How to Convert a Whole Folder of Files at Once
Every “free online converter— is built for one drop zone and one download button. That is the right UI for a single WEBP or a single README. It is the wrong UI for a camera-roll export, a docs/ tree, or last week’s Zoom folder. Batch conversion means: pick a directory, pick one target format, walk away.
What has to stay consistent
- One job, one mapping — WEBP→JPG, or Markdown→DOCX, or GIF→MP4. Do not mix types in the same run.
- Same quality / same options — JPEG quality, video preset, whether Markdown tables are expected. Mixed settings make “why is this one blurry?— undebuggable.
- Output next to input or in a sibling folder — so you can diff counts (40 in, 40 out) instead of hunting Downloads.
- Local disk — zipping a folder and uploading it to a convert-in-the-cloud service is slower and a privacy problem. Desktop convert reads the files in place.
Convert vs compress
They are different buttons. Convert changes the container or encoding (WEBP→JPG, MD→Word, GIF→MP4). Compress shrinks a video that is already a video, for Discord/WhatsApp/email caps. Shrynk’s desktop app does both on Windows: Convert tab for formats, Compress tab for video size. The website tool only compresses one video in the browser (up to 100MB).
What it does not do: PDF →Word. Document conversion on the desktop is Markdown →Word and Markdown →HTML.
When the free tier is enough
Installing Shrynk for Windows is free. One file at a time — convert a Markdown file, compress a clip under 100MB — does not require payment. Folder batch convert and batch compress, plus videos over 100MB, are the $9 one-time Pro unlock. No subscription.
FAQ
Can I mix images, Markdown, and video in one batch?
Keep one conversion type per run (all WEBP→JPG, or all Markdown→DOCX, or all GIF→MP4). Mixing kinds in one folder just makes failures harder to spot. Split by type, run the batch twice if needed.
Is the Shrynk installer free if I only convert one file at a time?
Yes. Installing Shrynk for Windows is free. Single-file convert and video compress up to 100MB stay on the free tier. A one-time $9 license unlocks unlimited size and batch convert/compress.
Download Shrynk v1.1.0 for Windows — convert a directory or compress a directory, locally.