Dramatically Reducing Video File Size Using FFmpeg

Sometimes you want to upload a video, but you can’t because its file size is too large. When that happens, you can use ffmpeg to shrink the video size with one command.

Steps to shrink a video file

1. If you’re on a Mac and haven’t already, install Homebrew:

2. Install ffmpeg using Homebrew (or download ffmpeg for your OS):

3. Run ffmpeg on your file:

That’s it — I was able to shrink a 10-minute macOS screencast from 1.4 GB to 148 MB just by running that command and waiting 6 minutes.

Where to go from here

This approach works best when your final video quality doesn’t need to be very high.

If you’re creating high-resolution content, you’ll want to dive deeper into ffmpeg’s configuration options or use a tool like Handbrake to help you select the quality you need.

Related links

• How to Reduce Video Size With FFmpeg • John Otieno