How to Compress Video on Mac: 3 Methods

A five-minute screen recording can land near 500 MB at 1080p. Email and upload forms fail long before anyone watches it. You usually need a shorter clip, a lower resolution, or a tighter encode, and you should keep the master file untouched.

Three solid routes cover most Mac jobs: GetCompress for a quick local result with size control, QuickTime or iMovie for a single export, and FFmpeg when you want exact flags or a folder script.

Method 1: GetCompress

Best for: A smaller video for email, Slack, tickets, or portals, especially when the form lists a hard megabyte cap or you compress the same kind of clip often.

1. Open GetCompress and drop one video or a folder into the queue.
2. Trim start and end in the preview if the recording has dead air.
3. Pick a quality level (Original, High, Medium, Balanced, or Low) and resolution, or set an exact target file size when the form states a megabyte limit (video only).
4. Export, then drag the result into Mail, Slack, or the upload field.

Processing stays on your Mac. Save a preset (for example 720p email or 1080p review) so you can reuse it next time. For the numeric-cap workflow in more detail, see compress video to a target size on Mac .

Method 2: QuickTime or iMovie

Best for: One clip when you do not need a megabyte target or a batch queue.

QuickTime Player:

1. Open the video.
2. Edit → Trim (⌘T).
3. File → Export As… → 1080p or 720p.

iMovie: import, trim, then File → Share → File… and pick a resolution.

Trim first. Cutting unused minutes often clears an email limit before you touch quality. QuickTime cannot set an exact megabyte cap or queue twenty files.

Limitation: Export tiers are coarse. If the file is still too large, shorten the clip again or move to Method 1 or 3.

Method 3: FFmpeg in Terminal

Best for: Repeatable settings, folder batches, and CRF-style quality control.

Install FFmpeg with Homebrew if needed:

brew install ffmpeg

Then:

ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset medium \
 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -movflags +faststart output.mp4

To downscale and compress in one pass:

ffmpeg -i input.mov -vf scale=-2:1080 -c:v libx264 -crf 23 \
 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -movflags +faststart output-1080p.mp4

Limitation: You maintain the commands yourself. VLC can convert too (File → Convert / Stream), but profiles are easy to mis-pick if you rarely use them.

Which method should you use

If the real problem is format (upload accepts MP4 only), convert first: MOV to MP4 on Mac or convert video to MP4 on Mac .

Settings that shrink files first

Limits change by plan and product. Treat the table as planning ranges, not guarantees.

Check the result before you send

Watch the export at 100% zoom on a laptop, especially UI text and thin lines. Soft or blocky edges mean you pushed too hard: raise quality one step, keep 1080p, or trim more instead of crushing bitrate again.

Keep the master. Compress a copy. Re-encoding the same lossy file over and over adds generation loss. For a side-by-side check, use the video comparison tool .

More detail on preserving a sharp review copy: compress video on Mac without losing quality .

When a built-in export is enough

QuickTime or iMovie can finish one file when the file lands under the limit after a trim and a 720p or 1080p export.

GetCompress also works well for that job. It also covers mixed folders, the same preset every week, preview and trim in one place, or an exact video target file size that export tiers cannot type. It does not replace Final Cut, Premiere, or a broadcast packaging suite. For broader cleanup across photos and PDFs as well, see reduce file size on Mac .