How to Compress MP4 Files: 6 Ways & Reduce MP4 Size by 90%

If you're wondering how to compress MP4 files, you're certainly not alone. Even with modern video codecs, MP4 files can be surprisingly large, especially at high resolutions and quality levels. For instance, a single minute of 4K 24fps H.264 video can easily exceed 1GB, and a minute of 4K ProRes footage from a high-end DSLR camera can reach 6GB.

Dealing with such massive files for sharing, storage, or smooth playback often necessitates MP4 compression. That's why we've created this step-by-step guide on how to compress an MP4 video. After reading this post, you'll find the best video compressor that achieves the best balance between MP4 file size and image quality. Let's get started.

Why Should You Compress MP4 Files

MP4 files can be quite large, creating various challenges for users. Compressing them helps address these common issues:

Storage Limitations: Large MP4 files quickly consume valuable storage space on your devices, external drives, or cloud storage, potentially leading to you running out of room for other files or projects.

Slow Transfers: Uploading or downloading large MP4 videos requires significant bandwidth and can take a considerable amount of time, especially on slower internet connections or when dealing with many files.

Sharing Restrictions: Many online platforms and services, including social media sites (like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook) and email clients, impose strict file size limits (often ranging from 25MB to 500MB). Compressing MP4s is often necessary to meet these requirements for sharing.

Editing Performance: Working with large MP4 videos in video editing software can be demanding, leading to slow import, choppy playback, and lengthy rendering or export times. Older computers or less powerful hardware may struggle significantly with these files.

Playback Compatibility: Some older programs or devices may lack the necessary decoding power or codec support to smoothly play back large, high-resolution MP4 videos captured from modern sources like 4K cameras or high-end phones. Compressing or converting can improve compatibility.

1. Best Way to Compress MP4 Files (No Sacrifice on Quality)

Whenever you want to shrink MP4 file size to free up some space or upload them online in an instant, just load them to VideoProc Converter AI, the best video compressor for Mac and Windows. It facilitates MP4 compression process in a few clicks.

Backed by the latest compression algorithm and unique GPU acceleration tech, VideoProc Converter AI gets up to 90% file size reduced while retaining the max visual quality of the original video. As an expert in large video processing, it smashes a record of compressing large 4K, 8K, 1080p, HDR, 360-degree, and high FPS videos. Notably, both geeks and beginners can find the best way to compress MP4 because it offers multiple compression features for various needs. For any low-quality videos, it offers a full set of AI features to enhance, such as AI upscaling, frame interpolation, denoising, stabilization.

Rating: 4.8/5 by OneHourProfessor

Download and install VideoProc Converter AI to reduce MP4 file size from GBs to MBs at your fingertips!

Step 1. Import MP4 to VideoProc Converter AI

Start VideoProc Converter AI on Windows 10/11 or Mac. Click "Video" on the main interface. Drag and drop the source MP4 file(s) to it. Then click "Toolbox" and double-click on "Compress".

Step 2. Compress the MP4 File

Now you enter the compress tab and you can shrink the MP4 video by dragging the slider or typing a desired size. Click "Done" to save the changes.

Step 3. Export the Compressed MP4

To significantly speed up the process, ensure hardware acceleration is enabled. This leverages your GPU for full acceleration, potentially reaching speeds up to 47x faster when shrinking MP4 files. Once ready, hit RUN.

Bonus: More Ways to Reduce MP4 File Size

1. Select a more efficient output codec. For instance, converting from MP4 H.264 to MP4 HEVC (H.265) can potentially reduce file size by 25-50% compared to H.264. Click the gear icon next to the format for detailed settings (codec parameters, bitrate, sample rate, etc.) to balance quality and size. Use the estimated size near the "Quality" option as a guide.

2. Another way to shrink MP4 file size is to get rid of unwanted footage. In VideoProc Converter AI, you can trim the beginning/end part, cut at any position in the video, or split it into several equal clips.

2. How to Compress MP4 Files Online with MP4Compress

On top of that, many online MP4 compressors also reduce file size for free without asking you to install anything on your computer. But most of them are not capable of compressing MP4 files of 1+GB.

As the name suggests, MP4Compress offers online services for reducing the file size of MP4 videos. As a simple-to-use video compressor, it does not require registered accounts or video codec knowledge. It's a good option when you need to compress and share MP4 videos in an instant.

Rating: 2.5/5 by Digiarty

Please take into account: MP4Compress only accepts MP4 files under 500MB. And it does not let you customize compression settings at all, so you might not get ideal results sometimes.

Step 1. Visit mp4compress.com on a web browser. Select an MP4 file on your device.

Step 2. Upload the file to MP4Compress. Then it starts to compress the video automatically.

Step 3. When it's completed, download the MP4 to your computer.

3. How to Compress MP4 Files Online with OnlineConverter

OnlineConverter supports a wide range of media formats, such as MP4, FLV, AVI, MKV, etc. It's friendly to beginners because it optimizes compression settings automatically based on your desired file size. Meanwhile, it features a handful of other MP4 tools like merge, resize, cut, rotate, and repair.

Rating: 3/5 by Digiarty

Please take into account: OnlineConvert puts a limit on files size (max 200MB). The compression will fail if the compression ratio exceeds 70%.

Step 1. . Go to onlineconverter.com. Choose Compress Video in Video Converter Tools.

