How to Cut / Split / Trim Videos without Quality Loss in Mac/Windows

Liza Brown

Mar 24, 2021• Proven solutions

Cutting unnecessary scenes from a recorded video is routine work in video editing. You have shot a good video, but it contains some unwanted clips and irrelevant content, making it very large or imperfect to share on YouTube. To make things simple, you can cut the video into several smaller parts and remove the unwanted clips based on the needs to create a new video.В

Here I recommend you use Wondershare Filmora9, an easy to use yet powerful enough video editing software, which helps you cut videos into several parts and provides lots of video editing functions to make a great home movie.

Free download Filmora9 video cutter software and then follow the step-to-step guide on how to cut a video below on Windows7/Windows 8/Windows10 and Mac.В

In the following part, I’ll show you how to cut a video with Filmora9 in several ways on Windows10. But the steps are similar for other operating systems.В

Part 1: How to Cut/Split/Trim Videos in Filmora9 [3 Steps]

1. Import your videos to Filmora9 Video Cutter

After installing the video cutter, launch it and selectВ New Project to enter the video editing interface. Now, you need to import the video that needs to cut into several parts.

You can either click «Import» on the main interface and select files from your computer, or just simply drag and drop files to the media library before adding them to the timeline for editing.В

Filmora9 video cutter supports almost all regular video formats, such as MP4, FLV, AVI, VOB, 3GP, 3G2, MOV, F4V, M4V, MPG, MPEG, TS, TRP, M2TS, MTS, TP, DAT, WMV, MKV, ASF, DV, MOD, NSV, TOD, EVO, etc.

Tips: Fasten Cutting with Automatic Scene Detection Feature in Filmora9

If your video has many different scenes, you can find the target clip that you want to cut with Filmora9. To quickly find the segment you want to cut, the «Scene Detection» function will help you. Highlight the video in the media library (not the timeline), right-click it and select «Scene Detection» to enter the Scene Detection window.

Click Detect and Filmora9 will separate your videos into different parts automatically based on the scene changes.В В

You can delete the unwanted scenes by click the Delete iconВ next to the clip and then get your wanted part quickly. Click the Add to Timeline В button and all the separated video parts will be imported to the timeline directly; you can then edit it further.

For the step by step tutorial about how to use the Scene Detection feature to split and cut videos, check our tutorial about Split Your Video into Sub Clips with Auto Scene Detection .

2. Manually trim/split/cut/delete videos

Drag videos from the media library to the video track on the timeline and following these instructions to cut video files.

To cut out the beginning part or the ending part of a video, you can use the trim feature to cut it out quickly.В

Zoom in the timeline to locate the frames that you want to cut out. Drag the trim icon to the right to remove the beginner part of the video on the timeline, or drag the trim icon to the left at the end of the video to cut the unwanted ending parts. With the trim feature, you can cut the beginning part and closing part with one drag.

Besides trimming out clips at the start or end of the video, you can also cut a video into parts, delete unwanted elements, and merge them into a new video.

Move the playhead to the beginning position of the video part that you want to cut, and click theВ Split icon В (scissor icon) on the toolbar or the Split button on the playhead to split the video toВ get the starting frame , and then move the Playhead to the ending frame of the video and click the Split button again toВ get the ending part of the video .В

Repeat the process toВ cut a video into multiple pieces . You will get several cut parts, delete the unwanted parts, or re-order the cut videos and edit it further.В

To delete an unwanted cut video, you can cut it out by clickingВ the Delete В icon on the toolbar.В

3. Export your video

When you have finished the cutting and the basic editing, click the Export button on the screen. You can save the video in other formats on the local computer by clicking «Format» and specify some necessary settings such as frame rate and resolution.
If you want to play video creation on iPod, iPhone, iPad, click «Device» and select the thumbnail of your devices. You can also share your videos on YouTube or Vimeo directly or burn videos to DVD discs for better video preservation.

