Video trimmer: cut a video online
Choose a video, set the start and end times (or use the player), and press Trim. The part you picked is saved as a new video.
Free · no signup Runs in your browser
How do I trim a video online?
Choose your video, play it, and set where the new video should start and end, either by typing the seconds or by pausing the player at the right moment and pressing the 'use the player's time' buttons. Press Trim the video. The tool plays that part and records it as a new video in your browser, so it takes about as long as the part is long. Then you can check it and download it. Your video is never uploaded.
Why we built this tool
Most videos need cutting before they are useful: a phone clip with a long wait before the action, a screen recording that starts and ends with fumbling, a lecture you only need ten minutes of, or a clip that must fit a size limit. A video editor is more than most people want to install for that, and online trimmers usually make you upload the whole file first, which is slow for a big video and a real concern for a recording of a meeting, a child or a screen full of private information. This tool trims in your browser. The file stays on your device, and there is no account, watermark or length cap set by us.
Your video is read and recorded in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no watermark.
How it works in detail
A browser can play a video and can record a stream, but it has no built-in way to cut a file without decoding it. So the tool does the straightforward thing: it opens the video in a hidden player, jumps to your start time, plays up to your end time, and while it plays it draws each frame on a canvas and records the canvas and the sound with the browser's MediaRecorder. When the end time is reached the recording stops and you have a new file. Because the video is decoded and encoded again, there is a small loss of quality compared with a lossless cut made by an editing program that copies the data without re-encoding; choose a higher quality setting if the picture matters. It also means the work happens in real time: a 2-minute cut takes about 2 minutes. The new file is WebM in most browsers, and MP4 in browsers that can record it.
How to use it
- Choose or drop your video (MP4, MOV, WebM and most phone videos work if your browser can play them).
- Play the video. Pause where the part you want begins and press the start button, then pause where it ends and press the end button. Or type the seconds.
- Choose the quality (Standard suits most clips) and the format.
- Press Trim the video and leave the tab open and in front. A percentage shows the progress.
- Check the new video in the player, then press Download.
Use cases
- Cutting the dead time off the start and end of a phone clip or screen recording
- Saving a short highlight from a longer recording
- Making a clip small enough to email or upload
- Removing a mistake or an unwanted part at the end
- Preparing a short video for a message, a story or a forum post
- Taking one answer out of a long recorded meeting you are allowed to share
Problems you may run into
Most trouble is about formats and time.
| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| It says it cannot read my video | The browser cannot play that codec (for example HEVC/H.265 in some browsers, or a camera's special format) | Try Chrome, Edge or Safari, or convert the file to H.264 MP4 first |
| It takes as long as the video | The video is recorded as it plays; there is no shortcut in a browser | Use a shorter clip, or start it and leave the tab in front while you do something else |
| The output stops or the picture freezes | The tab was hidden, the computer went to sleep, or it ran out of power | Keep the tab open and visible, plug in a laptop, and run it again |
| There is no sound in the result | The sound option was off, the video has no sound, or the browser blocked audio until you clicked | Check the box is off, press the button yourself, and try again |
| The quality is a little lower than the original | The video is decoded and encoded again, which always costs some quality | Choose High or Very high quality, and keep your original file |
| The file is WebM and my app wants MP4 | Most browsers can only record WebM | Choose MP4 where your browser offers it (recent Chrome, Edge, Safari), or convert the file afterwards |
| The cut is a fraction of a second off | Video is stored in frames, and the player lands on the nearest one | Move the start a little earlier and the end a little later, or use the pause-and-press buttons |
Privacy and rights
The video never leaves your device. Cutting a video does not give you the right to share it: recordings of other people can carry privacy and copyright obligations, and in Canada recording or sharing someone's image or voice can raise consent issues. Keep your original file; the trimmed copy is a new file.
How it works
The video is played, redrawn and recorded again in your browser.
1. The video is opened in a hidden player in your browser; nothing is uploaded.2. The player runs from the start point while each frame is drawn on a canvas (turned, resized or mirrored if you asked).3. The browser's MediaRecorder records the canvas and the sound as a new video.4. When the end point is reached the file is finished and offered as a download.
This uses the browser's own encoder, so the output is WebM (VP8/VP9) or, in browsers that can record it, MP4 (H.264). It is a new encoding, not a lossless cut, so there is a small quality cost, and the work takes about as long as the part you choose. The tab must stay open and visible. Very long videos (over about an hour) may exhaust memory; cut them into parts first. Files protected by copy protection (DRM) cannot be processed.
Example: a 90-second clip down to 20 seconds
A phone video has 40 seconds of waiting before the action.
- Start40.0 seconds
- End60.0 seconds
- Time to processabout 20 seconds
- Size2.5 Mbps ÷ 8 × 20 s = about 6 MB
A new 20-second video of about 6 MB
Choose High quality for about twice the size.
Terms on this page
- Trim
- Cutting the start and end off a video.
- Re-encode
- Decoding a video and compressing it again, which always costs a little quality.
Common questions
Is it free, and is my video uploaded?
It is free, and your video is processed in your browser and never uploaded.
Why does it take as long as the clip?
The video is recorded as it plays, using your browser's own encoder. There is no faster way to do this in a browser.
Is the cut lossless?
No. The video is encoded again, so there is a small quality cost. Keep your original.
What format is the result?
WebM, or MP4 if you choose it and your browser can record it.
Can I cut several parts and join them?
Trim each part, then join them with a video editor. This tool makes one clip at a time.
Can I trim a video from my phone?
On many phones, yes, but a long clip will be slow. The built-in trimming in your phone's Photos app is quicker.
Is anything I enter sent to a server?
No. The calculation happens in your browser and nothing you type leaves your device.
Where these numbers come from
- MDN Web Docs — MediaRecorder How a browser records a stream, and isTypeSupported() for choosing a format.
- MDN Web Docs — HTMLCanvasElement.captureStream() How frames drawn on a canvas become a video stream that can be recorded.
- Wikipedia — Video file format Containers (MP4, WebM) and codecs (H.264, VP9) and how they differ.
Last verified 2026-10-25 The method on this page is checked against the sources above at least once a year. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
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