[Answered] Does Google Drive Compress Videos? Yes or No? Why?

With the development of cloud drive storage service, many and many people turn to cloud to save their files and an increasing number of files are stored into clouds. Among the many cloud drives, Google Drive is one of the popular choices among users.

People put their files/folder, photos/images, songs/music, videos/movies, etc. to Google Drive to save local hard disk drive storage. Besides, it is convenient to share those files with others when those files are saved in cloud. You only have to generate a sharable link and send the link to the person you want to share. That’s it!

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However, some users claim that Google Drive automatically compress their file size (most commonly video files) when they upload them to the cloud. They get that conclusion based on the fact that they find the uploaded videos playing at a lower quality than before. Is that true?

Does Google Drive Compress Video Files?

It is true that if you upload a HD video to Google Drive and play it there, you may get a blurred video. Yet, it does not mean your video has been compressed by Google Drive without your notification. The fact is that when you play a video directly from Google cloud, it enables you to play at various resolutions (quality).

You can play a video from Google Drive at a lower resolution to save bandwidth. Or, you can play the video at its original resolution and frame rate. Yet, the latter requires more data. Generally, Google Drive offers several playback resolutions including 360p, 720p, 1080p, etc.

Therefore, it seems that the video quality has been reduced when upload it to Google Drive, but the fact is that you are playing the same video file without any compression.

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Why Does Google Drive Seem to Compress Videos?

Google Drive’s maximum playback size is 300 MB. If the resolution of a video is higher than 1080p (e.g. 4K), its resolution will be reduced to 1080p while playing. If not, the video will be played at its original quality.

However, if you download the high-quality video to your computer and play it offline, the resolution of the video keeps the same as the original.

Then, why Google Drive play an HD video at a lower resolution? It is trying to save your bandwidth and decrease its server’s pressure.

Tip: When you upload 1080p video to Google Drive, there may be only a 360p choice as Google Drive is still processing your video that probably more options are available in the following days.

Conclusion

Does Google Drive compress video? No, Google Drive does not. Actually, when you upload a video to Google Drive, it only processes the video into different versions with various resolution.

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Also read: 8+ Video Compressors for Instagram Windows/Mac/Android/iOS/Online