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Reduce file size

Name the limit — 25 MB for Gmail, 16 MB for WhatsApp, 1 MB, 100 KB — and drop any photo, video or song. Each file comes back under it, at the best quality that fits.

I want Reduce file size

Settings appear once you add a file.

Done on your device No upload, no queue, no sign-up.

Bytes sent anywhere: 0 B

Works offline after you’ve used it once.

How to use it

Your photo, video or audio goes into this browser tab, is compressed on your device to the size you named, and comes back under it. 0 bytes uploaded

  1. Add your files

    Drop photos, videos or audio. A mixed batch is fine.

  2. Check the settings

    Pick a common limit, or type any size in KB or MB.

  3. Save the result

    Press Reduce file size. Each file is compressed the right way for its kind and comes back under the limit, at the highest quality that fits.

Why it doesn’t upload

Files that are too big to send are usually the ones that matter: a scan of a passport, a video of your child, a recording from a meeting. Shrinking them here means they’re processed in this tab, on your device, and the only place they go is where you send them.

How to check for yourself

Worth knowing

  • PDFs are handled next door. Our sister site’s Compress PDF is built for them; this page handles photos, videos and audio.
  • Documents, ZIPs and most other files can’t be made meaningfully smaller: they’re compressed already, so they are skipped rather than pretended at.
  • A very small limit for a long video means a soft picture, and below 100 KB a video isn’t attempted. For a lot of footage, trim or split it first.
  • Audio comes back as MP3, or AAC for M4A files, at the highest standard bitrate that fits the limit.

What happens to each kind of file

Photos go through Compress Image: the quality is searched for the highest setting under your limit, and only if that isn’t enough are the dimensions reduced — never more than needed. HEIC and other formats that upload forms refuse come back as JPG.

Videos go through Compress Video: the bitrate is planned from the video’s length so the file lands just under the limit on the first try, and the resolution is lowered only when the bitrate would otherwise be too thin for it.

Audio is re-encoded at the highest standard bitrate that fits: a 4-minute song at 128 kbps is about 3.8 MB, so a 2 MB limit gives it 64 kbps — fine for speech, noticeably thinner for music.

Common size limits

Gmail and Yahoo Mail allow 25 MB of attachments per email, Outlook 20 MB; WhatsApp sends photos and videos up to 16 MB as media; Discord’s free plan takes 20 MB per file. Visa and exam forms go much lower — 240 KB for a US visa photo, 10–20 KB for an SSC signature. Every limit, with its source and the date it was checked, is on the upload limits page.

Questions

How do I reduce a file’s size?

Drop it here, choose the limit you need — or type one — and press Reduce file size. Photos are re-saved at the highest quality that fits, videos are re-encoded at the bitrate their length allows, and audio at the best bitrate that fits. Files already under the limit are left exactly as they were.

How do I reduce file size without losing quality?

Mostly by not losing *visible* quality. Photos from phones and cameras carry far more detail and far lighter compression than a screen needs, so they often shrink by 70–90% with no difference you can see. The tool searches for the highest quality that fits, rather than guessing. Truly lossless shrinking only saves 10–30%, and only for some files; Compress Image does that for PNGs.

How do I make a file small enough to email?

Choose Gmail · 25 MB (Outlook allows 20 MB) and drop the files. Remember the limit covers every attachment together: for five photos to fit in one email, set about a fifth of it each. For more than that, a cloud link is kinder than a squeezed video; the Gmail walkthrough covers both.

Does zipping a file make it smaller?

Barely, for photos, videos, audio and PDFs: they’re compressed already, so a ZIP saves a few percent at most. Zipping helps with text, spreadsheets and some documents. To really shrink media, it has to be re-encoded, which is what this page does.

Is there a limit on how big a file I can reduce?

There’s no cap: files are processed on your device, so the only limit is its memory. Phones handle photos and short videos comfortably; a feature-length video is happier on a computer. Nothing is uploaded, and there’s no sign-up or watermark.

Read more about this

Next steps

Often used before or after Reduce File Size. These run on your device too.