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Compress a video for WhatsApp

Choose a size limit and picture style, then create a WhatsApp-ready MP4.

InputMP4, WebM, MOV and M4V videoOutputVerified H.264/AAC MP4

WhatsApp recompresses video you send, and it caps what it will accept — which is why clips arrive blocky or refuse to send at all. Compressing first means you control the result instead of the app doing it for you. Choose a size limit and a picture style, and the output is a phone-friendly MP4 sized for messaging.

Sent as video or sent as a document

These are two different paths with different limits. Sending as a video keeps the inline player and the thumbnail, and it is capped fairly tightly — around 16 MB in most cases — with WhatsApp re-encoding on top of whatever you send. Sending as a document allows a much larger file and skips the recompression, so the recipient gets exactly the bytes you sent, but they see a file to download rather than a clip to tap. Use video for short messages and document when quality actually matters.

Compress for a phone, not a monitor

Practically every WhatsApp video is watched on a phone held at arm’s length, and that changes what is worth spending bitrate on. 720p is almost always enough; 1080p at a messaging-sized budget looks worse than 720p at the same size, because the same bits are spread over twice the pixels. Text is the exception — a screen recording with small text needs the resolution to stay legible, so those are the clips to send as documents rather than squeezing them into the video path.

Questions, answered

What is WhatsApp’s video size limit?

Video sent through the normal path is capped fairly tightly, commonly around 16 MB. Sending the same file as a document allows much more and avoids WhatsApp’s own recompression.

Why do my videos look bad after sending?

WhatsApp re-encodes video you send as video. Compressing sensibly first gives it less to strip, and sending as a document skips the recompression entirely.

Should I send as a video or as a document?

As a video for short everyday clips, since it plays inline. As a document when quality matters or the file is large — the recipient downloads it, but the bytes arrive intact.

What resolution should I use?

720p for nearly everything, since it is watched on a phone. Keep 1080p only for screen recordings with small text, and send those as documents.

How do I send a long video on WhatsApp?

Either split it into parts that each fit the video limit, or send the whole thing as a document. Splitting keeps the inline player at the cost of several messages.

Useful next steps

Continue with a tool that fits naturally after compress for whatsapp.

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