How To Make MP4 File Size Smaller Without Losing Quality

MP4 video files have never been bigger, with 4K UHD hitting the high standards mark in the 2020s. When you share, upload, or send the video, you have to take into account the size of the video file. Many services set file size limits for their websites and larger file weights may be refused. If you want your big MP4 videos across, shrinking the MP4 file size down really makes sense.

Working with a large MP4 video compression is a tricky undertaking that requires skills and patience. But once you’ve got the right tool and the basics nailed down, you won’t be bothered by the MP4 file size anymore whenever you upload, share, email, or send the MP4 video. Just follow our tips and get a few must-know tricks for making the MP4 file size smaller.

1. Our Favorite: WinX Video Converter

WinX Video Converter fills the role as the best MP4 video converter software that is bolstered by full-fledged compression features. The software makes all the MP4 compression work a breeze, thanks to the cutting-edge compression algorithm, Level-3 GPU acceleration, and High-Quality Engine.

You can adjust compression settings, trim, cut, split long MP4 videos, and convert MP4 to other more efficient formats for smaller file size. The quality and file size is flexible at your control. It lets you compress MP4 videos from GB to MB with good-quality output. File size and quality are well balanced, thanks to High-Quality Engine, and GPU acceleration is supported to make sure you’re not hanging around when processing 4K UHD MP4 videos or hour-long video files.

Here’s How to Make MP4 File Size Smaller

Step 1. Free download and install WinX Video Converter on your computer if you haven’t installed it. It works on macOS and Windows. Launch the program. Click the Add Video icon in the top-left menu bar. Then select the MP4 video you want to compress.

Step 2. Select an output format from the popping-up Output Profile window. HEVC has better efficiency than H.264. Your compressed MP4 video will save in this output format. Hit the OK button to save the format setting.

Step 3. Click the Settings button to access the compression options. You can lower the MP4 video resolution and bit rate for smaller file sizes. When you are happy with the compression settings, click the OK button to save the settings and close the window.

Tips: Trim MP4 Videos for Smaller File Size

Trimming MP4 video files is different from compression of an MP4, but it can make MP4 file size much smaller without losing quality. Trimming doesn’t change the file data and you won’t lose any quality. You can use WinX Video Converter to simply cut out unwanted clips of your MP4 files to get a smaller file size.

To do this, click the Edit button and the edit window appears. On the next edit screen, select Trim, and check the box next to Enable Trim to activate the trimming feature. Set the Start Time and End Time or just drag the slider to trim out unwanted parts of the video. Then click the Done button to apply the trimming.

Step 4. Click the RUN button in the bottom right corner and wait for the software to compress your MP4 video.

2. Zip MP4 Files or Folders for Smaller File Size

Zipping is a common and effective way to make your MP4 video files or folders smaller for faster email, file transfer, and storage space saving. All this can be done via a single right-click. However, it may be a little bit frustrating that your MP4 files cannot be compressed much more than you expected. Most of the time, the zipping way only offers a 10%-20% file size reduction. The zipped and compressed MP4 files are not easy to access on a phone or tablet due to compatibility issues. If you want to zip and compress MP4 files or folders, use the following steps.

On Windows:

Step 1. Find the MP4 file or folder you want to compress on your Windows PC.

Step 2. Right-click the file or folder, select Send from the list, and select Compressed folder.

Step 3. The zipped and compressed file or folder is saved in the same location and takes the same name as the .zip extension.

On Mac:

Step 1. Locate the MP4 video file for the folder, and right-click the file or folder.

Step 2. Select Compress from the drop-down list.

Step 3. The zipped file is created in the same location as the source files with the .zip extension (for a single item) or Archive.zip (for multiple items).

3. Upload Your MP4 Videos to Cloud Services

When you have trouble with sharing your large MP4 video files, it’s a good idea to upload your videos to a cloud service first, then simply share the MP4 video link with a much smaller file size. The downside to this is that the original MP4 videos end up with the same large file sizes. Here’s how to make MP4 video file smaller via Google Drive.

Step 1. Open Google Drive, sign in with your account, click the +New button, then select the MP4 video file to upload from your device. If the MP4 video is already in your account, just locate the MP4 file on Google Drive.

Step 2. Right-click the MP4 file and a list of options appear. Select Share.

Step 3. On the Share window, enter the email address of the person that you want to share the MP4 video with.

Step 4. Click the Send button.

Final Thought

As shared above, there are many ways to make MP4 video files smaller with or without losing quality. Undoubtedly, zipping is the simplest way to make MP4 files or folders smaller, which starts with a right-click. But you can only get up to 20%-24% file size reduction through the zipping method. If you are looking for better efficiency and end results, WinX Video Converter may be a much more reliable solution, with a max 98% file size reduction and acceptable quality. Just select an ideal way, based on your needs.