How to Shorten a Video on iPhone & Online

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How to Shorten a Video on iPhone & Online

Last Updated: Apr. 02, 2021

Summary

After reading this post, you will find ways to shorten a video on iPhone & online. Once you make your video shorter, it's easier to share your video with friends or on social media.

How to fix when YouTube says "error video too long"？

How to solve "send failed: video too long(large)"?

- Just shorten your video right now!

You may want to trim off a few seconds from the beginning or end of your video to keep the funniest part of it, or you need to shorten a video but keep it in the same material as the original ones.

Here in this blog, we'll introduce you various ways to shorten a video on iPhone & online. According to your demands and preference, select one hoping they can solve your problem.

Also Read: Four Ways to Make a Video Longer for Instagram & Other Social Media Platforms >

Part 1. How to Short Videos on iPhone

Here we'll show you two ways to shorten a video on your iPhone with the built-in Photos app and iMovie.

Shorten Videos on iPhone with the Photos App

If you just need to cut the dead time at the beginning or end of the video to keep it shorter and in funniest parts, the built-in Photos app of your iPhone can help you to change the length and pace of the video directly.

If you need to shorten videos on your iPhone this way, just follow the simple steps below:

Step 1

Go to the Photos app on your iPhone, find the video you want to shorten, and tap the Edit button on the top right corner of the interface.

Step 2

Tap the right or left side of the screen and hold it to activate the trimming tool. Now you can drag the anchor in the left or right direction to adjust the starting and ending time of your video to trim out unwanted parts. Once your video is trimmed down to the highlighted section you want, just click the Done button at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3

Save the shortened video by selecting the option Save Video as New Clip or Save Video to replace the existing video.

Image Board: Shorten Videos on iPhone with the Built-in Photos App

Shorten Videos on iPhone with iMovie

iMovie must be the best option for iPhone users who want to do a bit more with their video than the basic Photos app allows them to.

You can use iMovie to shorten a video not only by trimming off the beginning or ending part of the video but also trimming the middle of a video on the iPhone. Besides, you can also make your video shorter while keeping it in the same materials as the original ones via iMovie.

Just follow our steps below to shorten your video with iMovie.

Step 1

Import the Video You Want to Shorten

Open iMovie on your iPhone. Click the "Projects" tab on top, and then "Create Project" to upload the video clip by selecting the "Movie" from the pop-up.

Image Board: Import the Video You Want to Shorten

Step 2

Shorten Your Video Using iMovie on iPhone

You can shorten your video in 3 ways with iMovie:

Trim

Tap the video clip in the timeline, and then a yellow highlight will appear around the selected clip. To make the clip shorter, you can drag the edge of the clip towards the center of the clip.

Split & Delete

When you choose to split a clip, you can adjust the duration of each section, remove unwanted sections in the middle part of the video.

Image Board: Split & Delete

Slide the playhead in the timeline and position it at the beginning of when to cut.

Tap the clip in the timeline, and then the editing tools will appear in the bottom. Click the "Split" in the bottom right corner.

Then position the playhead at the end of when to cut and split it as you did before.

Tap the video clip you want to delete and press the Delete button.

Speed up Your Video

If you want to shorten your video but keep the same video content with just a different duration, you can change the speed of your video.

Just click the Speed button, which looks like a speedometer. Drag the speed slider to the right side to speed up your video.

Image Board: Change the Speed of Your Video

Part 2. How to Shorten Videos Online

Here also a simple yet powerful online video editing tool, FlexClip video editor, is introduced to you for shortening a video.

FlexClip gives you an easy way to shorten your videos and also lets you level up your footage with its powerful editing functions.

Step 1

Upload the Video Footage

Go to FlexClip online video editor, upload the video to the media library, and add it to the storyboard.

Get Started Now

View Templates

Image Board: Upload Your Video

Step 1

Shorten a Video

FlexClip video editor allows you to shorten your video by trimming it, or cutting parts out of it, and speeding up the video.

Trim

First, you can easily trim off a few seconds from the beginning or end of your video with the Trim Video icon located in the lower right corner of the screen.

Image Board: Trim the Video

Split & Delete

Second, you can also shorten your video with the split feature of FlexClip. This way can help you trim off the unwanted part from the middle of the video easily. Just do as the short video shown as follow.

Image Board: Split & Delete

Speed up

Besides, you can also speed up the video to shorten it and keep the same content as the original one. FlexClip allows you to adjust the video speed from 0.5x to 3x.

Image Board: Speed up

Step 4 Level up Your Video with More Edits (Optional)

What's more, FlexClip provides you with more video editing functions for you to level up your video, like add text, set background music, record voice-over, etc.

Final Words

That's all for how to shorten a video on iPhone and online. Hopefully, with the ways we shared, everyone can shorten a video with great ease.

Sandy /

Has 4-year of professional photographing experience. Very much into recording every detail of life. She is passionate about all things related to video production, and loves to exploring tips and tricks about it.