Guide
How to make a video smaller for WhatsApp or email
Drop the video on Anyfile’s Compress video page and a smaller copy downloads, re-encoded at a lower bitrate but keeping its picture size, frame rate and sound. If it needs to be smaller still, open it in the video editor and lower the Size to 720p or 480p, or trim it.
Step by step
Drop the video
Go to Compress video and drop an MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV, or click Choose files. The card shows Make it smaller… while your browser re-encodes it.
Check what you got
When the card says Done, the smaller copy is in your Downloads folder, in the same format. If re-encoding couldn’t make it smaller, you’re told, and the original is kept as it was.
Smaller still: lower the resolution
Open the video in the video editor, open the arrow next to Download, and set Size to 720p or 480p and Quality to Small (smallest). Halving the height leaves about a quarter of the pixels to send.
Cut what you don’t need
Drag the yellow trim handles to keep only the part that matters, or press S to split at the playhead and cut out a stretch in the middle. Every second removed is a second less to send.
Phones record at a high bitrate so video looks good on a big screen; watched in a chat, much of that detail is never seen. Compressing keeps the picture clean at its size, though fast motion and fine texture lose a little sharpness, so keep the original for editing.
For email, Gmail stops at 25 MB a message and Outlook at about 20 MB, so aim comfortably under. Where it was filmed is removed from the smaller copy unless you tick Keep where it was filmed in the editor.
Nothing is uploaded: your browser reads the file and makes the new one on your device. See how it works, and how to check.
Other ways to do it
WhatsApp itself. WhatsApp compresses videos you send from the gallery, often more than you’d choose, so a copy you shrank yourself can look better. To send a video without WhatsApp changing it, attach it as a document, which allows files up to 2 GB.
On an iPhone. Mail offers Mail Drop for large attachments, sending a link through iCloud instead of the file. Settings › Camera › Record Video sets a lower resolution, such as 1080p at 30 fps, for videos you film from now on.
HandBrake. Free for Windows, Mac and Linux, with presets for smaller files. It takes longer to learn, but gives you every setting.
A link instead of a file. Google Drive, OneDrive and iCloud share a link to the full video, which suits very long clips, though the video is uploaded to their servers.
When Anyfile is quicker
For a clip or two before you press send, the browser is quicker: no app, no account, and the video never leaves your phone or computer. For a long film or dozens of clips, a desktop app will usually finish sooner, and a cloud link avoids shrinking at all.
Questions
How much smaller will it get?
Phone recordings and screen captures often shrink by half or more. A video that was already compressed hard may barely change, and then the original is kept.
Does it change the resolution?
Not on the Compress video page: the size, frame rate and sound stay as they were. Lower the Size in the video editor when you need it smaller still.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, in a current browser. The re-encoding runs on the phone itself, so a long video takes longer than on a computer; keep the page open until it finishes.
Is my video uploaded?
No. It’s compressed in your browser, on your device; nothing is sent to a server.