Part 2: Cut Large Videos and Merge without Quality LossВ

Apart from the methods mentioned above to cut videos, you can also use the В Instant Cutter Tool in Filmora9, which allows you to cut large 4K videos and action camera videos without re-encoding and quality loss. How to cut a video with the Instant Cutter Tool? Follow the instruction below:

To use the Instant Cutter tool to trim and merge videos quickly, you need click the Import button first and then select Import with Instant Cutter ToolВ option.

And then, drag and drop your videos into the timeline to start trimming. You can use the trimming sliders, the set in/out points, or set up the starting and ending time to trim and cut videos quickly.

In case you want to cut out several clips from the same video and save it separately, you can use the Add Segment feature to generate a new video clip.

For the specific steps of using the instant cutter tool, check our В Instant Cutter guide.

Besides cutting videos, you can finish another editing, such as combining and merging videos or rotating video footage. You can check the video below and find out more features of Filmora9 video cutter. Download and have a try and let me know how do you like it in the comment below.

For the specific steps of using instant cutter tool, check our Instant Cutter guide.

Besides cutting videos, you can finish other editing such as combining videos together, or rotating video footage. You can check the video below and find out more feature of Filmora9 video cutter. Download and have a try and let me know how do you like it in the comment below.

Bonus: Trim & Cut Videos Online with Free Filmora Online Video TrimmerВ

If you want to have an online solution, Filmora online video trimmer is a free online tool that can help you trim video instantly. You can upload your video from computer and video link with drag-and-drop. It is easy to use with the slider or just input specific start and end times for precise trim. It also supports various importing and exporting video format, including .mp4, .mov, .wemb, .mpeg, .flv. More importantly, the exported video is free of the watermark. It is definitely worth a try!

FAQs about Cutting & Trimming Videos

1. What is the difference between cutting and trimming a video?

Generally speaking, if you are cutting some pieces out of a video and making a new video with these pieces, it would be called cutting. While trimming refer to cut off something at the beginning or the ending of a video (like remove unnecessary preparation scenesпј‰

2. Why choose Filmora 9 video editor to cut a video?

Form the above information, we can see, using Filmora9 video cutter to cut videos has the following advantages.

• Broad support for video formats:В you can use Filmora9 to cut large videos inВ MP4 , AVI, MPG, 3GP, WMV,В В MOV,В and other popular formats without considering the format capability issues. (Check theВ full list of the supported formats )
• Cross-platform compatibility:В Supported Windows 7/8/10 & Mac OS X (above 10.11), and you can start projects in a Mac or PC version of Filmora9 and continue working on them in either OS.В
• Automatic Scene Detection В for splitting videos into pieces based on scenes can check and cut the video faster.В
• Instant Cutter Tool В for cutting and merging videos without re-coding, so there will be no quality loss after cutting.В
• Plentiful Effects: В Merge and improve your video by adding effects, transitions, intro/credits, filters and elements.В
• Quick to Share: В Save your video into different formats, burn to DVD or upload to YouTube and Vimeo.

3. Why Cutting or Trimming Videos Reduce Video Quality?

When you cut, trim or edit the video in the post-production, video editing tools will decode the videos first, and then re-encode them during the process of rendering. While doing so, if the codec you choose has a high compression ratio, it will inevitably reduce the size of the clip, and will thus remove any additional information that the footage contains. As a result, every time you cut video or trim it, you still get degraded picture quality even if not quite significant.

Top 10 Free Video Cutters to Cut Large Video Files

Liza Brown

Mar 24, 2021• Proven solutions

If you like shooting and editing videos, you may have got some large video files to cut. Do you want to cut the large videos into smaller ones? Do you want to cut the black content at the beginning and end of your videos? Usually, a video cutter is necessary.В

In this article, you will find ten free video cutters suggested, all of which are easy to use and come with great features. Just choose the one you like and starting video cutting for a better video effect.

