How to Compress A Video on Mac Computers (5 Ways)

How to compress a video on Mac for email, YouTube, Instagram, or other social platforms? Picking the right video compression software for Mac matters a lot. There are several options available on Mac, each with a set of features and capabilities. Some popular choices include Winxvideo AI for Mac, QuickTime Player, Handbrake, Compressor, and zipping method. When reducing video file size on your Mac, it's important to balance file size with good quality. So make sure that the final tool you pick meets your needs without sacrificing too much visual clarity. Now use the programs below and follow the steps to learn how to reduce video file size on Mac without losing quality.

Way 2. How to Compress A Video on Mac with Handbrake

HandBrake is a free and open-source video transcoder tool that's great for beginners. It also works as a video compressor that offers a wide range of video customization options to make video file size smaller on Mac. It supports a wide range of codec formats, so you can compress MOV, MP4, FLV, and any video file on Mac. To reduce video file size on Mac, Handbrake offers different presets with different file size, the options to adjust video bit rate, and more. Follow the steps below to learn how to compress a video on Mac using Handbrake.

Step 1. Install Handbrake on your Mac computer and launch it if you haven’t.

Step 2. Click File and select Open, browse, and select the video file you’d like to compress on Mac. Alternatively, drag and drop the video file into Handbrake on Mac. Batch video compression is supported.

Step 3. Select a format with a better compression ratio. You can select MP4 H.264 for a good balance between file size and quality.

Step 4. Choose your preset. For example, fast 1080p30 means 1080p resolution at 30 fps. Lower resolution results in a lower bit rate and smaller file size.

Step 5. Click the Dimensions tab to get more options. Lower the video bitrate to compress videos on Mac.

Step 6. Click the Start Encode button to start reducing video file size on Mac computers. For a more detailed guide, refer to Handbrake Tutorial: How to Compress Video without Losing Quality. This post shows more comprehensive settings for smaller video file size on Handbrake.

Way 3. How to Compress A Video on Mac with QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player is a straightforward way to compress video files on Mac. It can simply reduce the size of your video on Mac by lowering video resolution via Export settings. However, there’s no access to additional settings such as resolution and frame rate to further optimize your file size with QuickTime player. The resulting file will be smaller in size for email, sharing, or uploading online. If you want to compress a video on Mac with QuickTime Player, just use the following steps.

Step 1. Open QuickTime player on your Mac computer. Locate the video file you want to compress on Mac. Select the video file and click Open and load on QuickTime.

Step 2. Click the File button on the menu bar on QuickTime Player. Select Export As from the list of options.

Step 3. Select a lower resolution from the resolution options to make the video file size smaller on Mac. It offers different resolution choices, including 4K, 1080p, 720p, 480p, and Audio Only. Select one based on your needs. Audio Only will export the file as an audio file with the smallest file size, which works when you only want to get the audio track.

Step 4. Name the file in the export window, then select a folder where you want to save the compressed video file. Once you're happy with the settings, click "Save" and wait for QuickTime to compress your video. The compressed video file will be saved in QuickTime MOV file format on Mac.

See Also: QT Pro Tutorial - Compress and Resize Video with Pro Version

Way 4. How to Reduce Video File Size on Mac with Compressor

Compressor integrates with Final Cut Pro and shows better video compression performance for the M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra chips on the new Mac Studio and MacBook Pro. It makes video file size smaller on Mac by customizing video encoding settings, output settings, and video conversions. The best part of the tool is its fast video compression speed on Mac. It supports HDR, HEVC, and 360-degree videos on Mac computers. For novice users, however, it is a bit difficult to get started for its complicated video settings and editing options.

Step 1. Open Final Cut Pro Compressor on your Mac computer. Click the plus sign in the lower left and select New Settings from the options. Set the format to MPEG-4 and click OK to save the settings. On the right-hand side, click on the Video tab, and set the video codec to H.264.

Step 2. Change the Average Data Rate. Drag the slider and enter the data rate with the resolution and framerate you want. You can keep the default audio settings for the audio file doesn’t take too much file size.

Step 3. Back to Final Cut Pro, click on the share button, and select Add Destination.

Step 4. Drag and drop Compressor settings to the Destinations list. Now, start compressing your video file on Mac with Final Cut Pro Compressor.

Way 5. How to Make File Size Smaller on Mac via Zipping

You can simply reduce video file size on Mac by zipping. The zipping method works when you want to compress video on Mac for email or sharing. If the source video file is already compressed, zipping won’t decrease the file size a lot. Use the steps below to learn how to compress a video on Mac via zipping. It requires no third-party help.

Step 1. On your Mac computer, right-click the video file or the folder you want to compress. Alternatively, tap the video file using two fingers.

Step 2. Select Compress (your video file) or Compress X Items from the drop-down shortcut menu.