How to Clip a Video: Free Online Video Clipper

To clip a video means to keep one part of it, from a start time to an end time, and drop the rest. People ask how to clip a video, how to clip an MP4, or which programs to clip videos are worth using. The answer is the same: pick the range, cut, and get a new, shorter file.

A clip is not a full edit. You do not rearrange scenes, add music or mix several files. You take one continuous part of one video, which is why a simple video clipper is often faster than a full editor.

Open the "Trim a video file" tab at the top of this page. Press "Choose or drop a video file", or drop the file onto it. The video loads in a preview player right away, because it is read from your own device.

Set the Start and the End. Type the times as m:ss, or play the video and press "Use current time" at the playhead. The tool shows the clip length. Press "Preview clip" to watch only your range: the player stops at the end, so you hear whether the first and last words are complete.

Press "Cut clip". A progress bar shows the cut, then a download button appears with a name such as <file>-12s-47s.mp4, so several clips from one file keep apart. To clip a video again from the same file, change the times and cut once more.

This video clipper reads MP4, MOV, M4V, WebM and MKV files. That covers most cameras, phones and screen recorders. Whatever you put in, you get an MP4 out, with the sound kept. To clip an MP4 is the simplest case: when the codec can be copied into MP4, nothing is re-encoded and the cut takes a second or two.

iPhone video is often HEVC in a .mov file, and HEVC .mov works best in Safari. The cut runs on the phone itself, so a large recording never uploads over a mobile connection.

Screen recordings and video calls saved as MP4 or MOV clip the same way. If a file does not open, try Chrome or Safari, or export the video as H.264 MP4 first.

Many people watch short clips with the sound off. If you have an .srt or .vtt file, press "Add subtitles (.srt or .vtt)" before you cut. Keep "Show the subtitles in the clip" on, and the lines inside your range are drawn into the frames.

With subtitles on, the whole clip is re-encoded, so it starts exactly at your start time and the lines stay in sync. It is still free, and the subtitle file is not uploaded for the cut.

In a long video, finding the moment can take longer than the cut. Open "AI: find the best clips" and type what to find, such as "the goal", or leave it empty for the best moments. If you added subtitles, the AI reads them too.

Your browser reads small 360 px frames, about one a second, and only those frames and the subtitle text go to the server, never the video file. The AI returns up to 5 ranges of 3 to 60 seconds, each with a match percentage. Press "Use" to put a range into the Start and End, check it with "Preview clip", then cut as usual. The cut itself stays free.

A search costs 15 purchased credits, refunded if it fails, and needs an account. The AI does not listen to the audio, so a moment that is only heard, and not in the subtitles, can be missed.

You may already have programs to clip videos on your computer or phone. On Windows, the Photos app and Clipchamp can both trim a video. On a Mac, QuickTime Player has a Trim command, and iMovie can trim and split clips on Mac and iPhone. The Photos app on iPhone, and photo apps on Android, can shorten a video in their edit screens.

These apps are a good choice when the file is already in them and you only need a quick trim. VLC is a free player that can record a part while it plays, but it is not built for exact cuts. Adobe Premiere Pro is a paid professional editor, the better choice when you need a full timeline with many tracks and effects.

This browser video clipper fits in between: the same on Windows, Mac, Linux and phones, no install, no account, an MP4 every time. Of all the software to clip videos, pick the one closest to hand: a good clip depends more on where you cut.

A short clip should hold one idea: one joke, one tip, one reaction. Many good short clips run about 15 to 45 seconds. Start right on the moment, not on the build-up. Check each app's current length limit before you post.

Set the start a little before the key line and the end just after it. A clip that ends on a clear line feels finished, and a clip that ends mid-sentence feels like a mistake. When the cut is a fast copy, it can start up to about one second early, at the key frame before your start, so leave a small gap before the first word. With subtitles on, the clip starts exactly where you set it.

For a long talk or a stream, clip the video into several short parts. Each download carries its range in the name, so the parts stay in order.

To share part of a YouTube video, you do not need a file at all. The "Clip a YouTube link" tab on the YouTube clip maker makes a link or an embed code that plays only your part. It does not download YouTube videos.

When you clip a video, it is often the first step. With combine video clips, you drop in your clips, paste a script, and AI cuts one video with voiceover and captions, a paid tool with one free trial cut. For a longer piece, see make a YouTube video with clips. Use this free video clipper first to clip your videos to the parts you want.