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From your Mac

Compress a video on your Mac.

A video too big to email can usually be made smaller with apps already on your Mac. No download needed.

1. Trim it first

A shorter video is a smaller video. In QuickTime Player, open the video and choose Edit > Trim. Drag the yellow handles around the part you want to keep, then click Trim.

2. Export it at a lower resolution

  1. In QuickTime Player, choose File > Export As.
  2. Pick a resolution: 1080p, 720p (up to 1280 x 720) or 480p (up to 640 x 480). Options bigger than your video are dimmed.
  3. For 4K or 1080p, set Format to Smaller File Size to export in HEVC.
  4. Name the copy, pick where to save it, and click Save.

QuickTime saves a .mov file, not an MP4. Your original stays as it was. Apple notes that the exact size depends on the original video, so check the new file in Finder before you send it.

Or re-encode it from Finder

In Finder, Control-click the video and choose Encode Selected Video Files. Pick a lower resolution, then choose higher quality or compatibility with more devices. This works on several videos at once.

Still too big?

Personal Gmail accounts attach up to 25 MB. For anything bigger, send it another way: Mail Drop in Apple Mail (up to 5 GB), a Google Drive link, iMessage or AirDrop. See Send a large video from your Mac and File too large for Gmail?

Or skip the shrinking with Sendoff

Sendoff is a Mac app that lives in the notch. It checks the size before you send. Drop a 48 MB video for someone you usually email, and if you also reach them by iMessage, it sends it that way instead. Drop it, pick the person, press Send off.

Join the waitlist below, and tick the beta box if you want to test it first.