Compress a video for WhatsApp
Fit a clip under 16 MB so it goes through as a normal video message, without uploading it anywhere first.
- Nothing is uploaded
- Works offline after first visit
- Open source
- No watermark · limit is your device’s memory; phones hold less
Shrinks a video to fit under 16 MB, the size WhatsApp lists for MP4 video, by working out the bitrate from the clip’s length and lowering the resolution when it has to. It is free, and your video is not uploaded: it is re-encoded in your browser and saved as an MP4. The size limit is your device’s memory (phones hold less), and after one visit and a short wait the page works offline.
Your iPhone may take a few seconds to prepare the video first, longer if it's stored in iCloud.
Done
Open the network tab. Your files never appear in it.
Add files and run the tool to see every request this tab makes.
Your files are processed on this device and never sent to a server. Reload the page to clear everything from memory.
WhatsApp’s developer documentation lists 16 MB as the largest MP4 video it accepts (checked 11 October 2026). A phone records far more than that: at 16 megabits a second, a 40-second clip is 80 MB. This page makes the video fit by choosing a bitrate from its length and lowering the resolution when the clip is long enough that full resolution would smear.
As a guide for 1080p phone video: up to about 35 seconds keeps full HD, up to about 75 seconds is 720p, around two minutes is 540p, and a clip near five minutes drops to 240p. Past ten minutes the page stops and tells you how many minutes to trim to, because the picture would no longer be watchable. Fast motion needs more bits than a talking head, so trim to the part that matters first.
For example, a 60-second portrait clip at 1080 × 1920 gets about 1.9 megabits a second in total. That is too few for full HD, so the page picks 720 × 1280, and the result line shows the size it chose, the length and the codec.
The video is compressed in your browser tab, so a family clip or a work recording is not uploaded to a converter site on its way to a chat.
How it works
- Drop the video, or tap to pick it.
- 16 MB is already selected. Choose 8 MB if you want a smaller file to send on mobile data.
- Compress, then attach the MP4 in WhatsApp.
In your browser, not on a server
Mediabunny (MPL-2.0), a media toolkit written in TypeScript, reads the MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV container in your tab. Your browser’s own hardware-backed video decoder and encoder (WebCodecs) re-encode the picture at the bitrate and size you chose, H.264 where available and VP9 or AV1 otherwise, and the sound as AAC or Opus. Mediabunny then writes a new MP4 in memory. For a target size, the bitrate is worked out from the length of the video, and the resolution is lowered when a long video would otherwise turn to mush.
Compared with upload-based tools: Online compressors upload the whole video before they start, cap free files at a few hundred megabytes, and often add a watermark or a queue. Phone videos are some of the most personal files people have. Here the video never leaves your device, and a 2 GB file is compressed as fast as your computer can encode it.
Verify it yourself. Give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, then turn off Wi-Fi or switch to airplane mode and run the tool again. Or open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Cmd-Option-I on a Mac), pick the Network tab, and watch it while you convert. The panel above does the same count for you.
Questions
What is the largest video WhatsApp takes?
WhatsApp’s developer documentation lists 16 MB for MP4 video. That is the size selected here, and the page counts a megabyte as 1,000,000 bytes and aims about ten percent under, so a 16 MB result is at most 16,000,000 bytes.
Will it work for a WhatsApp Status?
This page fits the file size. A Status clip also has a length limit set by the app, so if the app refuses it, cut it shorter first with Trim video and then compress the part you kept.
Why is my 3-minute video so blurry?
The same 16 MB is shared across every second. A 3-minute clip gets about 640 kilobits a second in total, which is enough for 360p, not 1080p. Trim it, or send it in two parts.
My video is 20 minutes. Can it fit?
Not at a watchable quality. At 16 MB the page stops past about 10 minutes and tells you how many minutes to trim to. Cut it into parts with Trim video and compress each one.
Will the result play in WhatsApp?
Chrome, Edge and Safari write an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound, which phones play. In a browser that falls back to another codec, the result line names it, so compress in Chrome, Edge or Safari when in doubt.
Does this page send my video to WhatsApp or anyone else?
No. The video is read, re-encoded and saved on your device. It goes to WhatsApp only when you attach the finished file in the app.
More video and audio tools
Compress video
Make a video a fraction of the size, or fit it under a limit like 10 MB for Discord or 25 MB for email. It is compressed on this device and never uploaded.
Video to JPG
Turn a video into still images: a few good frames or every single one. Done on this device, never uploaded.
Trim audio
Cut a song, a voice memo or a podcast down to the part you want, with fades if you like. Done on this device, never uploaded.
Audio converter
Turn any sound file into MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A or OGG. Your files are converted on this device and never uploaded.
Other conversions
Guides
- How to compress a video without losing qualityMost phone video is recorded at a far higher bitrate than the screen needs. Here is what to change, and what actually loses quality.
- How to turn audio into a videoTo put a song, a podcast episode or a voice note on YouTube, you need a video. Here is how to make one from the sound and a single picture.
- How to resize a videoGetting a video down from 4K to 1080p, or to an exact width and height a platform expects, is a different setting than just compressing it. Here is how, in the browser.