Compress video: settings and best results

What does Compress video do?

Compress video makes videos smaller on your own computer, so they fit an email, a chat app or an upload limit. It keeps each video’s format, codec, length and frame rate, and gives back one smaller file for each video. In the app the tool is called Video Compress.

You can ask for a smaller file at a quality level you pick, or for a file that fits under a size such as 25 MB. If a video cannot get meaningfully smaller, Hangar keeps the original.

01Step 1: Add your videos

Click Tools in the sidebar, open the Video tab and click Video Compress in the Optimize section. You can also type "compress" in the search box at the top.

Drop your videos on the queue, or click it to pick files. Video Compress shrinks MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV and WebM files. Other video files, such as AVI or WMV, are accepted but come back Kept, or fail in Target size mode, as explained below. Use Add more to add files later.

1234

1. 1Mode
2. 2Quality
3. 3Resolution
4. 4Run compress

03Step 3: Or fit under a size

When an email, chat app or form has a size limit, choose Target size under Mode. Under Fit under, click 10 MB, 25 MB, 50 MB or 100 MB, or type any size from 1 to 10,000 MB in Custom.

Hangar aims a little under your size and tries at most twice. With Resolution on Auto, it picks the largest picture size that still looks clean at that file size, so a long video may come back at 720p or lower. A video that already fits is Kept.

123

1. 1Mode
2. 225 MB
3. 3Resolution

05Step 5: Run, then check the result

Check where the files will go: Default output folder saves them in your workspace’s output folder, in a compress folder with a subfolder for today’s date, such as 10-15. Click Change to pick another folder for this run. Then click Run compress.

When the run ends, each video shows Done with its new size, or Kept if it could not get smaller. If the batch got smaller, the panel shows how much space you saved in total. Click View on a file to compare the Original and the Output, and Open folder to go to the smaller copies. See See and compare your results and Where your files are saved.

12345

1. 1Done
2. 2View
3. 3Saved to
4. 4Open folder
5. 5Kept

Every setting, and when to change it

Quality shows in Smaller file mode. Fit under shows in Target size mode. Resolution applies to both.

Mode

Smaller file saves each video once at the quality you pick. Target size aims for a maximum file size and may take longer.

• RangeSmaller file, Target size
• DefaultSmaller file

Quality

How much detail to trade for size in Smaller file mode. Light is near the original, Strong is the smallest.

• RangeLight, Balanced, Strong
• DefaultBalanced

Fit under

In Target size mode, the largest each video should be. Hangar aims a little under it.

• Range10, 25, 50 or 100 MB, or Custom from 1 to 10,000 MB
• Default25 MB

Resolution

The largest picture size. Auto lets the quality level or the target decide. It never enlarges a video.

• RangeAuto, Keep, 1080p, 720p, 480p
• DefaultAuto

How do I get the best results?

• Start with Balanced, then click View on a result. If it looks fine, try Strong for an even smaller file.
• Lower the resolution for big savings. A 4K or 1080p clip watched on a phone rarely needs more than 720p.
• For a size limit, use Target size rather than guessing a quality level. Leave Resolution on Auto so Hangar can make the picture smaller when it has to.
• Long videos need room. If a size is too small, the file fails with a message that gives the smallest size that would work. When the limit cannot change, split a long video first with Split video.
• For an old or unusual format, such as AVI or WMV, convert it to MP4 with Video Convert first, then compress the result.

What does Kept mean?

Kept means Hangar saved an exact copy of your original in the output folder instead of a compressed one. That happens when:

• the compressed video was less than 3% smaller, so the original was the better file;
• in Target size mode, the video already fits your size;
• in Smaller file mode, the video’s format cannot be compressed without converting it, or your computer has no video hardware for its codec.

The run summary still counts a Kept file as compressed. Look at each row to see which videos were really reduced: they show their new size and Done.

Troubleshooting

• A video failed with a message about HDR color. Video Compress does not support HDR video yet, so it stops instead of saving a copy.
• A video failed with a message about a professional or 10-bit format. Hangar cannot compress these yet without lowering their color precision.
• A video failed because the target is too small. The message gives the smallest size that would work. Pick at least that size, or a lower Resolution.
• A video failed in Target size mode because Hangar cannot target-size its format. Convert it to MP4 with Video Convert, then compress the result.
• A video failed because no encoder is available for its codec. H.264 and HEVC videos need video encoding hardware: the encoder built into a Mac, or NVIDIA, Intel or AMD graphics on Windows. Hangar never switches the codec on its own. Convert the video to AV1 with Video Convert instead.

For other errors, see A file failed: what to check.

Limits

• Video Compress shrinks MP4 and M4V (H.264, HEVC, AV1), MOV (H.264, HEVC), MKV (H.264, HEVC, AV1, VP9) and WebM (AV1, VP9) videos. Other videos come back Kept, or fail in Target size mode.
• H.264 and HEVC videos need video encoding hardware: the encoder built into a Mac, or NVIDIA, Intel or AMD graphics on Windows. Without it, they come back Kept, or fail in Target size mode.
• HDR and 10-bit videos are not supported yet.
• Each video keeps its format, codec, length and frame rate. Subtitle tracks are not kept.
• Target size goes up to 10,000 MB. Hangar counts 1 MB as 1,000,000 bytes.
• Add video files, not folders.
• Everything runs on your computer. Nothing is uploaded.

Use Video Compress in a chain

Compress is available as a step in chains, under the Video steps, with the same Mode, Quality, Fit under and Resolution settings as the tool. A Kept file passes to the next step unchanged.

Put Compress last, after steps that change the picture, such as Resize or Rotate / Flip, so each video is compressed once at its final size. To run the same chain on new files each week, see Run a chain on many files.