How to Trim a Video on iMovie

On Mac

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Open the iMovie app on your computer. iMovie has a purple icon with a white video camera inside a white star. You can find it in the Dock or the Applications folder.

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Select the video project you want to edit. Double-click a movie or video project on the "Projects" page to open the editing toolset.

The video editor is located in the bottom half of the application window.

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Choose the exact moment to cut the video. Play the video clip in the editor in the bottom half of the screen and pause at the point you want to trim.

You'll see the editor scroll of the entire video in the bottom half of the screen.

You can click anywhere in the video reel to jump there.

The white playhead bar will appear at the exact moment you want to cut.

You can press the key space barto play/pause the video.

Use the left and right arrow keys to move the playhead forward or back one frame.

You can find a complete list of iMovie keyboard shortcuts on Apple's official support page at: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH22830?locale=en_US.

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Press ⌘ Command+B on the keyboard. This key combination will automatically split the clip into two parts right at the moment the playhead bar is located.

After splitting, you can select either part and press the key Deleteto delete.

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Right-click at the point in the video you want to cut (optional). Instead of pressing a keyboard shortcut, simply hover over the video clip in the bottom editor and right-click at the exact moment you want to trim.

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Select Split Clip from the right-click menu. Similar to the function of the key combination, this will also cut the video at the exact time you choose.

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Click the point in the video you want to cut (optional). Or most simply, you can scroll through the video and choose when to trim with just one click.

This will automatically place the white vertical bar at the exact moment in the video clip.

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Click the Modify menu in the menu bar. This button is in the menu bar at the top of your Mac screen. A menu will drop down.

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Click Split Clip in the Modify menu. The video will be cut at the exact time you choose with just one click.

On iPhone or iPad

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Open the iMovie app on your iPhone or iPad. iMovie has a purple icon with a white video camera inside a white star. You can find it on your home screen or applications folder.

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Click on the project you want to edit. Select a film or video project on the "Projects" page to open detailed information.

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Click the Edit button . This button is below the video thumbnail and title. The selected video opens in the editor.

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Long press and drag the video reel at the bottom. Tap and hold the video scroll at the bottom of the screen and drag it to the exact moment you want to split the video.

You'll see the editor scroll of the entire video in the bottom half of the screen.

You need to place the white playhead bar at the exact moment you want to split the clip.

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Tap the video reel in the editor at the bottom of the screen. A yellow highlight bar will appear on the video reel in the editor, and editing tools will also appear at the bottom of the screen.

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Select Actions in the bottom toolbar. This button looks like a scissors icon. Options with videos will appear.

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Tap Split. It's above the bottom toolbar. The video will be cropped at the position of the white vertical bar.

Marvin Fry

Update 07 November 2023