Large file sizes can be a logistical nightmare. If you're looking for an online file or video compressor, here are five of the best free options.

Have you ever tried to upload a file online only to receive the dreaded file too big error? You can always try to split your file into small parts or find a secondary uploading service with larger file hosting abilities, but wouldn’t it be easier to just make your file smaller in the first place?

That’s where these web services come into play. You can upload any file and receive a compressed version entirely for free, and the best part? There’s no need to download a single thing.

First up on this list comes WeCompress, an online file analysis, and compression tool. WeCompress lets you take any file that you want to make smaller, upload it, and will return to you a compressed version.

Using WeCompress is a pretty simple and straightforward process. All you need to do is upload your file to its website—you can choose a file from the file upload menu, or you can just drag and drop if you prefer.

Once your file is uploaded, WeCompress will automatically detect the corresponding file type and return you back a compressed version. There’s a decent amount of variety in the file types that WeCompress supports, but it is worth noting that there are limitations.

PDF, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF files are all supported, but that’s it. If you’re trying to compress something a little more esoteric, then WeCompress won’t be able to help you, unfortunately.

The upside, of course, is that what WeCompress does, it does quickly, easily, and without fuss. Most files you want reduced, you can simply drag into the website, and you’ll have a smaller version in mere moments.

Next up on this list is Compress2Go. If you’re looking for something that puts a little more control into your hands, then Compress2Go is a great candidate. If you don't yet fully understand how file compression works, then it may be a little much, however.

Compress2Go works off of a slightly different system than some other entries into this list. The landing page lets you choose from a wide range of different options for your compression, instead of working off of a drag and drop system.

Compress2Go organizes these options into categories such as documents, images, videos, and more. If you're trying to compress a PDF to reduce its file size, then that would be under documents, for example.

Once you’ve selected your category, you can select your files from your system menus or drag and drop. You also have the option to past file links, and connect to Dropbox or Google Drive.

The reason for this change is that Compress2Go lets you pick exactly how you want to compress your files. You can choose the format that your files are compressed to, the size, the level of compression, and the quality change as a result.

All of these settings are different for different types of files, which means that you always have the most control over your compression that you can possibly get.

If you’re just looking for a way to quickly compress large files with minimal quality loss, or are hoping to find a good web service for compressing lots of files at once, then CloudPresso is a great service.

CloudPresso has no fancy options to decide between, or elaborate choices to make. You simply select what type of compressor you want and then upload your file. CloudPresso works automatically to compress files at minimum quality loss, with claims of size reductions of up to 80%.

What’s great here is that you can easily upload multiple files to the compressor service instead of just one at a time. All you need to do is select multiple files when you drag and drop, and CloudPresso will take care of the rest for you.

The range of files accepted is also interesting. If you have GIF or MP4 files that need compressing, then you can quickly and easily upload them to CloudPresso to have their file size reduced.

Once finished, you can redownload your file or share it directly with others via an email link. This is really useful if you were planning to send an email already, as it effectively eliminates a step from your usual process.

Next up we have the Online File Compressor from Apowersoft. If you’re looking for something that will hold your hand a little bit while still giving you plenty of options to choose from, then this file compressor is a great choice.

The Online File Compressor from Apowersoft works off of a relatively straightforward format. There are three categories you can pick between: picture, video, and PDF.

Once you’ve chosen the corresponding category, you can begin to upload your files. What’s great about Apowersoft’s Online Image Compressor is the sheer variety of different file types supported.

Where other file compressors support maybe four or so different types in each category, Apowersoft’s supports seven for images, and more than nine for video. This means that if you’re working with anything that’s slightly obscure or just not supported by other online file compressors, then hopefully Apowersoft’s should work for you.

Moreover, Apowersoft’s Online File Compressor lets you select from multiple compression types. Depending on the category you’ve selected, there will be two or three different options for compression type.

This lets you control how you want to compress your files. For example, if you want to mostly maintain quality you can choose that option, or if you desperately need to make the file as small as possible you can go with the corresponding quality for that instead.

Finally, we have the FreeConvert Video Compressor. What’s great about this compressor is the range of options that you get while converting to choose just how your compressed video will turn out.

As you might have guessed from the name, the FreeConvert Video Compressor only works for video files. If you're looking to compress a video and reduce the file size, that's a great thing. If you’re looking for something to convert images or documents, then you’ll find yourself out of luck.

If you upload a video to the service, however, you’ll find yourself with a long list of options to adjust the video output. You can adjust what codec you the compression uses, to the compression method, and more.

Hopefully, this list has helped you find the right tool for what you’re looking to compress. Whether it be MP4 videos, documents, or images, these tools listed provide you with a solid foundation upon which you can compress just about anything.

Jack has been passionate about writing and tech all his life. He has studied BAs in both Philosophy and Software Engineering from the University of Melbourne and RMIT, respectively. He has spent the last year writing at MakeUseOf, where he can bring his expertise of the internet to others.

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