Gmail Video Compressor

Compress a video for Gmail to a size you choose in MB, then check the real size and quality of the result.

Your file is not uploaded

Choose a video MP4 / MOV / MKV / WebM / AVI, up to 500 MB

Target presets Target size (MB) Actual duration (seconds) Maximum resolution

Remove audio

1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes. The presets are common sizes; check the official help of each service for its limit. Entering a shorter duration does not trim the video.

Equivalent FFmpeg command

CLI command for your current settings. Updates live as you change controls.

Pick a file and adjust settings — the command appears here.

What changes when you compress a video?

One 10-second clip compressed with three settings. The pictures show part of the frame at 2x.

Compression setting Source 23.28 MB → 0.73 MB, encoded in 1.1 s

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:0? -c:v libx264 -crf 36 -preset fast -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -b:a 96k -movflags +faststart output.mp4

Part of the original frame (a printed T-shirt and a jacket) at 2x

The same part after compression at the selected setting

Original Compressed

Comparison position

How this was measured

2026-09-24, FFmpeg 8.1 on Windows (H.264, fast preset), one run per setting on a 10-second 1080p live-action clip. The pictures are a 480x270 native-resolution crop at 3 seconds, shown at 2x.

Measurements (JSON)Source film

Tears of Steel (CC) Blender Foundation | mango.blender.org, CC BY 3.0. Cropped from the 4K version and scaled to 1080p; part of each encoded frame at 2x

Popular uses

Prepare for Gmail attachment limitsAvoid Drive links when possibleCompress before emailing

Next tools

Video Trim Tool Video Compressor File Size Estimator

How to use

Select a videoChoose a video up to 500 MB and 7200 seconds (2 hours) long. Your original stays as it is.
Check duration and targetCheck that the detected duration (in seconds) is right. Set the target a little below the attachment limit.
Inspect the resultClick Compress video. Check the output size in bytes, the picture and the sound before saving.

Recommended settings

Over the limit

Trim unneeded footage first

A shorter clip has more bitrate available at the same size target.

Small text is unreadable

Increase the target or share a link

Downscaling and strong compression blur small text. A file over 25 MB can be sent as a Google Drive link.

Do not share the conversation

Remove audio

The output has no sound at all. Anything visible in the picture remains.

When it goes wrong

Unknown duration

Cause: The browser may not be able to read the file format.

Fix: Enter the actual duration shown in a player. A wrong duration throws off the size calculation.

Still over target

Cause: The content, the audio and the file structure can make the real size differ from the estimate.

Fix: The result says it is over the target. Trim the clip, or change the size, resolution or audio settings.

Conversion failed

Cause: An unsupported format, a damaged file, too little memory or a failed engine download.

Fix: Try a shorter clip, or use desktop FFmpeg.

Questions

How much can I send through Gmail?

Personal Gmail accounts allow 25 MB of attachments in total. For work and school accounts, the Google Workspace administrator sets the limits. Above 25 MB, Gmail puts a Google Drive link in the email instead of attaching the file. The 20 MB default leaves room for other attachments.

Is the selected size guaranteed?

No. The real output size in bytes is checked. An oversized output is compressed again at most once, and any remaining excess is shown.

Does re-encoding change quality?

Yes. Check small text, motion, faces, colour and sound.

Does this remove personal information?

Tags such as the recording location, chapters and extra tracks such as subtitles are not carried over. Names, faces and places visible in the video, and conversations in the audio, remain.

Were the comparison images measured on my device?

No. The comparison images come from desktop FFmpeg converting a 10-second 1080p live-action clip at different quality settings (CRF). For your own video, check the output bytes in the result and the Conversion report (JSON).

More detail (settings, limits, FFmpeg commands)

What each setting means

Target size

One MB is counted as 1,000,000 bytes. The default is 20 MB; change it to leave room for other attachments.

Video and audio budget

95% of the target goes to video and audio. Audio gets 128 kbps up to five minutes, 64 kbps beyond, or nothing when removed. If video would get less than 150 kbps, the tool stops and shows the smallest target that works. When the clip is short for the target, the video bitrate is held at the cap for the output size (4000 kbps up to 480p, 7500 up to 720p, 12000 up to 1080p, and so on; YouTube's recommended upload bitrates), so the file comes out smaller than the target.

Output resolution

A maximum for the short side: the height of a landscape video, the width of a portrait one. The default, Match bitrate, picks 480p, 720p or 1080p from the video bitrate. The picture is never enlarged, and the size is rounded to even numbers.

Browsers and limits

Accepts videos up to 500 MB and 7200 seconds (this is separate from Gmail's limits)
Uses only the first video and the first audio track; subtitles, extra audio tracks and chapters are left out
Settings cannot be changed while converting
The video is not uploaded, but loading the processing engine (FFmpeg) needs a network connection

The same job with the FFmpeg command line

Example budget: 20 MB for a three-minute clip

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:0? -vf "scale='if(gte(iw,ih),-2,trunc(min(iw,720)/2)*2)':'if(gte(iw,ih),trunc(min(ih,720)/2)*2,-2)'" -c:v libx264 -b:v 716k -maxrate 788k -bufsize 1432k -preset fast -pix_fmt yuv420p -map_metadata -1 -map_metadata:s -1 -map_chapters -1 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -movflags +faststart output.mp4

95% of 20 MB over 180 seconds is 844 kbps; minus 128 kbps of audio leaves 716 kbps for video. At that bitrate the resolution cap is 720p. The real size depends on the content. The command shown on the page follows your current settings.

Choose a sharing method for Gmail

Personal Gmail accounts allow 25 MB of attachments in total. For work and school accounts, the Google Workspace administrator sets the sending and receiving limits. Above 25 MB, Gmail puts a Google Drive link in the email instead of attaching the file, so a large video can also be sent as a link without compressing it.

Checked 2026-09-25. Official guidance