Drop your video into fwip’s compressor and shrink it to under 20MB — the safe zone for email attachments. Set resolution to 720p, adjust quality to medium, and download. Your video stays on your device. No upload, no watermark, no account needed.
How to do it
- Open fwip’s Compress Video tool.
- Drop your video in.
- Set target size to under 20MB (or under 25MB for Gmail specifically).
- Adjust resolution to 720p for best size-to-quality balance.
- Hit Compress.
- Download and attach to your email.
Email attachment limits
Gmail: 25MB. Outlook: 20MB. Yahoo: 25MB. Apple Mail: 20MB (Mail Drop handles larger files via iCloud, but the recipient experience is clunky). Most corporate Exchange servers: 10–25MB, often lower.
The safe target is 15–20MB. This clears every major provider and most corporate servers. If you’re unsure about the recipient’s limit, aim for 15MB.
The math problem
A one-minute iPhone video at 1080p is 100–180MB. A 30-second screen recording at 4K is 50–100MB. A Zoom recording of a 5-minute presentation is 40–80MB. None of these fit in an email without compression.
Compressing to 720p at medium quality gets most clips under 20MB while keeping them watchable. The recipient is viewing it on their laptop or phone — 720p is more than enough.
Frequently asked questions
What resolution should I use for email? 720p (1280x720) is the sweet spot. It keeps file sizes manageable and looks clean on any screen. 1080p is overkill for email — larger files, minimal visual benefit at typical viewing sizes.
What if my video is still too large after compression? Trim it first. Remove the intro, the dead air, the bit where nothing happens. A shorter video compresses to a much smaller file. Use fwip’s Trim Video tool before compressing.
Will the recipient be able to play it? If it’s an MP4 (which fwip outputs by default), yes. MP4 plays on every device, every operating system, every email client with preview support.
Why not just use Google Drive or Dropbox? You can. But an attachment plays inline in most email clients. A link requires the recipient to click through, possibly sign in, and wait for a stream to buffer. For short clips, an attachment is better.
Can I compress multiple videos for one email? Compress each separately, then attach them all — just keep the total under the attachment limit.