Step 2. Choose an MP4 file and upload it online.

Step 3. Input the desired video size. Optionally, lowering the audio quality can shrink more data.

Step 4. Hit the compress button. When the compression is completed, download the MP4 to your computer.

4. How to Compress MP4 Files Online with VLC

VLC is a media player but surprisingly allows shrinking MP4 size by adjusting video bitrate, resolution, frame rate, audio track, and subtitles track. In addition to MP4, it can compress MOV, MKV, AVI, WMV, FLV, and so forth.

Rating: 4.5/5 by TechRadar

Please take into account: VLC does not offer any preset compress options. You need to be familiar with your source video properties and target compression outcome so to change settings accordingly.

Step 1. Open VLC. Go to Media > Convert/Save and add an MP4 file from your computer. Expand the button at the bottom and choose Convert.

Step 2. Choose Video – H.265 + MP3 (MP4) in profile settings. Click the wrench icon to open a sub-window.

Step 3. Adjust video and audio codec options. Lower the video bitrate, frame rate, resolution, audio bitrate, and sample rate. Save the changes.

Step 4. Choose a destination file to store the compressed MP4. Hit Start to compress the MP4 video in VLC for free.

5. How to Compress MP4 Files Online with HandBrake

HandBrake is an open-source and free video transcoder on Windows 10, Mac, and Linux. It features a list of settings for advanced users who want full control over the file size and quality of MP4 movies. We recommend you use the latest version for its upgraded video processing capabilities. But the latest HandBrake is no longer supported on Windows 7, 8, or older OS.

Rating: 4/5 by TechRadar

Please take into account: HandBrake doesn't allow real-time preview and file size estimation, you may need to experiment with it several times to get the proper compression settings

Step 1. Launch HandBrake. Drag and drop an MP4 video to it.

Step 2. Open Dimensions to downscale 4K to 1080p, or 1080p to 720p.

Step 3. Click Video to re-encode MP4 with H.265 or H.264. Decrease frame rate under the codec option.

Step 4. Click Audio to lower the audio bitrate or clear the audio track. Meanwhile, you can clear the subtitle track if you don't need it.

Step 5. Choose a folder to save the MP4. Start encoding to compress the MP4 video to a smaller size.

6. How to Compress MP4 Files Online with Movie Maker

Although born as a simple and free video editor in Windows 7, it's available on Windows 10 and Windows 8 and able to convert and compress MP4 files in its export settings. Just skip the editing process and export MP4 with a lower bitrate of video and audio.

Rating: 3/5 by ExpertReviews

Please take into account: Windows Movie Maker has been discontinued for many years. It does not feature the latest efficient codecs such as HEVC and VP9, so it can't shrink as much size of MP4 as other professional video compressors.

Step 1. Make sure you've installed Movie Maker on your Windows computer. Launch it up and add an MP4 file and wait for it to prepare the video file.

Step 2. Click Edit > Split to remove redundant footage in your MP4 video.

Step 3. Get back to the homepage. Click Save movies > Create custom settings.

Step 4. Lower the video bitrate, audio bitrate, and audio sample rate. Then you'll see the estimated file size reduced. When you are satisfied with the result, enter a name for the custom settings.

Step 5. Click Save movie again and choose the settings just created. Then export the MP4 from Windows Movie Maker.

Choosing the Best MP4 Compressor to Make MP4 Files Smaller

To provide a clear, data-driven comparison of how various MP4 compressor options stack up in terms of performance and compression effectiveness, we conducted a comprehensive test using a specific source video and test environment.

The best overall MP4 compressor goes to VideoProc Converter AI according to ease of use, compression ratio, processing time, and final quality.

VLC stands out among open-source and free MP4 compressors for its compression ratio, but it takes a longer time than others and is prone to crash or quit when processing large MP4.

For compressing large or lengthy MP4 videos, especially when time is a factor, online compressors are generally not recommended. Most online MP4 compression tools prove extremely slow and less effective at reducing MP4 size compared to their desktop counterparts.

Below is the comparison chart detailing the results from our test.

Source Video: MP4 MPEG-4, 28s 167ms, 54.3 Mb/s, 1980 x 720p, 182MB

Test Environment: Windows 10 64-bit, AMD Ryzen 5 2400G with Rdeon Vega Graphics 3.60 GHz, 8GB RAM

Frequently Asked Questions about MP4 Compression

How do I reduce the size of an MP4 in Windows 10?

All of the MP4 compressors mentioned above are compatible with Windows 10. If you are looking for the best compressor for Windows 10, choose VideoProc Converter AI because it provides diverse solutions to make MP4 files smaller regardless of the purpose in your case.

How to reduce MP4 file size without losing quality?

Reducing MP4 file size significantly without any loss in quality is generally not possible with standard compression methods. Compression inherently involves some degree of compromise to reduce data. However, the goal is to minimize that quality loss while achieving a smaller MP4 file size: this is where a capable video compressor like VideoProc Converter AI comes in. It allows you to compress MP4 files while maintaining the original quality as much as possible, often resulting in a quality difference that is imperceptible to the human eye.

How to compress MP4 files for Email?

Email services generally limit MP4 attachments to around 25MB. To compress your video to fit this size using VideoProc Converter AI, simply: Import your video, click the Compress option, and set 25MB or 24MB as the target size. Click Apply and then hit Run.