How to pick a compression preset
The Compress tool ships with three presets - Low, Medium, and High - plus a custom bitrate slider. First-time users tend to grab whichever is closest and only notice the result wasn't what they wanted after exporting. Here's how to pick by scenario.
What each preset actually does
Low - size first. A 100 MB video can shrink to around 20 MB. You'll see visible quality loss: edges get mushy, fine detail disappears. Right for: group chats, email attachments, footage where quality doesn't matter.
Medium - the balance. Output is roughly a third to half the original size, with no obvious difference in everyday viewing. Right for: 90% of cases. WeChat Moments, social platforms, sharing with family, work presentations - all covered.
High - quality first. Compression is gentle, landing around 60-70% of the original. The result looks almost identical to the source but is meaningfully smaller. Right for: footage you want to keep, key shots you might re-edit later, long-term archival.
When the custom bitrate slider earns its keep
The three presets are a conservative choice - their parameters are tuned for "typical phone video." Some footage isn't typical:
- Very short clips (a few seconds to a dozen) - all three presets overshoot; a custom low bitrate is enough
- Very high resolution (4K / 8K) - the relative compression ratio of the presets may not be aggressive enough; drag the custom bitrate down
- Screen recordings - screen content compresses more cleanly than camera footage, so you can go lower
- Animation or high-contrast imagery - more forgiving than real-world footage; even Low looks fine
A simple decision flow
- Is this video meant to be sent or kept? Sent -> Medium. Kept -> High.
- Is there a size cap? (group chat limit, email attachment) Yes -> Medium or custom.
- Will a lot of people watch it? Yes -> Medium (best compatibility).
- Can you accept a small loss you can't quite put your finger on? Yes -> try Low and roughly halve the size.
- None of the above? Pick Medium.
What if you over-compressed
There's no "undo compression" button after the fact - but your original isn't deleted. Just pick again with a different preset. Each compression pass is independent, so quality loss doesn't accumulate across rounds.