How to crop a video
Cropping cuts away the edges of the picture, which is different from trimming the length. Here is where each device does it, and a private browser option.
Crop is not trim
Cropping removes parts of the picture, such as a strip at the side or the black bars around a screen recording. Trimming removes time from the start or end. Many searches for "crop a video" mean the second one, so if you only want to shorten the clip, read how to trim a video without an app.
On an iPhone
Apple's Photos app can crop videos as well as photos, as of October 2026. Open the video, tap Edit, tap the crop button, then drag the corners of the rectangle to enclose the area you want. Presets such as Square, 9:16 and others are available from the aspect ratio button, and the lock at the top right lets you unlock the ratio for a free-form box.
On Android with Google Photos
Google's Photos help says the video editor's crop tool needs an Android device with at least 1 GB of RAM running Android 6.0 or later, and that some Android 9 devices that are not Pixels have no video editing. Open the video in Google Photos, tap Edit, then Crop. Tap Aspect ratio for a preset such as a square, and Save to keep a copy with your edits.
On Windows with Clipchamp
Microsoft's Clipchamp video editor has a freehand crop: click the clip on the timeline, click Crop on the floating toolbar, drag the handles at the sides, top and bottom, then click Done. It also has a Fit option that removes black borders. You then export the project as a video file.
In the browser, without uploading
The crop video tool shows a frame from your video with a crop box on it.
- Draw or snap: drag the box and its edges, or pick Vertical 9:16 for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, Square 1:1, Portrait 4:5, Widescreen 16:9, Classic 4:3, or Same as the video.
- Exact numbers: type the left, top, width and height in pixels if you need a precise region.
- Sound: kept by default; tick "Remove the sound" to drop it.
- Output: an MP4. It takes MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV, one video at a time.
Cropping changes the pixels, so the video is encoded again, at high quality, into an MP4. On a 640 by 360 test clip, the 1:1 option produced a 360 by 360 MP4 with H.264 video. The crop applies to the whole length of the video; to keep only part of the time, use Trim video first or afterwards.
It uses your browser's own video decoder, so a format your browser cannot play will not open. iPhone videos are often HEVC (H.265), which Chrome and Firefox on Windows or Linux may not decode; in that case try Safari. Everything happens inside your browser tab, so the video never leaves your device.
Questions
How do I crop a landscape video to vertical for TikTok or Reels?
Choose Vertical (9:16) in the crop video tool. The box covers the tallest 9:16 area of the picture, and you can drag it sideways to keep the part that matters.
Does cropping lower the quality?
Pixels inside the box keep their size, but the video is encoded again, which is done at high quality. If the file size matters, run the result through compress video afterwards.
Is cropping the same as resizing?
No. Cropping cuts away part of the picture; resizing shrinks or enlarges the whole picture. For resizing, see how to resize a video.
Can I crop a video on a phone browser?
Yes, if the phone's browser can play the file. Long videos take longer on a phone because the work is done on the device.