Making clips
How to clip a YouTube video
Three ways to clip a YouTube video: YouTube’s own Clip button (5 to 60 seconds, a link), Edit into a Short for your own videos, and a clip file with captions you can post anywhere.
Updated October 2, 20265 min read3 sources
In short
There are three ways, and they give three different things. YouTube’s Clip button makes a 5 to 60 second loop that lives on YouTube and is shared as a link; it is not a file. For a video on your own channel, YouTube can turn part of it into a Short. To get a video file you can post on TikTok, Instagram or X, with captions and a vertical crop, use a clip maker: paste the video’s link into FastClip, choose the start and end, and download the clip. Clip other people’s videos only with permission.
On this page
Which way fits what you want
| You want | Use | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| To send a friend one moment | YouTube’s Clip button | A link to a 5 to 60 second loop on YouTube |
| A Short from your own long video | YouTube’s “Edit into a Short” | A Short on your channel |
| A file for TikTok, Reels, X or a clipping campaign | A clip maker such as FastClip | An MP4 of any length, with captions and a 9:16 crop |
The first two stay inside YouTube. Only the third gives you a video you can upload somewhere else.
Way 1: YouTube’s Clip button
YouTube Help describes the steps on a computer:
- Sign in to YouTube and open the video.
- Select More, then Clip. In the mobile app, slide the row of options below the Subscribe button and tap Clip.
- Add a title (up to 140 characters).
- Drag the slider to choose the part. The clip can be 5 to 60 seconds long.
- Select Share clip, then copy the link, embed it or share it to a social network.
What you made is a pointer, not a video. YouTube says clips “are played on a loop from the original video’s watch page”. They are public, and they stop working if the original video is deleted or set to private. You find them later under Your Clips.
Why the Clip button is missing
- The creator turned clipping off. Clipping is on by default, and a channel can switch it off in YouTube Studio under Settings, Channel, Advanced settings.
- You are not signed in. The steps start with signing in.
- It is a live stream without DVR. YouTube says you cannot create clips from live streams without DVR, and clips of a long stream may not play until the stream ends and is posted as a video.
- The creator hid you. A channel can add users to its hidden users list, which stops them from clipping its videos.
A missing button does not stop a clip maker, because it works from the video’s link. Permission still matters: see the last section.
Way 2: turn your own video into a Short
If the video is on your channel, YouTube can make a Short from it. YouTube Help also says that the creator who owns a clip’s source video can convert the whole clip into a Short, and that viewers can remix a clip into a Short. This is the fastest route when you only post on YouTube and do not need captions or a crop that follows the speaker.
For YouTube’s length and Content ID rules for Shorts, see YouTube to Shorts.
Way 3: make a clip file you can post anywhere
This is the way to clip for TikTok, Instagram Reels, X or a clipping campaign, where you need a file and usually captions.
- Copy the video’s link and paste it into FastClip. It works in a phone or desktop browser; you do not download the video yourself.
- FastClip opens on the part viewers replay most. Take that suggestion, or set the start and end on the timeline or by selecting words in the transcript.
- Turn on the 9:16 crop if you want a vertical clip. It can follow the speaker’s face.
- Finish the clip. Captions are burned in. Download the MP4, or post it to Instagram Reels or X.
A clip made this way can be longer than 60 seconds. To see where a video’s best moments are before you clip it, use the free Most Replayed tool.
On iPhone, Android and PC
- YouTube’s Clip button is in the YouTube app on iPhone and Android and on youtube.com on a computer. You must be signed in.
- FastClip runs in the browser on all three, so there is nothing to install. There is also an iPhone app in testing.
- Screen recording your phone also “works”, but it records the player controls, drops quality, and gives you no captions. It is the slow way.
Clipping a video that is not yours
Two different things are called “allowed”. YouTube’s Clip button is allowed by design: the clip plays on the creator’s own watch page, and the creator can switch the feature off.
Taking a file of someone else’s video and posting it elsewhere is different. Do it only with permission: your own content, a creator’s clipping program, or a clipping campaign that pays for clips of that show. Our guide to copyright and fair use explains what platforms do with re-uploads, and what clipping is explains how campaigns give that permission.
Questions
How long can a YouTube clip be?
A clip made with YouTube’s Clip button is 5 to 60 seconds long. A clip file made with a clip maker can be any length; platforms then set their own limits.
Can I download a YouTube clip?
Not one made with the Clip button: it is a link to a loop on YouTube, not a file. To get a file, make the clip with a clip maker and download the MP4.
Why can’t I clip a YouTube video?
The creator may have turned clipping off, you may be signed out, or it is a live stream without DVR. YouTube also removes clips when the original video is deleted or made private.
How do I clip a YouTube video on my phone?
In the YouTube app, open the video and use Clip in the row of buttons under it. For a file with captions, open fastclips.app in the phone’s browser and paste the video’s link.
Is it legal to clip someone else’s YouTube video?
Using YouTube’s own Clip button is within YouTube’s rules, because the clip stays on the creator’s video. Posting a file of someone else’s video elsewhere needs permission, for example through a clipping campaign.
Can I turn a YouTube clip into a Short?
YouTube says viewers can remix a clip, and the creator who owns the source video can convert the whole clip into a Short.
Sources
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