Pick a video, pick a quality level. The projected size appears immediately, and compression starts when you hit Save. It all happens inside your browser, with nothing uploaded.
When it is too big to send
Phones shoot 4K by default. A single minute is over 300MB, which runs straight into messenger limits, the usual 25MB email cap and most upload forms. Messengers will re-compress for you, but you have no say in how it looks, and "send original" simply fails.
Dropping the resolution cuts the size quadratically. 4K down to 1080p is a quarter of the pixels; 720p is a ninth. On a phone or a laptop screen, 1080p is plenty.
Your video is never uploaded
Video files are big, so an upload-based service spends minutes just transferring, and for those minutes your footage sits on someone else's server. This tool does not upload. Compression happens inside your browser and the video never leaves your device.
That also means there is no waiting to upload. Pick a file and the details appear at once; hit Save and encoding starts immediately.
How to use it
Three steps. One video at a time.
- 1Add a videoTap the + button to pick a video, or drag it anywhere onto the page on desktop. The first frame, resolution, duration and size appear.
- 2Pick a quality level480p, 720p or 1080p. The projected size updates instantly. It is calculated rather than encoded, so there is nothing to wait for.
- 3SaveSave starts the encode and shows a progress bar. When it finishes, an MP4 downloads.
The three quality levels
Each level sets a resolution cap and a bitrate cap together. Nothing is ever upscaled, so picking 1080p for a 720p clip leaves it at 720p.
| Level | Resolution / bitrate cap | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 480p | 854×480 / 1.2Mbps | When size matters most, such as email attachments or older upload forms. Fine on a phone screen, soft on a TV. |
| 720p | 1280×720 / 2.8Mbps | The default. Fine for messengers and most sharing; hard to tell apart on a phone or laptop. |
| 1080p | 1920×1080 / 5.0Mbps | When the picture has to hold up. Brings 4K down to a practical size while staying sharp. |
The actual bitrate is the smaller of the cap and "source bitrate × pixel ratio × 0.8". Including the source in that comparison is what guarantees an already-compressed video never comes out larger.
Worth knowing
- The projected size is calculated, not measured
- The photo and PDF tools actually process the file and show you the real result. Video takes tens of seconds, so instead the size is derived from bitrate and duration. The real output moves a little with how busy the footage is.
- The capture date is carried over
- The compressed copy keeps the original capture date, so it sits next to the original in your gallery rather than at the top. This is deliberately the opposite of the photo compressor: people do compress a video to keep it and delete the original, and for that the date has to survive.
- Audio is copied, not re-encoded
- The original audio is copied through untouched. Audio is 3–5% of the result, so there is little to gain and no quality to lose. The projected size uses the source audio bitrate.
- Browsers and timing
- Works in Chrome, Edge, Safari (macOS and iOS 26+) and desktop Firefox. Browsers without support, such as Firefox on Android, get a notice instead. A three-minute 1080p clip takes roughly 30–60 seconds depending on the machine.
- One at a time
- The photo tools take thirty files; video takes one. Even one uses a lot of memory and time, and running several at once is more than a tab can hold.
Frequently asked questions
›Is my video uploaded to a server?
No. Compression happens entirely inside your browser. There is no upload wait and no copy of your footage on anyone else's machine.
›How long does it take?
Roughly 30–60 seconds for a three-minute 1080p clip, depending on your machine and the source resolution. A progress bar shows where it is.
›How do I get under a messenger size limit?
Read the projected size and pick a level. 720p brings most phone footage well under the usual limits.
›Does the quality drop a lot?
You are lowering the resolution, so a big screen will show it. On a phone or laptop, 720p is hard to tell apart.
›Can the result end up bigger?
No. If it would be, the original is handed back instead. The source bitrate is part of the formula, so it structurally cannot grow.
›Does it handle vertical video?
Yes. The rotation is carried across, so a portrait clip stays portrait.
›Can I do several at once?
One at a time. Add the next video once the first one is done.
›Is it free?
Free, with no sign-up, sign-in or watermark.
For long clips and batches, use the app
The apps drive the device's hardware encoder directly, so they are faster and do not run into memory limits on long footage. They can also trim the ends off, and results save straight to your photo library.