Compress screen recordings offline on Mac and Windows
Shrink a screen recording with 1FileTool's Compress tool — drop the file, pick a quality preset, and get a smaller MP4 before you attach or share it. No uploads.
Your progress
A raw screen recording can balloon to hundreds of megabytes — far too heavy for an email attachment or a chat upload. This tutorial compresses a video to a fraction of its size with 1FileTool's Compress tool, fully offline.
What you'll need
- 1FileTool 1.10.0 or later on macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel), Windows, or Linux.
- A screen recording — MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV or WebM.
compress-screen-recordings.zip
Sample files · 1.6 MB
- screen-recording-1080p.mp43.2 MB
The ZIP contains screen-recording-1080p.mp4, a synthetic 30-second recording (1600×1200, 3.2 MB). Your own recordings will typically be much larger — the mechanics are identical.
Protect your originals first
Replace source is ON by default: the output overwrites the original file and no backup is kept. Before following along, open Settings › General and turn Replace source off, or pick a separate output folder.
Steps
1. Open the Compress tool
Launch 1FileTool, click Video in the sidebar, then choose Compress.
2. Drop in your recording
Drag screen-recording-1080p.mp4 onto the drop zone. You can add several recordings at once — Compress handles the whole batch in one run.
3. Pick a quality preset
In Quality, choose:
- Medium — the default starting point; a strong shrink with text still readable.
- High — better picture, less shrink.
- Low — smallest file; check that UI text stays crisp before sharing.
The hint under the option says it plainly: "Lower quality re-encodes faster and smaller."
4. Check the output bar
Confirm Replace source is off and the output row points at the folder you want (~/Documents/1FileTool by default — click Change to pick another).
5. Run it
Click Run on N videos. When the run finishes, the result card shows each file's original size next to its compressed size.
The result
The 30-second sample at Medium came out like this:
That's −88%, because a synthetic recording is mostly flat color — your mileage will vary. Real-world recordings with more motion compress less dramatically, but a well-compressed MP4 still beats a raw capture by a wide margin. The output is a standard MP4 (<name>_compressed.mp4) with H.264 video and AAC audio — it plays anywhere.
If it didn't work
- Text looks smeared. Re-run at High. The preset changes the encoder's constant-quality target — Medium is a balance, High keeps more detail.
- Barely smaller. The source was probably already compressed (for example, an MP4 exported from another editor). Compression can't squeeze what's already dense.
- You can't find the output. With Replace source off, files land in the output folder —
~/Documents/1FileToolby default — named<name>_compressed.mp4. - The original disappeared. Replace source was on: the compressed file overwrote your recording, and there's no backup. Turn it off in Settings › General or in the output bar.
- On Linux, clicking the drop zone opens a folder picker. A known quirk in the file dialog — drag the recording onto the window instead.
Try next
Test a smaller clip right here in the browser:
Try it in your browser
This tool also runs in the browser. Try it here first, then do a whole folder at once in the app.
Try Compress Online
Real Browser Processing0 file(s) selected
Original
Result
Browser processing runs locally and exports WebM, GIF, PNG, WAV, or VTT. The desktop app supports more formats, larger files, and faster batch workflows.
Related
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