How to Trim Videos on Windows 10

When recording a video, it’s very likely you’ll end up having more footage than you need, so in order for your video to look on point, you’ll need to do some post-production and cut the unnecessary parts.

The thing is, there are many ways to do so by using different tools, but today I want to show you the two easiest ways you’ll ever find so that you can effectively learn how to trim videos in Windows 10. With that in mind, let’s start with this tutorial!

Step 1: Choose Your Video Editor

You have many choices when it comes to video editors when using Windows 10. For example, you can use video editors like Videoconverter Wondershare or DaVinci Resolve. Even VLC Video Player and Windows Photos have a video trimming function. But for some beginners, these tools are many ways out of no skill required level.

Therefore, if what you’re looking for is a video editor that’s simple and easy to use, then FilmForth is the right choice for you. Plus, contrary to most video editors available on the market, FilmForth is watermark-free, which means once you’ve finished editing your video, it won’t have any annoying watermarks on it.

Since FilmForth is the editor we’ll be using to trim videos in this tutorial, you’ll need to download it. To do so, simply click the image below to download it directly from the Microsoft store.

Once you’re on the store page, click on ‘Get’. Windows 10 will handle the installation automatically, and it should take about 3 to 5 minutes.

Alternatively, if you’re on a Mac, then I’d recommend iMovie for any video editing purposes you might have, and if you’re on iOS or Android, you can get Inshot. Take into account those two apps are the third party and not related in any way to FilmForth.

Step 2: Upload Your Video

Once FilmForth has finished installing on Windows, you’ll need to upload your video file into the editor, and for that, you have two options.

• The first is to simply find the video you wish to trim, right click on it, and go to “Open With” > “FilmForth”.
• The second option is to open FilmForth and click on “New Project”, as shown below.

Once you’ve created a new project, FilmForth will open up and you’ll need to add the video file you wish to edit. To do so, simply click on the ‘+’ button.

Once you’re there, find the video you wish to edit by navigating to the folder where it’s located and click on it to add it to the timeline. Whether you decided to use the first or second option to add the video file to the editor, your timeline should look like this.

Take into account that you might want to keep a copy of the original video before you start the trimming process. To save a copy, just copy and paste into a new folder the video clip you wish to trim.

Step 3: Select How You Want to Trim Your Video

In FilmForth, you have two different tools that you can use to trim a video. The first option is to use the “Trim” tool. To do so, select the video you wish to trim and go into “Edit” > “Trim” as shown below.

Once you’ve done that, the trimming menu will open up, and it should look like this:

As you can see, this menu can help you trim unnecessary footage from the start and end of the video by dragging.

The thing is… you’ll need to know where the footage you don’t want starts and ends, otherwise, you might end up cutting more footage than you need.

Plus, what if you want to trim some footage in the middle of the video, and not necessarily at the start or end?

Well, then you can use the ‘Split’ tool, which, as the name suggests, can help you split your video into different parts.

To use the split tool, position the red marker on the part of the video where you want to make the split. For example, if I want to make a cut in the middle, I’ll need to position the marker as shown below.

Then, click on the video you wish to split to select it. After making sure the marker is located where you want to make the cut, click on “Split”.

If you’ve split your video correctly, then it should be divided into two with a white square between the two parts, as shown below.

Take into account that the white square that’s between the two parts of your video can also be used to add transition effects by clicking on it.

Step 4: Combine Both Trimming Tools

To have a perfect video without any unnecessary footage, it’s very likely you’ll need to combine both of the tools we’ve just seen.

To show you how to do this, we’ll be using a video with some footage in the middle that we need to cut. Remember, if you want to trim some footage in the middle of your video, you can use the split tool to cut the video into two parts like we just did.

For this example, I’ll be positioning the marker right where the unnecessary footage starts, and go into “Edit” > “Split”. Here, the useless footage starts at around 10 seconds, so that’s where the marker needs to be located.

Now the next step is to find where the unnecessary footage ends. In this case, it ended at around 17 seconds. Once that’s identified, select the second clip and click on ‘Trim’.

When you’re on the trimming menu, simply drag the ‘Start’ bar until you go past the start of unnecessary footage.

And that’s it, as you can see on the image above, the video is now trimmed and free of unnecessary clips!

Alternatively, you could also trim the video by using the splitting tool two times. By making a split where the unnecessary footage starts and where it ends, you’ll isolate it, and then you’ll be free to delete it. By doing so, you eliminate any footage you don’t wish to include.

Personally, to trim video I recommend combining both tools, as I find it often produces a better result.

Step 5: Save & Export Your Video

Once you’ve finished trimming your video, you’ll need to save it. To do so, simply click on the red “Save Video” button that’s located at the top right of the editor.

After you select the folder where you wish to save your video, FilmForth will start exporting it. Take into account that, depending on the duration of your video, it might take a few minutes to properly export and save your trimmed video. And that’s it! Now you’ll be able to share and upload your video. Really easy, wasn’t it?

Other Suggestions to Split & Trim Your Videos Correctly on Windows

How to Trim Videos With Windows 10 Photos App

As you’ve seen, trimming video in FilmForth is really easy. But if you don’t want to download an app to trim video, then you can use Windows 10 Photos which has some minor video editing functionalities. To open the Windows Photos app editor, right click a video file, and choose “Open With” > “Photos”.

Once you’re there, you’ll need to open up the trimming menu, to do so click “Edit & Create” > “Trim” as shown below.

Once you do so, the trimming menu will load up.

As you can see, this menu is really similar to the trimming tool in FilmForth, where the first white circle represents the start, and the second represents the finish.

Take into account that the blue slider only shows the current frame and has no effect on trimming. To trim videos, simply select the area you wish to keep by maintaining it between the two white circles, and then click the “Save as” option located at the upper-right portion of the window to save a copy of your trimmed video.

As you’ve probably realized, trimming videos with the photos app is really easy too! The bad news is that it doesn’t have any splitting functions, so you can’t trim footage in the middle of a video. But if you don’t want to download any video editing apps and you need to do some simple edits, then it’s a great alternative!

Conclusion

I hope you’ve learned how to trim videos on Windows 10 effectively. As you can see, it’s a very straightforward process that doesn’t require any previous video editing knowledge.

I also hope you liked FilmForth! If you have any questions about the app, or you’d like to see new functionality added to it, then leave a comment letting us know. We look forward to your feedback to keep improving.

Finally, if you want more tips to improve your videos and take them to the next level, you can visit our other articles where we explain some of the different functions of FilmForth, such as applying video effects, transitions, and more.