The SquishyFile Blog

Explainers on compressing and converting your files, and how SquishyFile works under the hood.

October 27, 2026

How to Extract Audio From a Video on Windows (5 Free Ways)

Windows has no single "extract audio" button, but it has more free options than any phone. Five of them, step by step, and the one command that copies the audio without re-encoding it.

How to Upscale Old Videos From VHS, DVD and Old Phones

Old footage is the reason most people look for an upscaler, and also the footage that goes wrong most often. Each kind of old video needs slightly different handling.

How to Extract Audio From a Video on Mac (4 Ways)

Your Mac already has a one-click way to pull audio out of a video, hidden in QuickTime's Export menu. It only makes M4A, though. Here's when that's enough and what to use when it isn't.

How to Upscale Anime Video Without Soft, Grey Lines

Anime lives or dies on its line art. A general upscaler rebuilds those lines like a photo, which is why the result looks washed out, and why anime needs its own pass.

How Much Video Can 128GB Hold? Hours by Resolution

The same 128GB card can hold 21 minutes of video or 44 hours. The bitrate your camera records at decides which, and here are the numbers for phones, cameras and every common card size.

The Best Video Compressor for Discord in 2026

Six ways to get a clip onto Discord when it's over 20MB, from online compressors to HandBrake to just paying for Nitro, and which one fits which situation.

SquishyFile vs 8mb.video for Shrinking Videos to 8MB

8mb.video is the classic tool for squeezing a clip under Discord's old 8MB limit. Here's how it stacks up against SquishyFile, which does the same job without uploading the video.

SquishyFile vs VidCrush Video Compressor Compared

VidCrush and SquishyFile look almost the same on the surface. Both are free, both target platform limits, both output MP4. The real difference is where your video goes while it gets compressed.

MP3, WAV or M4A? Which Format to Save a Video's Audio In

Every video to audio converter asks you to pick a format. The right answer depends less on quality than on where the file is going next.

SquishyFile vs. Topaz Video AI (Free vs. $299 a Year)

Topaz is the tool professionals pay for. Mine is a free page in your browser. They are not the same class of tool, and that's exactly why the choice between them is easy once you know what you need.

How to Extract Audio From a Video on Android

Android has no standard "save audio" option in the gallery. Two ways that work on any phone, which format to pick, and the Android quirks that pause or break a conversion.

How to Extract Audio From a Video on iPhone (3 Ways)

iPhone has no "save audio" button, but you can still get an MP3 or M4A out of any video in Photos. Three ways to do it, and which one to pick.

SquishyFile vs FreeConvert: Video Compressor Compared

Two free online video compressors built in opposite ways. One uploads your file to a server, the other compresses it in your browser. Here's how they compare, round by round.

How Much Can You Actually Compress a 1GB Video?

"1GB" doesn't tell you how small a video can get. How long it runs does. Here's what my compressor's planner picks for six different 1GB files.

Lesser-Known FFmpeg Tricks I Tested on Real Video Files

Most FFmpeg guides stop at converting and trimming. These are the commands I use to see what's actually inside a video, plus a few things FFmpeg does without telling you.

Video Bitrate Chart: 720p, 1080p and 4K at 30 and 60fps

A bitrate that looks great at 720p falls apart at 4K. This is the chart I use for every resolution and frame rate, and the one formula behind it.

Handbrake Alternatives: Compress Video Without Installing It

Not every video needs a full encoding suite. What replaces Handbrake for one-off compression, and where nothing does.

How to Compress a Video on iPhone (4 Ways, Compared)

iPhone video gets huge fast. 4K HEVC, Cinematic mode and slow motion all multiply file size. Every way to shrink one, and the trade-off with each.

Why a 5-Second GIF Can Be Bigger Than a 30-Second MP4

A GIF and an MP4 show a moving picture in almost opposite ways. What happens frame by frame, and why a few seconds of GIF can outweigh a minute of video.

How Does a VHS Filter Work? The Tape Artifacts It Has to Fake

A dropout on a real VHS tape is missing signal, not a bright flash. That one detail is roughly the difference between a filter that looks authentic and one that looks like scanlines slapped on top.

How Browser-Based Speech-to-Text Works (And What It Can't Do)

Speech recognition running entirely in a browser tab sounds impossible. It works, but only because the model gives up a lot of size to get there. That size is the trade-off.

Handbrake Compress Video: CRF, Presets and Target Size

Handbrake gives you every encoding control there is, which is why it's confusing. The few settings that change your file size, and what each one cost on a real test clip.

What Is FSR? How FidelityFX Super Resolution Works in Video Upscaling

FSR doesn't try to be clever about your video the way an AI model does. It's a fast, single-frame algorithm, and that limit is exactly what lets it run on almost anything.

What Are WebGL Shaders and How Do They Work?

A shader is a tiny program that runs millions of times a second, once per pixel, with no idea any other pixel exists. That constraint is what makes them fast.

What's Inside a Video File: I-Frames, P-Frames and Why Editing Forces a Re-Encode

A video looks sharp while it plays, yet a still you pull from it can look blockier than you expected. The reason is in how the file stores its frames.

Why Do WhatsApp, Instagram & TikTok Compress Video? (Plus Upload Settings)

The video looked sharp on your phone. Then you sent it, and it came back soft, blocky or smeared. What each platform does to the file, and the export settings that limit the damage.

Does Video Upscaling Actually Work? A Skeptical, Technical Answer

If the original footage never had the detail, where does an upscaler get it from? The answer is inference, not recovery, and it explains why some upscales look great and others look fake.

Why Turning a Video Transcript Into Captions Is Tricky

A page of transcribed text and a set of properly timed captions look like the same output from the outside. They aren't, and knowing why saves a lot of wasted effort.

Why Your Video Looks Blurry (4 Causes, and What Fixes Each)

"Blurry" covers at least four different problems, and they don't share a fix. How to tell which one you're looking at before you spend time on the wrong solution.

Is It Safe to Compress a Video Online? How Browser-Based Compressors Work

You don't have to take a compressor's word that your video never left your device. You can check it yourself in about thirty seconds.

Why Your Video Won't Send by Email or WhatsApp (and How to Fix It)

A video bouncing from Gmail or refusing to send on WhatsApp usually isn't a plain size problem. Each app fails in its own specific, fixable way.

How Many Times Can You Compress a Video Before It Looks Bad?

If a compressed video looks worse than you expected, the compressor usually isn't the problem. The file was already compressed before you touched it.

MP3 Quality Explained: 128, 192 or 320kbps, Which Should You Use?

Picking 320kbps by default feels safe, but often it's just a bigger file with nothing extra to show for it. I measured when it matters.

MOV vs. MP4: Why Some of Your Videos Won't Open Everywhere

A video that plays on your iPhone but won't open on a Windows PC isn't broken. It's in a container that not every player understands.