At certain moments, you will find that your important or special videos are too large, which is annoying because it takes up a lot of storage space on your computer. Fortunately, there are various tools and methods that you can use to compress videos and reduce video file size.
Next, we will show you how to compress videos on Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android.
How to compress videos on Windows
Even if you don’t know how file compression works, you can compress videos on Windows 10. There are multiple ways on how to compress video files on Windows. Here are three of these ways.
1. Compress a Video by Zipping It
ZIP archives help you compress and combine your files. You can create a file archive (such as a ZIP or 7Zip archive) for your video, which is a great way to reduce video size on Windows 10.
1. To compress multiple videos, put them all in a folder on your computer.
2. Open the folder, select all the videos you want to compress, right-click on any one of the videos, and select send to > compressed (zip) folder.
3. Windows will create a new profile and save it in the same folder as your video.
The size of this archive containing your videos will be significantly smaller than the size of your original videos. This works on most standard file types, such as if you wanted to compress MP4 files on Windows 10.
Want to do it with a single video? Start at step 2 in the above list, using the single video you want to compress.
2. Compress Your Video Size Smaller Using the Built-In Video Editor
Windows has an integrated video editor that you can use to reduce video size on Windows 10. In this application, there are multiple options to choose how to compress the video. Here’s how to use it.
1. Use the Start menu to search for a video editor and select Best Bet.
2. Click the + (plus) sign on the New Video Project card to create a new project.
3. Click “Add” and add the video you want to compress.
4. Right-click on your video and select Place in Storyboard.
5. Click Finished Video in the top right corner.
6. Select an option from the Video Quality drop-down menu to compress your video. This is how to reduce the video quality; the lower the resolution you choose, the smaller the video you get. Then, click Export.
Please note that selecting a small resolution size can decrease the quality of your video. If you want to know how to lower the quality of a video, then this is a great way to do it. You may have to play around with video compression settings to find the sweet point between quality and file size.
3. Reduce the Video File Size Using VLC Media Player
VLC Media Player is not just a media player app. It doesn’t stop there. You can use this app to encode videos with various codecs, which should help you compress videos on Windows 10. You can also reduce the video file size on Windows 10 in this way.
Here’s how to use VLC as a compression tool:
1. Open VLC, click on the media menu at the top, and select Convert/Save.
2. Click the Add button to add your video files and then click Convert/Save at the bottom.
3. The Profile drop-down menu is where you can compress your video files. Tap the menu, select the profile that best suits the device you will play the video on, select the destination, and click Start at the bottom.
4. If you want to change the video resolution or specify any other settings, you can do so by clicking the spanner icon next to the Profile dropdown menu.
If you want to know how to compress MP4 files on Windows 10, this is a great way to do it since VLC natively supports many different file types.
How to Shrink Videos on Mac
There are internal and external ways to reduce the file size of videos on Mac. If you want an easier option, the built-in method is very good. If you want more flexibility and customization, choose an external approach.
You can use both methods as follows.
1. Make a Video Smaller Using QuickTime Player
QuickTime Player is a media player app, but if you know how to reduce video quality in this app, you can use it to save your videos at a lower resolution. This allows you to create a copy of the video that is much smaller than the original video file. As with other forms of compression, you may experience some quality loss in the output video files.
Here’s how:
1. Open your video in QuickTime Player.
2. Click “File” at the top, select “Export” and choose a resolution for your video.
3. Choose a folder to save your video, then click Save.
2. Use HandBrake to Compress a Video
QuickTime Player doesn’t have many options to customize your file compression tasks. If you’re looking for more options on how to compress videos, tools like HandBrake can help you out.
HandBrake is a free and open-source application that allows you to convert and encode your videos using various codecs. It has tons of customizable options, which allow you to make compressed files exactly the way you want them to.
You can use HandBrake to compress your videos as follows.
1. Launch HandBrake, click Open Source and load the video file you want to compress.
2. Click the Presets menu to compress your files by choosing one of the many presets. Most of the options are self-explanatory, so you shouldn’t have any problems.
3. Customize any other options you want.
4. When you’re ready, click Start to start compressing your video.
HandBrake is an excellent macOS tool, and it’s also available for Windows users.
How to Reduce the Video File Size on an iPhone
You don’t need to transfer iPhone videos to a computer for compression. In the official iOS app store, there are some apps that allow you to compress videos directly on your iOS device.
Video Compression is one of the applications that allow you to reduce the size of your videos. Just load the video in the app, select the appropriate option, and you’ll get a reduced version of the video.
Here’s how to compress videos on your iPhone.
1. Launch the app and tap the red icon in the middle of the screen. Then, allow the app to access your phone’s content.
2. Tap one of the videos in your gallery that you want to convert. Then, tap the checkmark at the top.
3. On the following screen, drag the slider to specify the compression ratio for your video. Dragging the slider to the left will reduce the video file size, but this will impact the quality of the video. Keep a balance, and then tap the icon in the top-right corner.
4. Let your video compress, and then tap Save to save it to the Photos app.
Download: Video Compress for iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
How to Compress a Video on Android Devices
If you know how to compress videos, there are also several apps that android devices can use. One of these applications is video compression.
Use this app to compress videos directly on your Android device:
1. Open the app and allow it to access your files.
2. Click on the video you want to reduce the size and select Compress Video.
3. The screen below shows the various compression options. Tap on the option you agree to and the app will start the compression process.
4. Use the Custom tab at the top to configure settings for the process.
Download: Video Compress for Android (Free, in-app purchases available)
Lower the Size and Not the Quality of Your Videos
If you know how to reduce the quality of a video, you can quickly reduce its size, but you don’t always have to compromise the quality of your videos to reduce their size. Some tools can significantly reduce the size of your video without too much impact on the quality. That’s what the methods above help you achieve on your device.
