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Compress a video to 5 MB

Five megabytes is tight. It works for a short clip, and it is the size some application forms and older systems still insist on.

  • Nothing is uploaded. Your browser does the compression, so the file stays on your device.
  • Lands under the real limit. We aim a little below it, so the upload goes through first time.
  • Fast. A 30 second 1080p clip fits into 10 MB in about two seconds on a desktop.
Where are you sending it?

Custom size 5.00 MB. We aim for 4.85 MB, a small safety margin so the file never lands just over.

Sent to our servers: 0 bytes. It all happens in this tab.

When you need 5.00 MB

Typical places that stop at 5 MB are job and grant portals, support tickets, and some school systems.

What to expect

As a rough guide, a 15 second clip comes out sharp at 720p, a one minute clip at around 360p. Past two minutes the picture gets very small, so consider trimming first.

How much video fits in 5 MB

Worked out with the same maths the compressor uses, for a typical 1080p phone or screen clip with sound. Fast motion needs more room, still scenes and screen recordings need less.

Clip lengthResolution we pickHow it looks
10 seconds1080pSharp
30 seconds540pGood on a phone
1 minute360pWatchable, small
2 minutes270pWatchable, small
5 minutes240pWatchable, small
10 minutes240pVery soft, trim it first

How we hit the number

We work out how many bits each second of video can use: the target size, minus a safety margin, divided by the length, minus the audio. Then we pick the largest resolution that still looks clean at that rate and encode with your browser's built-in video encoder. If the result is still over, we automatically try once more at a lower rate.

The target we aim for is 4.85 MB, which is 150 KB under 5.00 MB, so the file is not turned away over a few bytes.

Questions people ask

How long can a 5 MB video be?

About 30 to 60 seconds before quality drops noticeably. Short clips stay crisp.

Can you keep the sound?

Yes, at a low rate that is fine for speech.

Related

Limits change. We link the official page wherever there is one, and the safety margin means a small change is unlikely to matter. Last updated 2026-11-09.