How to trim a video on a Mac with QuickTime Player
2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 3 October 2026
Open the video in QuickTime Player and choose Edit, Trim, or press Command-T. A yellow bar appears along the bottom. Drag its left and right handles so that only the part you want to keep is inside the yellow frame, then click Trim. Save the result with File, Save or Command-S and give it a new name.
To cut the fumbling start and the walk to the camera at the end of a video, you do not need an editing program. QuickTime Player, which is on every Mac, removes the beginning and the end of a clip in a few seconds and leaves the picture quality untouched.
Menu names are from recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings.
Step by step
Open the video in QuickTime Player
Double-click the video file. If it opens in another app, right-click it instead and choose Open With, QuickTime Player.
Choose Edit, Trim
In the menu bar, click Edit and then Trim, or press Command-T. The trimming bar appears at the bottom of the window: a strip of small pictures of the video inside a yellow frame.
Drag the yellow handles
Drag the handle at the left end to where the video should start, and the one at the right end to where it should stop. Everything outside the yellow frame will be removed.
Fine-tune the cut
Click and hold a handle for a moment: the strip changes to single frames, so you can place the cut exactly. Press the play button to check what is left.
Click Trim
Click the yellow Trim button. The window now shows only the part you kept. If you cut too much, press Command-Z to undo.
Save under a new name
Choose File, Save or press Command-S, type a name and pick a folder. Your original file stays as it was. For a smaller file to send, choose File, Export As and a lower resolution such as 1080p or 720p.
Good to know
To remove a piece from the middle, split the video first: move the playhead to the start of the unwanted part and choose Edit, Split Clip, do the same at its end, click the middle clip and press Delete, then click Done.
Trim removes the ends only. For titles, music or several clips in a row, iMovie is free in the App Store.
A video recorded on an iPhone can be trimmed there before you send it: open it in Photos and tap Edit.
Related: how to record your screen on a Mac and how to use Quick Look on a Mac, which can trim a clip without opening an app.
In short: QuickTime Player, Edit, Trim (Command-T), drag the yellow handles around the part to keep, click Trim, save with Command-S under a new name.
- QuickTime Player User Guide: Trim a movie or clip in QuickTime Player on Mac
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