the Photos app’s video editor, exports at 480p, 720p or 1080p, and VLC can convert a video if you know which settings to change. Neither lets you ask for a size, so getting under an email or upload limit takes guesswork.

Zipping doesn’t help either. Send to › Compressed (zipped) folder shrinks documents, but video is already compressed, so the zip comes out almost as big as the video. To make a video smaller it has to be encoded again at a lower bitrate, which is what this page does.

Drop the video on the page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox and type the size you need or pick a preset. When your browser can decode the video, it’s compressed on your PC and isn’t uploaded. Some videos it can’t read: H.265 (HEVC) videos from an iPhone need Microsoft’s HEVC Video Extensions, and HDR videos always need our server. Those are compressed on our server and deleted 2 hours later.

Why compress on your PC here

  • Type the size, get the size

    Enter the limit from your email or upload form, and the MP4 comes out just under it, without trial and error.

  • Plays on every PC

    The result is an H.264 MP4, which Windows plays without any extra codec, unlike the H.265 videos iPhones record.

  • Works on work and school PCs

    Nothing to install and no admin rights needed, so it works on computers where you can’t add software.

  • A whole batch at once

    Select several videos in File Explorer and drop them together. They’re compressed one after another.

How to compress a video on Windows

  1. 01

    Drop the video

    Drag it from File Explorer 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. It lands in your Downloads folder.

Questions

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

Why won’t my iPhone video play on Windows?

iPhones record H.265 (HEVC), and Windows needs Microsoft’s HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store to play it. The MP4 you get here uses H.264, which Windows plays out of the box.

Can I compress a video with Clipchamp instead?

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

Does zipping a video make it smaller?

Barely, usually by a percent or two. Video is already compressed, so a zip has almost nothing left to remove. Encoding it again at a lower bitrate, as this page does, can take off half or more.

Do I need to install anything on Windows?

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

Is my video uploaded from my PC?

Only when it has to be. If your browser can compress the video, it never leaves your PC. HDR videos, and videos the browser can’t decode, 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.

Should I choose H.264 or H.265 on Windows?

H.264, unless you know every viewer can play H.265. Windows PCs without the HEVC extension can’t, and neither can some older phones and TVs. H.265 makes a smaller file at the same quality when they can.

How big a video can I compress on a PC?

In your browser there’s no fixed limit; it depends on your PC’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.

Can I compress screen recordings and game clips?

Yes. Recordings from the Snipping Tool, the Xbox Game Bar and OBS are MP4 or MKV files, and both work. Screen recordings shrink a lot because most of the picture stands still; game clips with fast motion need a bigger size to stay sharp, so cut them to the best part first.

More ways to compress video

Make your video smaller now

Free, with no sign-up and no watermark.