How to compress a video on a Mac.
Including the only method that hits an exact megabyte target.
The usual reason to compress is a limit: 25 MB for email, 25 for Discord, 16 for WhatsApp. Which makes most advice frustrating — traditional tools speak resolution and bitrate, while the limit speaks megabytes. Three methods, one of which speaks your language.
1QuickTime Player (built in — blunt)
- Open the video, File → Export As…
- Pick a lower resolution (1080p, 720p, 480p).
- Save and check the size. Repeat with a smaller preset if it's still too big.
Free and simple, but you're guessing — resolution is a proxy, not a size.
2HandBrake (free app — precise, manual)
- Open the video, switch to the Video tab.
- Set an average bitrate computed from your target size and duration (size = bitrate × time).
- Encode, check, adjust, repeat.
Can hit any size if you do the math yourself. The math is the product.
3Rename with RenameTo (states the goal)
- Rename video.mov to video.25mb.mp4 in Finder — any number works.
- RenameTo does the duration-bitrate math and encodes once with hardware acceleration.
- The file lands under the limit; the original is backed up.
You type the requirement; the tool does the engineering.
The 25mb command is RenameTo's most-used for a reason: platforms enforce megabytes, so megabytes are the interface. Rename, Return, attach.
Questions? Answers.
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