How to Crop a Video (Drag to Reframe, Free & Private)

15 August 2026·4 min read

To crop a video, open a cropper, drop in your file, drag the crop box over the part of the frame you want to keep, and download the result. You can do it for free with our video cropper, you drag the box right on the video, and the file never leaves your device.

Drag the box to frame what you keep; everything outside it is cut away.

Cropping vs. resizing, they're not the same

It's worth getting this straight, because picking the wrong one is the most common mistake. Cropping cuts away the parts of the frame outside a box you choose, so the shape changes and some picture is discarded, the subject fills more of the frame. Resizing keeps the whole frame and just changes its pixel dimensions. If a landscape clip has empty space on the sides and you want a tight vertical video, *crop* it, that removes the dead edges instead of squashing everything into a narrow box. Reach for the resize tool only when you need exact output dimensions with nothing cut off.

How to crop a video, step by step

Open the cropper. Go to the crop video tool. Nothing to install, no sign-up.
Add your video. Drag it onto the page or click to browse. It stays on your device the whole time.
Drag the crop box. Move the box by dragging its middle, and pull the corner or edge handles to resize it. Everything outside the box is dimmed so you see exactly what will be kept.
Lock a ratio if you need one. Leave it freeform to draw any shape, or lock to square 1:1, vertical 9:16, portrait 4:5, or 16:9 so the box holds that exact shape.
Crop and download. Export and save the cropped video, ready to post.

Pick the right shape for the platform

If the crop is headed somewhere specific, lock the matching ratio so you can't drift off-spec. Square 1:1 suits an in-feed Instagram or Facebook post. Vertical 9:16 is the full-screen shape for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Portrait 4:5 takes up more height than a square in the Instagram feed without going full vertical, which makes it a strong middle ground. 16:9 is standard for YouTube. Leave the crop freeform when you just want to trim dead space or reframe loosely.

Frame your subject before you export

The one thing to watch: a crop box covers the whole clip, not just the opening frame. Scrub through the video first and make sure your subject stays inside the box the entire time, a face that drifts left or an action that moves can slip outside a box that looked fine at the start. For a talking-head clip going vertical, drag the box up a little so the crop doesn't clip the top of the head, and if captions sit along the bottom, leave room for them.

Cropping keeps the original pixels inside the box, so it doesn't blur anything on its own, the clip is re-encoded once on export, so pick the High quality preset to preserve as much detail as possible. Drop your file into the free video cropper, drag the box, and download. Because it runs in your browser, the video stays with you and the export is clean and unmarked.

Questions

What's the difference between cropping and resizing a video?: Cropping removes the parts of the frame outside the box you draw, changing the shape and discarding some picture. Resizing keeps the whole frame and changes its pixel dimensions. Use crop to reframe or cut dead space; use resize to hit exact dimensions.
How do I crop a video to a square or to 9:16 for Reels?: Set the aspect lock to 1:1 for square or 9:16 for vertical, then drag the box over the part of the frame you want to keep. The box holds that shape as you resize it, so the export matches the platform exactly.
Can I choose exactly which part of the frame stays?: Yes. Drag the crop box anywhere on the video and pull its handles to resize. Everything outside the box is dimmed so you can see precisely what survives, you're not limited to fixed positions like center or top.
Does cropping a video reduce its quality?: Cropping keeps the original pixels inside the box, so it doesn't blur the picture. The video is re-encoded once on export, so choosing the High quality preset preserves the most detail. Nothing is uploaded and no watermark is added.