How-to
How to send a video without losing quality
Most apps that send video quietly make it smaller. Here’s where the quality goes, how to tell whether it happened, and how to send the original file untouched.
Short answer: Send the file itself, not the video. A share link, a cloud drive, AirDrop or a USB cable all deliver the exact file. Messaging and social apps make a new, smaller copy.
Where video loses quality
| What happens | Original kept? | |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp, sent as a video | Made smaller: by default up to about 100 MB at 720p | No |
| WhatsApp, sent as a document | Sent as the file, up to 2 GB | Yes |
| Messenger, Instagram, other social apps | Re-encoded for their players | No |
| YouTube or Vimeo (even unlisted) | Re-encoded; the original download depends on the plan | Not usually |
| iPhone to a Windows PC | May convert HEVC to H.264 on the way (a setting) | Depends on the setting |
| Email cloud links, AirDrop, USB cable | The file is copied as it is | Yes |
| Share links (FDD Transfers, WeTransfer and others) | The file is copied as it is | Yes |
How to check whether yours lost quality
Compare the file that arrived with the one you sent. If either of these is lower, it was re-encoded:
- File size. The same file has the same size, to the byte.
- Resolution and bitrate. On Windows: right-click the file, Properties, Details. On a Mac: select it and press Command-I, or open it in QuickTime and choose Window, Show Movie Inspector.
Send the original with a link
Drop the video in
Drop it on your projects. A project is made at once, named after the file and dated today, and the upload starts. Big files go up in parts, so if the connection drops, the upload carries on from where it stopped.
Share it
In the file’s menu, Share opens your phone’s or computer’s own share options (WhatsApp, Mail, Messages, AirDrop). Or copy the link and paste it anywhere. It lasts 30 days.
They watch, then download
The link opens in any browser, with no account. They can play the video first, then download the original.
What they download is the file you uploaded, byte for byte. To make a heavy clip (4K, 10-bit, high bitrate) play smoothly in the browser, the app makes a lighter copy just for watching. That copy is hidden, isn’t counted in your storage, and is never what gets downloaded.
From a phone: keep the original on the way out
- WhatsApp: attach the video as a Document, not from the gallery. It then goes as the file, up to 2 GB.
- iPhone to a PC by cable: the iPhone can convert videos to a more common format as they copy. To keep them as they are, set Photos’ “Transfer to Mac or PC” to Keep Originals in Settings.
- iCloud Photos with Optimise Storage on: the phone may only hold a smaller copy. Let the original download to the phone before you send it.
- Upload in the browser: on a phone, you can also send the video from FDD Transfers itself. Phone videos to a computer, step by step
Common questions
- Does zipping a video lose quality?
- No, a zip is lossless. It just doesn’t make video any smaller, so it rarely helps.
- Does Google Drive reduce video quality?
- Its player streams a lighter version, but downloading gives the original file you uploaded.
- Is HD on WhatsApp the original?
- No. HD is a larger copy than standard, but still a copy. Sending as a document is the way to send the original.
See also
Limits from WhatsApp Help and Apple: transfer photos and videos to a Mac or PC, checked November 2026. Services change their limits, so check before you rely on one. Something out of date? Tell us.
Send the original
100 GB free for 14 days, counted from your first upload. No card. What they download is exactly what you uploaded.
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