Free Online Video Cutter & Trimmer [No Watermark]

If you want to cut videos online for free without downloading programs on your Windows or Mac computer, you can try the Free Video Trimmer. You can upload your video from the computer and video link with a drag-and-drop. It is easy to use with the slider or just input specific start and end times for precise trim. It also supports various importing and exporting video format, including .mp4, .mov, .wemb, .mpeg, .flv.В

More importantly, there will be no watermark in the exported video. It is definitely worth a try! The interface looks like below:

You can visit https://filmora.wondershare.com/video-trimmer/В to try. [NO WATERMARK, NO REGISTRATION, TOTALLY FREE].

Note: if you want to merge and join the cut videos into a new one, or cut large video into smaller pieces, you should go to desktop video cutters since most online video cutters have size limitation. В

Here, we recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora video cutter. This video cutter can be used on both Windows and Mac, and you can use it cut large videos in several different ways.В

[Automatic Scene Detection, fast speed cutting with Instant Cutter Tool, wide support for video formats and what’s more important, plentiful built-in presets, templates, transitions and effects]

Part 1: Top 10 Free Video Cutter Software for Windows and Mac PC

1. Gihosoft Free Video Cutter

Gihosoft Free Video Cutter is designed for cutting large and long video files, like AVI, MPEG, VOB, WMV, MKV, FLC, and MP4, etc. It’s a small and free utility with useful features like a hand-drawn art style interface, precise spin button, etc. You can save new videos in other alternative formats without quality loss.

• You can cut video easily without quality loss
• Basically you just need 3 steps to cut video
• Support HD video cutting

2. Free Video Cutter

Free Video Cutter (freeware) is a very popular video cutter for years now. It gives you the ability to cut and split video files into small segments as you like with very good video quality. As the name suggests, it’s really a great video splitter or video trimmer. This program supports a vast range of video formats, including AVI, FLV,В MKV, MOV, MPEG 1/2,В В MP4, VOB, MPEG4, DivX, Xvid, etc.

• As a completely free video cutter, you can cut your video into small size easily
• For cutting large files, you need to close thumbs
• You can choose the output video format MPEG4

3. Moo0 Video Cutter

Moo0 Video Cutter is a freely available video cutting tool that allows users to easily cut and save the scenes they prefer from video files. Its user interface is simply and hence users, irrespective of their expertise levels can easily use them. The resulting video clips can be easily saved without losing quality and in a speedy manner. Users can also cut songs out of movies and delete the main movie from the PC if saving space is of concern.

• It is designed to cut video, so the features are basic
• It has a preview window and two sliders while cutting video
• You need to choose start and end time to cut large video

4. Media Cope

Media Cope actually is an all in one media player, cutter converter. In the primary window, click the Audio/Video Cutter tab menu, you can freely trim any segments of video and audio clips. This program gives good support to almost all the popular video and audio formats, like mp3, aac, WMA, FLAC,mp4, Mkv,3gp, WMV, MOV, Avi, Divx, Mpg, Flv, Rmvb, VOB, DAT, etc. The only disadvantage is that it renders relatively lower quality files.

• There are various video format supported to cut
• You can preview the video before video cutting
• You can change video format and quality when exporting

5. Video Edit Master

Video Edit Master is a very great free video cutter to cut and join videos easily and fast with the original video quality. It comes with a user-friendly interface and many video editing features, such as capturing frames from video files. However, it only supports AVI (Divx, Xvid..etc.) and MPEG video files. If you want to cut other video formats, you’d better turn to other free video cutter software or use professional video editing software to cut video files.

• It is so much easy to use even for beginners to cut video
• You can change the play rate for better video cutting
• You can only save the video to MPEG or AVI after cutting

6. Free Video Cutter Joiner

Like, Moo0, Free Video Cutter Joiner is freely available and is conventionally used in cutting and joining videos. Users can easily cut large video files and remove unwanted parts such as commercials and trailers. It also supports multiple file formats such as AVI, MP4, WMV, MPEG, 3GP, and FLV, among others. Users can also use the software to join various parts of video files.

