Guide
Compress videos in Google Drive
Phone videos are the heaviest files in most Drives. PixelCinch shrinks them to about a quarter of their size without you downloading or re-uploading anything — the work happens in your browser and the smaller MP4 lands back in the same folder.
What it did to a real iPhone video
An 18-second iPhone clip (1080p, 60 fps, HDR) weighed 57.5 MB. Each setting, measured on a Mac in November 2026:
| Setting | Result | Smaller by |
|---|---|---|
| Light — keep resolution | 27.4 MB | 52% |
| Balanced — up to 1080p | 14.7 MB | 74% |
| Smallest — up to 720p | 3.9 MB | 93% |
The first video compressed on the live app was a 145.4 MB screen recording; it came back as 39.0 MB. Balanced is the default — it keeps 1080p, which is sharp on any laptop or phone screen.
How it works
- Open PixelCinch and sign in with Google. It can only see the files you pick.
- Choose videos (or images) from My Drive, a shared drive, or files shared with you.
- Pick a video setting and where to save. Press Compress and keep the tab open.
The video is read from Drive in pieces, compressed with your computer’s own video encoder, and uploaded back in pieces — so even a 1 GB file does not fill your memory. iPhone HDR videos are saved in standard colour so they look the same in every player.
Which videos shrink — and which do not
Videos straight from a phone or camera are recorded at a high bit rate and shrink the most. Videos that came through WhatsApp, Instagram or another app have already been compressed, so there is little to gain. PixelCinch tests a few seconds of every video first and skips the ones that would barely change — nothing is written and the allowance comes back. Why iPhone videos are so big.
Questions
Does my video get uploaded to a PixelCinch server?
No. Your browser reads the video from Google Drive, compresses it on your own computer and uploads the result back to Drive. There is no PixelCinch server in that path, which is also why there is no queue and no file size cap set by us.
Which videos can it compress?
MP4, MOV (including iPhone videos), M4V, WebM and MKV. The result is always an MP4 that plays everywhere. iPhone videos use HEVC; Chrome on a Mac and Safari read them, some Windows computers cannot — PixelCinch tells you before it starts.
Why was my WhatsApp video skipped?
WhatsApp and social apps compress videos when they are sent, so there is little left to save. PixelCinch tests a few seconds first; if the video would barely shrink, it is left untouched and your allowance is returned.
How long does it take?
Usually a fraction of the video’s own length on a recent laptop — the 18-second iPhone clip above took 5.4 seconds — plus the upload back to Drive. Keep the tab open until it finishes.
What happens to the original?
By default the compressed copy is saved next to it with “-pixelcinch” in the name, so you can compare before deleting anything. You can also save to a new folder or to your own Drive.
Is it free?
The free plan covers 50 images a month, and a video counts as 10. Pro removes the limit.
Related: what actually frees up Drive storage · compress images in Google Drive · shared drives