How to Make a Screen Recording Smaller on Mac

To reduce a screen recording’s file size on a Mac, open it in QuickTime Player, choose FileExport As1080p and pick Smaller File Size, which exports in HEVC. For bigger savings, export at 720p, trim the start and end, or record only the window you need next time.

If you want a smaller file only so you can send it, there’s an easier route: upload it once and send a link. We come back to that at the end. New to recording on a Mac? Our main guide on how to screen record on Mac covers the basics.

What makes a screen recording big

A video’s size is roughly its bitrate (how much data it uses per second) multiplied by its duration. Bitrate goes up with resolution, frame rate and quality, so every one of those is a lever.

To estimate size in megabytes: bitrate in megabits per second × duration in seconds ÷ 8. Here’s what that gives for a 3-minute and a 10-minute recording at a few example bitrates.

Example bitrate	3 minutes (180 s)	10 minutes (600 s)	Calculation for 10 minutes
2 Mbps	about 45 MB	about 150 MB	2 × 600 ÷ 8
5 Mbps	about 113 MB	about 375 MB	5 × 600 ÷ 8
8 Mbps	about 180 MB	about 600 MB	8 × 600 ÷ 8
16 Mbps	about 360 MB	about 1,200 MB	16 × 600 ÷ 8

Calculations, not measurements: bitrate × seconds ÷ 8, rounded. The bitrates are illustrative, not the settings of any particular app.

For comparison, YouTube recommends about 8 Mbps for 1080p uploads at standard frame rates and 16 Mbps for 1440p. Real recordings vary: a still slide compresses far better than fast scrolling.

Export a smaller copy with QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player is already on your Mac and keeps the original untouched.

Option	Codec	Good for
1080p, Smaller File Size	HEVC	Most client videos, when the viewer has a recent device
1080p, Greater Compatibility	H.264	When you don’t know what the viewer uses
720p	H.264	Talking-head updates or large text; small text gets soft
480p	H.264	Rarely worth it for screen content

Codecs from Apple Support, checked November 2026.

Apple says HEVC offers better compression than H.264. It also notes that on older devices, HEVC at 1080p or lower and 60 fps or lower is more broadly compatible. If your client might open the file on an old PC or phone, H.264 is the safer bet.

Don’t shrink further than the content allows. Exporting text-heavy recordings at 720p is where they start to look blurry: our article on why screen recordings look blurry on a Retina Mac explains why.

Two more built-in options

• From Finder. Control-click a video and choose Encode Selected Video Files. You can change the resolution and choose higher quality or compatibility with more devices.
• From Terminal. macOS includes avconvert. Run avconvert --help to see its presets, such as Preset1920x1080 or PresetHEVC1920x1080. Its manual page says it never resizes a video above the source dimensions.

Record smaller from the start

Every new export costs a little quality, so it’s better to record a file that’s the right size in the first place.

• Record a window or an area, not the whole screen. Fewer pixels, smaller file, and the viewer sees only what matters. See how to record one window or part of your screen.
• Avoid recording a huge external display at full size. A 5K screen produces far more pixels than a client will ever see on a laptop.
• Keep it short. Duration multiplies everything else. Most client videos work best in a few minutes; we look at lengths by type of message in how long a client video should be.
• Pause instead of rambling. If you need to look something up, pause the recording (if your recorder has a pause button) rather than filming the search.

Trim the start and end

Almost every recording has a few dead seconds at the start (reaching for the mouse) and the end (reaching for Stop). Removing them is quick and loses nothing. In QuickTime Player, choose EditTrim, drag the yellow handles and click Trim. Our step-by-step guide on how to trim a screen recording on Mac also covers the thumbnail editor and Photos.

Why a link beats an attachment

Compressing a file so it fits in an email is a lot of work for a bad result, because attachment limits are tight.

Channel	Size limit	The catch
Gmail (personal account)	25 MB	Above that, Gmail replaces the attachment with a Google Drive link
Apple Mail Drop	5 GB	Expires after 30 days, and the client still has to download it
Link to a video page	✓ no attachment	The client presses play in the browser

Gmail Help and Apple Support, checked November 2026.

A link to a video page sidesteps all of that. The client watches on a phone or a laptop, and you never have to pick between “small enough to send” and “sharp enough to read”. We compare the options channel by channel in how to send a large video to a client.

Quick reference

If you send recordings to clients every week, see how JustRec helps you send video to clients without thinking about file size at all.