• You can remove unwanted elements quickly
• Cut the video by clicking plus icon in the middle
• Low system requirement when cutting video

7. Cute Video Cutter Free

Cute Video Cutter is freely available software that provides an easy-to-use video cutting utility. It offers its user’s functional ability to cut and split video files into smaller sizes. In essence, users can large video files and also remove unwanted parts such as trailers and commercials. This video cutting tool supports multiple video formats including AVI, MPEG-1/2, DVD, MOV, MP4VCD, VOB, DAT, WMV, DIVX, XVID, and MKV, among others.

• After cutting video, the video quality is lossless
• You can cut various video formats
• You can use a slider to easily get what you want to cut

8. Weeny Free Video Cutter

Weeny Free Video Cutter is a freeware used for video cutting. It is used in cutting large video files into smaller pieces. The tool supports multiple formats including VOB, 3GP, FLV, MP4, MPG, ASF, AVI, RM, and WMV among others. Users can use it to cut off unnecessary video parts such as trailers and commercials. Users can also adjust output settings such as video codec, sizes, bit rates, and frame rates.

• Without advertisements, you can cut video like a pro
• You can change the file name and clip order after cutting
• The interface is easy to use for cutting video

9. iTech Video Cutter

ITech Video Cutter is the freeware used for video cutting. It allows users to cut favorite audio and video clips from a single file. Additionally, the software supports a range of formats including DAT, MP3, WMV, MOV, VOB, AVI, MPEG, ASF, WMA, and WAV among others. The tool also allows users to preview results. Start and endpoints can also be set. There is also an option to play and watch the cut movies’ faces in full-screen mode.

• It is secure and free to use for beginners
• You can cut a video precisely by entering start and end time

10. AIV DVD Cutter

Like DVD Cutter Plus, the AIV DVD cutter is freely available DVD cutting software. It allows users to extract clips irrespective of the DVD movie’s length. Users can easily cut their favorite video scenes as well as songs from DVD video movies. Users can additionally save videos. Additionally, the tool has a volume controller, play/pause button, stop button, new selection options, and a full-screen option for playing DVDs.

• You can cut DVD video file easily
• It is completely free to use without ads

Part 2: Filmora — Best Video Cutter for Beginners on Windows & Mac [Video Tutorial]

Tips: If you need more video editing features besides video cutting, we suggest that you use an easy yet powerful video editing software – Wondershare Filmora. With it, you can not only freely cut, crop, rotate, join, split, trim videos, but also apply video effects like music, transitions, text and titles, overlays, elements, green screen, etc. to your video.В

Download it now for free to have a try!

With Filmora, you can set up your video frame rate, zoom in, and zoom out the timeline to positioning the frames more precisely. Filmora also offers an automatic Scene Detection feature which will separate the video into different parts with one click and get the wanted clips easily.

For more detailed step by step guide about how to cut videos with Filmora video editor, check our article: How to Cut/Split/Trim Videos without Quality Loss in Mac/Windows with Filmora. Or learn more from Wondershare Video Community.

Part 3: How do we choose the best free video cutter software?

Supported video formats: Make sure the video editing software allows you to handle most commonly used video formats like MP4, FLV, MOV, MKV, AVI, WMV, etc. in importing and exporting as well.

Available Editing features: some free to use video cutter software may only allow you to cut off the video clips and not offer other needy features such as joining and combine several video clips into one, and adding some filters, overlays, and transitions.

Speed: since you will cut a large video file, the video editing software you choose should have a good speed capability at importing the video, so you can import it with less time.

