How to trim videos on computer?

Video trimming is a very important part of video editing. Sometimes, a video may contain sections that are unnecessary or irrelevant. Trimming these sections can help you remove unwanted footage and keep only the important parts of the video. Almost all video editors have the feature to cut long videos, such as splitting videos to two or more short video clips. Today we will show you several ways to split or trim videos on both Windows and Mac computers with free video editors that are user-friendly and easy to use. Even beginners can easily trim, cut or split videos on Windows and Mac computers without any learning curve.

Split videos using Photos app on Windows PC

Both Windows 11 and Windows 10 come with the Photos app which can be used to cut a long video into short clips. The new UI differs from the old one though. Here we will use the Photos app on a Windows 11 PC in this demo.

Trim videos in Windows 11

If you are on Windows 11, open the video in the Photos app and it will start playing automatically. Go to the toolbar at the top and click the Video trim button which can be found at the beginning of this toolbar. Alternatively press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + E to quickly open the built-in trimming tool.

Trim a video in Windows Photos app on Windows 11 computer

Here you will see two buttons in the upper right corner: Save a copy, Cancel. At the bottom, you should see two markers, sliders or pointers or whatever name you call it, which you can drag to choose the start and end points of the video, and the play head which shows the current viewpoint, the current frame or image you are viewing, in the preview window.

Drag or move the blue markers on the timeline to choose start or end points or create trim points. Click Save a copy, then those unselected areas or parts will be removed. Only the part between the left pointer/marker and the right pointer/marker will be saved in the new video file.

How to trim videos on Mac?

On Mac, the stock media player, QuickTime, can help us easily cut videos. Open the video file in QuickTime Player. Go to the Edit menu from the top menu bar, then select Trim … from the drop-down menu. A yellow box outlines the video at the bottom. Use the yellow handles to select the section of the video you want to keep. Click on the Trim button, a new dialogue pops up where you can give the new video clip a new name and select a location to save it.

trim video movie using quicktime player for mac

These are just the basic steps for trimming a video. Depending on your specific needs, you may want to explore other video editing software that provides more advanced features for trimming and editing videos.

More video trimming options

Except the above video trimming solution using stock apps on Windows and Mac computers. We also noticed that many third-party video programs can help. Notably, the most famous free and open-source video editor, HandBrake. It can help us easily cut videos on computer for free.