Compress a video for email on Mac
Gmail's attachment cap is a number, and the native tools do not take one. QuickTime Player's Export As lets you choose 4K, 1080p, 720p, or 480p and writes .mov. Finder's Encode Selected Video Files has a similar list of H.264 and HEVC settings, also as .mov. Both leave you guessing which tier lands under 25 MB. Press's Email preset works out the bitrate that fits 25 MB for the clip's length and writes H.264 MP4, so the file stays an attachment instead of becoming a Google Drive link, and plays on a Windows PC at the other end.
- Drop the video onto Press. A folder works too, if you have several to send.
- Under Video, select H.264 and choose Email under Size limit. For a clip longer than a couple of minutes, add 720p.
- Click Convert, then attach name (Press).mp4 from the same folder as the original.
What you get
- Container
- .mp4, saved beside the source.
- Codec
- H.264 video and AAC audio, which the stock players on Windows and phones handle without extra software.
- Quality
- Press sets the video bitrate from the byte budget and the clip's duration, aims 10 percent under the cap, and re-encodes once at a lower rate if the first pass overshoots. The full duration is kept, so long clips look softer because the same budget is spread over more seconds.
- Metadata
- Metadata is not carried over on size-limited exports, which are written through AVAssetWriter rather than the export presets.
What we measured
The same 60-second 4K clip with the Email preset. Every setting landed under 25 MB, and the smaller frame sizes finished several times faster.
| Source | Setting | Output | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4K HEVC .mov, 153.5 MB | Email, Original | 23.4 MB .mp4 | 31 s |
| 4K HEVC .mov, 153.5 MB | Email, 1080p | 22.7 MB .mp4 | 8 s |
| 4K HEVC .mov, 153.5 MB | Email, 720p | 22.6 MB .mp4 | 5 s |
Measured on 2026-10-08 with Press 1.0 on a MacBook Air (M5, 24 GB) running macOS 27.0.1. The video source is a 60-second 4K HEVC .mov at 30 fps with AAC audio: a slow pan across a photograph, with grain added. The H.264 source is the same clip encoded to 1080p. The photo is a 12-megapixel iPhone HEIC. Sizes are decimal megabytes, as Finder shows them. Times are for one file.
Which 25 MB is this?
Gmail's limit for personal accounts, per Google's Gmail Help. Gmail replaces a larger attachment with a Google Drive link, and on a work or school account the administrator sets the limit. Outlook.com also caps a message at 25 MB, and Microsoft counts the text and every attached file toward it. iCloud Mail is lower: Apple lists 20 MB for incoming and outgoing messages. For iCloud, choose Custom and type a number under 20, or let Mail offer Mail Drop, which Apple says takes attachments up to 5 GB.
Will the recipient need anything installed?
An H.264 MP4 with AAC audio plays in the stock players on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android, and in every current browser.
Is this free?
Size presets are in Press Pro. The free download writes H.264 MP4 at 1080p or 720p, which for a short clip is often already under 25 MB.
Press converts video and images on your Mac. The download is free, and Press Pro is a one-time $14.99 unlock for batch conversion, size presets, and WebP.