Compress MOV files from your iPhone or Mac
Turn a heavy MOV into a small MP4 that fits an email, a chat or a form. The video is processed on your own device and never uploaded.
How it works
- 1
Choose or drop the MOV file, for example a video from your iPhone or a Mac screen recording.
- 2
Set a target size in MB or pick a quality level. Optionally cap the resolution at 1080p, 720p or 480p.
- 3
Click Compress MOV and download the result as an MP4. Nothing was uploaded.
Why MOV files are so large
MOV is Apple's QuickTime container, and it is what iPhones, iPads and Macs produce by default. iPhones record at high bitrates, and many are set to 4K or 60 fps: a single minute can take hundreds of megabytes. Screen recordings made on a Mac are also saved as MOV, at full screen resolution.
Recent iPhones record in HEVC (H.265) when the camera format is set to "High Efficiency", or in H.264 with "Most Compatible". Both can be compressed here as long as your browser can decode them; HEVC is supported on most recent devices, and Safari, Chrome and Edge read iPhone videos well. Professional codecs such as ProRes are only readable if your browser supports them, which is rarely the case.
The output is an MP4, and that is a good thing
Vidmini always writes the compressed video as an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio. A MOV file with HEVC video can be awkward outside the Apple world: some Windows PCs, older Android phones and web forms refuse it. The MP4 you get plays on practically every device and site.
If you only need the format change and not a smaller file, the MOV to MP4 tool is faster: when the MOV already contains H.264, it copies the streams without re-encoding, losslessly.
Pick a size or a quality level
With a target size, Vidmini measures the length of the MOV, computes the bitrate that fits, and runs one corrective pass if the first result overshoots. Presets of 8, 10, 25, 50 and 100 MB cover chats, email and upload forms. When the budget is tight, the resolution is lowered automatically: a 4K iPhone clip squeezed into 25 MB looks far better at 720p than at full size.
In quality mode, choose "High quality", "Balanced" or "Smallest file". For a clip you want to keep, "High quality" with a 1080p cap usually cuts an iPhone 4K video down dramatically while still looking sharp on a phone or laptop.
iPhone HDR videos
Recent iPhones film in HDR (Dolby Vision) by default. Vidmini does not tone-map HDR yet, so after re-encoding such a video may look slightly faded or less vivid than on your iPhone. If colors matter, you can turn off HDR video in the iPhone camera settings for future recordings.
Private, local and fast
The compression runs in your browser with the WebCodecs API and your device's hardware encoder, so personal videos never leave your phone or computer. There is no size limit set by us: the result is streamed into the browser's private storage, which lets desktop browsers handle MOV files of several gigabytes. On an iPhone, free memory and storage decide how large a file you can process.
Frequently asked questions
Can I compress a MOV directly on my iPhone?
Yes. Open this page in Safari or Chrome on your iPhone, choose the video from your library or Files, and compress it. The result is saved as an MP4 you can share right away. Very long 4K clips may be limited by the phone's free memory.
Why does the compressed file end in .mp4 and not .mov?
The output is always an MP4 with H.264 and AAC, because it plays nearly everywhere, including Windows, Android and web forms that reject MOV. QuickTime and the Photos app on Apple devices open it too.
How much smaller will my iPhone video get?
iPhone videos are recorded at generous bitrates, so they usually shrink a lot. Going from 4K to 1080p alone saves a large share of the size, and a target of 25 MB is enough for a short clip to look clean at 720p.
My compressed video looks washed out. Why?
The original was probably recorded in HDR. Vidmini does not convert HDR to standard colors yet, so the re-encoded video can look slightly faded. The rest of the image is unaffected.
Can I compress a Mac screen recording?
Yes. Screen recordings are saved as MOV and contain mostly still images, so they compress very well, often to a small fraction of their original size with text staying readable.
Is my video uploaded?
No. The MOV is read and processed by your browser on your device. The page is only allowed to talk to vidmini.com for its own code, and no tracking cookies are used.