How to compress a video on iPad (and why zipping it doesn’t help)

In the Files app, touching and holding a file and choosing Compress makes a .zip archive. That works well for documents, but a video is already stored in a compressed format (HEVC or H.264), and a zip cannot squeeze it much further. Expect a result close to the original size, sometimes a little more or less. It is useful for bundling several files into one, not for getting under a size limit.

To make a video really smaller you have to change the video itself: fewer pixels, a lower bitrate, a shorter clip, or all three.

Open the video in Photos and tap the info (i) button, or swipe up. The panel lists the file size with the file name. Check it again after each step below. In iPad Settings, General, iPad Storage shows how much space Photos uses in total.

• Trim it. In Photos, tap Edit, drag the handles to keep only the part you need, tap Done and choose Save Video as New Clip. Less footage means a smaller file, and nothing about the quality changes.
• Shortcuts. Make a shortcut with the Encode Media action, set a smaller size such as 1280×720, and add Save to Photo Album. It writes a re-encoded copy, but it does not show the final size before it finishes.
• iMovie. Add the clip to a project and export it from Share, where an options screen lets you pick a lower resolution. The exact menus depend on your iPadOS and iMovie versions.

None of these shows the size you will end up with, so reaching a particular limit can take a few tries.

Minivid is a universal app, so the same app runs on iPad, and its screens adapt to the window width, including Split View. It compresses on the device with the iPad’s own hardware encoder.

1. 1Open Minivid and choose the video from your library.
2. 2On the settings screen, the Original size sits next to the Estimated size, and a line such as “Becomes 720p at 30 fps” says what will change. Pick a preset (Quick Share, Social Media, Email, Save Space or Keep Quality), or set a size limit. The estimate updates as you change it.
3. 3Tap Trim first if you only need part of the clip.
4. 4Tap Make it small and keep Minivid open while it runs.
5. 5On the result screen, tap Save to Photos, or use Share to send it or save it to Files. The original is never changed.

In the free version, Minivid handles videos up to 100 MB and writes the result at up to 720p, with the Quick Share, Email and Save Space presets. Pro removes both limits and adds the Social Media and Keep Quality presets and exact size limits.

Websites work in Safari, but your video is uploaded to someone else’s server, and many have a size limit or a watermark. For anything private, compressing on the iPad itself avoids sending the video anywhere. Minivid works in airplane mode; a video that exists only in iCloud is downloaded first.

On iPads that offer it, Settings, Camera, Record Video lets you pick a lower resolution and frame rate, and Formats can switch between High Efficiency and Most Compatible. The options depend on the iPad model. This only affects new recordings, not videos already in your library.