If you are looking for online video cutter solutions, please check Top 5 Free Online Video Cutters >>

Comparison Table of the Best Free PC Video Cutters

Software	Media formats	Pros	Cons
Gihosoft Free Video Cutter	AVI, MPEG, MPG, VOB, RM, ASF, WMV, 3GP, MKV, FLV, MOV or MP4	Clean and secure to use Precise frame cutВ Save as new videos in formats you like	Saving progress is a little slow
Free Video Cutter	MPEG 1/2, MPEG4, DivX, Xvid, AVI, WMV, Quicktime MOV	Very easy to use Clean and safe	Very basic, no other editing features The creation for video thumbs will spend a lot of times
Moo0 Video Cutter	AVI, FLV, M4V, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPG, OGG, OGV, TP, TS, WEBM, WMV	Easy and fast The start and end times can be adjusted manually	Crash and laggy sometimes
Media Cope	MP3, WAV, AAC, WMA, AMR, FLAC, M4A, AC3, RMVB, MP4, 3GP, WMV, MOV, AVI, DIVX, MPG, FLV, MKV AND VOB	Support audio and photo editing Advanced features like Change Ratio, Screenshot, Framestep, Overscan, Subtitles support, speed change, audio delay, and create slideshow with music	Only supports XP/Vista/7/8
Video Edit Master	AVI and MPEG	Very easy to use Uses very little system resources	Associated with Cnet and Zonealarm No option to edit audio Will not join videos with different resolutions Only works with AVI & MPG
Free Video Cutter Joiner	AVI, MP4, WMV, MPEG, 3GP, and FL	Low memory requirement from your PC and Mac Support several audio editing Join different video formats together	No preview option May not be compatible with some antivirus software
Cute Video Cutter Free	AVI, MPEG-1/2, DVD/SVCD/VCD, VOB, DAT, ASF, WMV, Divx, XviD, MOV, MP4, M4V, MPA, 3GP, MKV, RM, RMVB, SWF, FLV	Quick and easy Supports a large range of media formats	A little bit complex for non-skilled users May need much system resources while conversing
Weeny Free Video Cutter	3GP, ASF, AVI, FLV, MP4, MPG, RM, RMVB, VOB, WMV AND MORE TO 3GP, AVI, FLV, MP4, MPG OR WMV	Interface clean and intuitive good response time	No option to select additional splitting methods
iTech Video Cutter	VOB, AVI, MPEG, WMV, MOV, ASF, DAT, MP3, WMA, WAV	Secure and lightweight (only 863 KB in size) Full-screen preview option	Only available on Vista/2003/XP/2000
AIV DVD Cutter	DVD	It can be used to cut down your favorite scenes and songs from a DVD movie	Slow response time

FAQs About Video Cutters

1. How Can I Cut Large Video Files With FilmoraВ Video Editor?

You can cut large video files inВ Filmora using the Instant Cutter tool or the Auto Scene Detection feature.

Instant Cutter tool allows you to trim videos quickly without re-encoding. Since there is no re-encoding, this tool is crucial for cutting large video files without quality loss. To cut videos with the Instant Cutter tool, click on import and then on import with Instant Cutter tool. Drag and drop the file you want to edit, then trim using the sliders or duration or in & out points. When finished, click on export.В

The Auto Detection tool, on the other hand, can detect the whole video and split them all based on scene changes. You can then delete the unwanted parts and click on Add To Timeline, which will add all the parts directly to your timeline.

2. How Can I Cut MP4 Videos for Free?

Yes. You can cut mp4 videos online without downloading any programs using Filmora Free Online Video Trimmer. First, upload your video or enter the video link. Next, use the slider or start and end times to cut your video. If you want an offline solution, download and install Filmora9. It comes with the Instant Cutter tool & the Auto Scene Detection feature for cutting videos. Instant Cutter tool allows you to trim videos quickly without re-encoding.В The great news is the Instant Cutter Tool is totally free to use, which means there is no watermark after exporting.

Conclusion

Above are the best video cutter software that you picked for your Windows and Mac. Some of them support a large amount of video format, save the new video in the original quality, and some of them feature a clean and simple interface that allows you to start cutting even new to the video editing world. We’ve summarized the key features of these free video cutters mentioned above. But if you want a paid solution, I recommend you to try Wondershare Filmora.