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How To Compress A Video On Android In 3 Easy Steps, With Photos

Updated: August 30, 2023 by Duncan Dodsworth

While smartphones these days are great for recording high-resolution videos, such as 4K, sometimes we just don’t need that much quality. And high-res videos tend to be of a substantial file size, which can make it difficult to store and share them, especially if your internet connection isn’t too reliable. In these cases, you may be better off compressing the video, that is, reducing the file size. Maybe you need a smaller video for a project, or you’ve recorded your screen and realized the video is too big to share. Either way, if you want to know how to do this, you’ll find out the answers you need today. Continue reading to figure out how to compress a video on Android with our simple steps.

How to Compress a Video on Android by Trimming the Video

One way to reduce the size of your video without affecting the quality is to trim the video. This means shortening the length of the video by removing some of the footage. This is an easy method to use, but keep in mind it may not be suitable if every part of your video is essential for your needs. Read these steps to figure out how to do this.

Step 1: Find Your Video

If you recorded the video using your Android device, chances are the video is located in your Gallery. Go here first and find the video.

Step 2: Edit the Video

Next, tap the pencil icon at the bottom to open up the video editing options.

Step 3: Trim Your Video

Finally, you can move the sliders at the bottom to trim your video, either by changing the start point or the end point. To finish, simply tap “Save” at the top right to save your edited and trimmed video.

How to Compress a Video on Android Using a Third-party App

If you don’t want to reduce the length of your video, it is possible to reduce the size of your video another way. This will require the use of a third-party app. For illustrative purposes, we’re going to use the “Video Compressor-Video to MP4” app from the Play Store.

Step 1: Open the Compressor App

After downloading the app from this link, open the app from your home screen.

Open compressor app. — *Find the Compressor app on your phone.*
©History-Computer.com

Step 2: Choose the Video to Compress

Next, hit the “Compress” button and choose the desired video you wish to compress.

Step 3: Choose a Resolution and Save

To finish this method, simply choose the desired resolution for your video. The great thing about this app is that it lets you know how much the file size is reduced by as a percentage next to each resolution option. Once you’ve decided, hit the “Save” button in the top right, choose a name for your video, and hit the “Compress” button.

Here is a step-by-step video for further reference:

Wrapping Up

You can reduce the file size, or compress, your Android video natively by trimming the video. If you wish to keep the entire length of your video, you can change the resolution instead to reduce the file size. This is best done through the use of a third-party app, such as “Video Compressor- Video to MP4”. There are many other apps you can use, though, which can be downloaded from the Play Store, usually for free.

How To Compress A Video On Android In 3 Easy Steps, With Photos FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

How do I compress a video on Android?

You can trim the video natively to reduce the size, but if you want to keep the entire length you’ll need to use a third-party app. Some popular choices include Video Compress, InShot, VidTrim and Video Compressor-Video to MP4. Note that some of these may require a payment, or be free but with ads present.

Can I compress a video without affecting quality?

You can if you simply trim the video, but otherwise, compression will always result in some amount of quality loss. A lot of apps will let you know how changing the resolution will affect the quality, so you can weigh up the quality loss and file size to best suit your needs.

Why would I want to compress a video?

If you’re using a large quantity of videos for a project, have limited storage space or need to speed up sharing speeds, compressing a video is a great way to reduce size and let you store more video at a quicker rate.

How does video compression work?

Compression works by reducing the data present in a video file, while attempting to preserve as much quality as possible. Usually, this reduces the resolution, but makes the video easier to share, upload and store.

How much can I compress a video?

This depends on how the video is encoded, as well as its frame rate and resolution. In general terms, you can reduce a video by up to 80% of its original size without too much loss of quality.