How to compress a video file

You’ve probably already en­countered problems with large video files, such as error messages when you try and send them as email at­tach­ments, or a lack of storage space on your PC. Don’t worry though. You simply need to use a tool or program that com­presses the video files to make them smaller (without any no­tice­able reduction in quality). There are lots of different options, so we’ve put together this guide to help you find the right solution.

The local storage space available on today’s computers is more than adequate for most users. However, compared to documents and image files, videos take up a lot of space, so if you have lots of video files, you might still find that your hard drive fills up pretty quickly. Thank­fully, this doesn’t mean you need to start deleting all of your videos. There are lots of tools you can use to reduce the size of video files so that they take up less space.

It’s also worth com­press­ing video files if you want to upload them or email them to somebody else. Smaller files upload faster and won’t exceed the at­tach­ment limit set by your email provider.

If you want to reduce the size of a video file, you’ve got two options:

1. Online tools: Online tools don’t have to be installed, so you can get started straight away.
2. Down­load­able software: One advantage of using down­loaded software (whether paid or free) is that it works even if you don’t have an internet con­nec­tion.

The following sections give an overview of a few of the tools that are available and explain how to use them to compress video files.

The simplest and fastest way of com­press­ing a video file is to use an online tool. For this, you’ll need a working internet con­nec­tion, but you won’t need to install anything on your computer.

Let’s start by looking at two free online tools: Clideo and Won­der­share.

Clideo is an online video com­pres­sion tool that auto­mat­ic­ally sets the best para­met­ers to minimise loss of quality. To compress a video, simply go to the Clideo website and follow these steps:

1. Click on the ‘Choose file’ button. Browse to the file location and select your video, then click on ‘Open’. Al­tern­at­ively, you can drag and drop your video file onto the tool interface.
2. Clideo will auto­mat­ic­ally start uploading your file. There is a progress bar to show you how long the process will take.
3. Once the upload is complete, the tool will auto­mat­ic­ally launch the com­pres­sion.
4. Click on ‘Download’ to save the video on your computer, or select one of the other options (Dropbox or Google Drive).

Won­der­share is a company that offers a whole range of mul­ti­me­dia products. One of these is a free online video com­pressor that can handle all standard video formats. It has one sig­ni­fic­ant advantage compared to other tools in that it doesn’t embed a watermark in the output file. Here’s how to compress a video using Won­der­share:

1. Drag and drop your video file into the upload area, or click on the button to select a file from your computer.
2. Configure the res­ol­u­tion and format in the output settings. Click on the ‘Compress’ button to launch the process.
3. Save the com­pressed video file on your computer or in your Dropbox.

Although wireless coverage is available in most places these days, you might not always have an internet con­nec­tion – es­pe­cially if you’re often on the move. If that’s the case, or if you regularly need to compress videos, it’s best to install a video com­pres­sion program. We’ve selected three handy programs that will allow you to reduce the size of video files any time, even without an internet con­nec­tion.

VLC Player is a popular media player that supports many different file types, including some less common ones. But what lots of users don’t know is that VLC can also compress video files. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Go to the ‘Media’ tab and select ‘Convert/save…’
2. Click on ‘Add…’ and locate the video you want to compress.
3. Click on ‘Convert / Save’ to confirm your choice.
4. Configure the other settings if necessary (otherwise you can skip this step).
5. Choose where you want to save the com­pressed video file.
6. Click on ‘Start’ and wait for the program to complete the com­pres­sion.

A step-by-step guide to com­press­ing video files using VLC Player is available here:

Freemake Video Converter lets you specify the exact size of the output file. It’s a free tool, but on the other hand it inserts a dis­tract­ing watermark into all of the com­pressed files. To compress a video file using this tool:

1. Left-click on the ‘Video’ button and select your video file.
2. Select the output format.
3. In the window that opens, define the video res­ol­u­tion. The smaller the res­ol­u­tion, the smaller the final file will be.
4. Click on the ‘Convert’ button to launch the process.

If you want to create and edit videos yourself and compress them, it’s worth paying for a suitable piece of software. Two of the most popular video cutting and editing programs are MAGIX Video Edit Pro and Filmora. They can both compress existing videos too. Let’s take a closer look.

The user interface and features of MAGIX Video Edit Pro can be adapted to match your ex­per­i­ence, making this a great tool for pros and beginners alike. The least expensive package starts at around £60 and includes 900 effects, templates, and trans­itions plus many other features. Here’s how to compress a video using this software:

1. Import your video file.
2. Go to ‘File’ > ‘Export movie’ > ‘Video as MPEG-4…’ or ‘Video as HEVC’. In both cases, the software will export your video as an MP4 file.
3. In the export window, select one of the preset con­fig­ur­a­tions, or set the res­ol­u­tion and frame rate manually.

Filmora is another pro­fes­sion­al video cutting and editing program that is suitable for beginners. The free trial version includes all of the features of the full version, but it embeds a watermark in the output files. However, it can still be a useful solution if you want to compress video files. Here are the in­struc­tions:

1. Import the file or drag and drop it into the program.
2. If you want, you can edit the video or cut sections out to reduce the file size.
3. Once you’re happy, click on the ‘Export’ button. Click on ‘Settings’ if you want to adjust any para­met­ers.
4. Decrease the res­ol­u­tion, frame rate, and other settings to reduce the size of the output file.