The common way to zip and unzip files is by using your Mac’s Archive Utility, which can be accessed through Applications Utilities folder. Archive Utility has the basic file compression functionality. You can quickly zip and unzip files and folders, to send to your friend or upload to Dropbox.
Apple gives a detailed guide on Finder for newbies, however, it doesn't mention Finder's compression utility that enables users to reduce video file size on Mac and shrink videos and folders to a zipping archive without quality loss. If you get huge videos or video folders but limited storage space or you need to downsize videos for faster emailing, sharing and downloading, try Finder before you resort to other video applications for macOS. Mac tips and tutorials are our bread and butter. From start to finish, here's our guide on how to compress video with Mac finder easily.
Option 1: Resize Videos with Mac Finder via Encode Media Dialogue
Zip -r archivename.zip foldertocompress. Unzip archivename.zip. If you want to make a zip without those invisible Mac resource files such as “MACOSX” or “.Filename” and.ds store files, use the “-X” option in the command so: zip -r -X archivename.zip foldertocompress TAR.GZ – Cross Platform. How to Zip a File or Folder on Mac Click the Finder icon in your Mac's Dock to make sure it's the active application. Right-click (or Control-click) on the file or folder you want to compress.
Zip a Single File or Folder. Compress and decompress files and folders using the Archive Utility built. Locate the files or folders you want to archive using Mac Finder. Select the files you want to zip, and right click on their selection. Select Compress Items. Zip file is created and save in the current working directory. If single file is zipped, a.zip extension is added to the name of the file.
Step 1: Open Finder and Select A Video
Click the Finder icon in the Dock, a window appears, then find the video file. Right-click the video, select 'Encode Selected Video Files' at the bottom of the pop-up menu. You should see the Encode Media dialogue that can work as a free video compressor for Mac and let you resize video in Mac Finder easily. Move Step 2 to do the task efficiently.
Tips: some users pointed out they didn't see the Encode Selected Video Files option. To fix such problem, you need to activate the video file encode option. To do this, go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts on your computer, and click Services on the left pane, find Files and Folders, check the boxes next to 'Encode Selected Video Files' and 'Encode Selected Audio Files', and make the settings valid. Go back to the video file you are going to downsize, right-click it, you should see the Encode Selected Video Files option under Service.
Step 2: Start to Reduce Video Size in Finder
It compresses video file size in Finder of macOS by lowering down video resolution. In the Encode Media dialogue, there are format information, Settings and Encode options. Click Settings drop-down icon, and select your ideal one for out file, 480p, 720p, 1080p, Audio Only or Apple ProRes. You can convert 4K UHD to 1080p/720p, or shrink 1080p to 720p/480p, or extract audio from video to make output video file smaller.
Click Encode drop-down menu, select Greater compatibility instead of High quality to reduce video file size in Mac Finder. It's a trade-off between video file size and video quality. Then click Continue to close the dialogue and the process with Mac Finder begins. There's no process indicator. After the task is completed, open the folder you save the file in and check the video file size.
We compressed a video with 2160p to 1080p and the file size was reduced by 80.27%. According to our test, the compression speed was fast, output video played smoothly and image quality was acceptable. Below is our test result.
Input Video: 148MB, 23s, 3840x2160, MPEG-4, AVC, AAC audio, 51.9Mbps, 29.97fps.
Output Video: 29.2MB, 26s, 1920x1080p, MPEG-4, AVC, AAC Audio, 10.1Mbps, 29.97fps.
Option 2: Compress and Zip Video Files/Folders with Mac Finder
You can make videos much smaller for faster emailing, sharing and downloading by zipping files or file folders with Finder on Mac. Read our tutorial below to learn how to get started. It's quite simple and speedy.
Step 1: Open Finder and Choose Videos or Folders
Choose the video or folder in the Finder on Mac, right-click the video or folder.
Step 2: Begin video progress
Select Compress (file name), and the Mac will do the remaining work. This can be done quickly, and you'll find your video ends in .zip.
Troubleshooting: 1. Can't find the 'Compress' option
Some users feel confused that the pop-up menu doesn't have the Compress option when they right-click a video file. Note that you won't see the option if you select a dynamically created video, for example, a video in All My Files. Mac tools northern ireland. Or if you have a video file or folder with .zip, you can't zip and reduce it again. Also, check the permission settings if you can't zip video with Mac Finder, select the video, go to File > Get Info> Sharing & Permissions and click the pop-up menu next to users name to check the permissions settings.
2. Zipping file doesn't change the size
It's normal that you compress video files into a zip archive with Mac Finder but find the zipping doesn't make file size much smaller. This could happen if the source video file or folder is already reduced or encrypted.
Finder Doesn't Satisfy You? Here's A Professional Video Compressor for Mac
It's easy to shrink video file size with Mac Finder, but compression options are limited to lowering down the resolution. MacX Video Converter Pro is a nice choice for users who want a more advanced tool to replace Finder.
What makes MacX outshine other competitors is '98%' - it is able to shrink video size by up to 98%, and 98% of original quality can be reserved after reduction, thanks to optimized compression algorithm and High-Quality Engine. Compared to video reduction with Mac Finder, the software offers a wide range of options to resize videos without noticeable quality loss, such as trimming, cutting, converting codec formats, adjusting video resolution/bitrate/aspect ratio, and more. Click the Download button below to get it shot now.
Since macOS is based on Unix there are a number of ways to compress files and folders within the filing system using Unix based application code, below are a few options using the Terminal or command line interface (cli). The default command line application interface in macOS is the Terminal and is stored in /Applications/Utilities.
File and folder compression saves on file size and ensures the contents are captured and delivered or stored as one monolithic file. A compressed file which contains files and folders is generally referred to as an archive. Here are some built-in compression applications you can use including zip, tar, gz, bz2, gz and dmg.
ZIP – Cross Platform
First up is ZIP one of the most commonly used compression techniques used across all platforms
To compress
To extract
If you want to make a zip without those invisible Mac resource files such as “_MACOSX” or “._Filename” and .ds store files, use the “-X” option in the command so:
TAR.GZ – Cross Platform
Second up is TAR, an old favorite on Unix/Linux – you add the GZ for the compression – compresses tighter than zip
To compress
To extract
TAR.BZ2 – Cross Platform
A variation on TAR GZ but with better compression than both tar.gz and zip.
To compress
To extract
GZ
Without the tar
To extract
DMG – macOS Only
This one is macOSnative only – for a GUI interface use /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility – for command line use:
To create
To mount
To view
How To Create A Zip File
To Eject
Compressed Zip Folder Download
You can also use a number of different formats for creating a .dmg
- UDZO – Compressed image (default)
- UDRO – Read-only image
- UDBZ – Better compressed image
- UDRW – Read/Write image
- UDTO – DVD disk image
How To Zip Folder Mac
That’s the low down, the more common compression packages available will typically be covered in one of the above.