How to Clip Videos on PC: Free Clipper for Windows

To clip videos on PC means to keep one part of a video file, from a start time to an end time, and save it as a new, shorter file on your computer. People ask how to clip a video on PC, how to clip a video on a laptop, or how to clip video on PC without new software. The task is the same in each case: pick the range, cut, and save the result.

A clip is not a full edit, only one continuous part of one video. That is why a simple clipper in the browser is often the fastest way to clip videos on PC, even when a full editor is installed.

Open this page in Chrome or Edge on your Windows PC and choose the "Trim a video file" tab at the top. Press "Choose or drop a video file", or drag the file onto it from File Explorer or the desktop. The video loads in a preview player right away, read from your own drive.

Set the Start and the End. Type the times as m:ss, or play the video and press "Use current time" at the playhead. 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 download button appears with a name such as <file>-12s-47s.mp4, so several clips from one file keep apart in your Downloads folder. To clip a video on PC again from the same file, change the times and cut once more.

Most people who clip videos on PC start from a recording made on that PC: a screen recording of a tutorial, a meeting, or a game. The part you want is often a few minutes in the middle.

Many Windows recorders save MP4 files, and this clipper reads MP4, MOV, M4V, WebM and MKV. Whatever you put in, you get an MP4 out, with the sound kept. When the codec can be copied into MP4, nothing is re-encoded and the cut takes a second or two.

For a long game session or a stream, clip the video into several short parts, one play or one moment each. Each download carries its range in the name, so the parts stay in order.

Windows already has some tools. The Photos app can trim a video, and Clipchamp, the video editor from Microsoft, can trim a clip and also build a longer edit on a timeline. They suit a quick trim of a file already open in them.

The Xbox Game Bar is a different tool. It records clips of your games and your screen while you play or work, but it does not trim a file that you already have. So a common way to clip video on PC is in two steps: record with the Game Bar or another recorder, then cut the recording to the part you want.

This browser clipper fits that second step. It needs no setup, gives the same MP4 on every Windows PC and laptop, and leaves the original file as it was.

Desktop video editors can clip videos on PC too, and they do much more, with many tracks and effects. They are the better choice for a full project. But they take time to download and learn, and a work laptop may not let you install them at all.

To clip a video on PC once in a while, a browser is often enough. Chrome and Edge are already on most Windows computers. The cut runs on your own computer, nothing is uploaded, and you need no account.

Many people watch short clips with the sound off. If you have an .srt or .vtt file for the recording, 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. It is still free, and the subtitle file is not uploaded.

In a long screen or game recording, 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. Press "Use" to put a range into the Start and End, 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.

A short clip should hold one idea: one tip, one play, one reaction. Set the start a little before the key moment and the end just after it. 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.

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. For phone videos and other devices, see how to clip a video in any browser.

When you clip videos on PC, 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.