如何剪辑 YouTube 视频并保存精彩片段

Clipping a YouTube video means trimming a short segment from a longer upload to share or repurpose it. You can clip with YouTube's built-in tool for sharing, or use an editor to download and reformat clips for other platforms. Descript trims segments and lets you caption and resize them for Shorts and social.

YouTube is bursting with great ideas, but they don't have to stay locked in one place. If you spot an interesting moment in a livestream or a funny highlight buried in a long video, you can clip it and share it anywhere—TikTok, Instagram, Facebook—so that short snippet can get the attention it deserves.

Whether it’s a funny moment that you want to capture from a livestream or an insight that’d perform great on TikTok, there are multiple ways to clip a YouTube video on PC or mobile. This guide shares two easy step-by-step tutorials on how to clip YouTube videos, complete with tips on how to protect your own content against clipping.

Can you clip or trim YouTube videos?

YouTube allows anyone to clip content on the platform—provided the original creator hasn’t turned off clipping permissions.

The YouTube clip feature works by saving a specific portion of a full video, such as an interesting tip the creator has shared. Anyone who’s made the clip can share the link with their friends. Clips can be up to 60 seconds long and are saved to your own clip library, which you can find under the Your Clips tab in the YouTube sidebar. They’re played on a loop, similar to YouTube Shorts.

💥 Start with a bang: 21 inspiring YouTube Intros to learn from

How to clip YouTube videos on PC

Step 1. Find the YouTube video you want to clip

First, head to the YouTube website and sign into your account. Find the video that you want to clip either by searching your channel page or filtering videos in your YouTube Studio.

Step 2. Start a new clip

YouTube’s clipping feature is automatically turned on for all channels, so once you’ve found the full video you want to clip, go to Menu (which appears as three vertical dots) and choose Clip. Give your snippet a new name—one that’s easy to find when searching your video clip library.

Step 3. Drag the sliders

Use the sliders to confirm which part of the video you want to create clips from. There’s a minimum length of 5 seconds and a maximum of 60 seconds. Play around with these timestamps to make sure you don’t cut the video off unintentionally.

Step 4. Save the YouTube clip

Confirm the timing settings and press the Share clip button. You’ve got a few options to choose from here:

Share the YouTube clip via email

Get a shareable link to share the clip anywhere

Embed the YouTube video clip on your website or blog

Promote the YouTube clip on other social media platforms (note that this won’t share the actual video—it’ll share a link to divert people back to your YouTube channel)

Bonus—create longer clips with Descript

YouTube only lets you share 5–60 seconds at a time, and sometimes that’s just not enough. If you want a longer chunk—maybe you’re sharing a key moment from a gaming stream—Descript’s AI-enabled editor is the way to go. It helps you find the best highlights without spending hours scrubbing through footage.

Descript is also the better option if you want to share YouTube clips elsewhere, such as TikTok or Instagram Reels, rather than simply sharing a link to your channel.

Step 1. Start a new project and paste in the YouTube URL

In the main Drive view, click New Project in the top right corner. Then paste your YouTube URL into the text box.

Step 2. Open Underlord and choose "Create clips"

Open Descript's AI assistant, Underlord, in the upper right corner, then navigate down to select Create clips.

Underlord will give you the option to choose a layout and give instructions on the topics it should focus on. When you're satisfied with your choices, hit Submit.

Step 3. Browse your clip selections and pick your favorite

Once you're done polishing up your captions, colors, and branding, hit Publish and choose YouTube from the drop-down, and Descript will automatically publish your new clip to your YouTube channel.

How to clip YouTube videos on mobile

Step 1. Use your device’s screen recorder

Unfortunately, YouTube’s clipping tool doesn’t work on mobile. You’ll need an external trimming tool to clip YouTube videos from your smartphone. Luckily, most devices have built-in screen recording features to help you do so.

For simplicity’s sake, we’ll do this demonstration on an Apple iPhone or iPad:

Open the Settings app

Go to Control Center

Drag Screen Recording up to the Included Controls section

If you’re recording on any other device (like a Google Phone or Android device), follow this quickstart guide to enable screen recording.

Step 2. Open the video you want to clip

Next, open the YouTube video you want to clip. It’s easier to do this through the YouTube app, but you can open YouTube in your browser and record from there.

Step 3. Start screen recording

It’s now time to start clipping. Scrub to the section of the video you want to record, then drag down from the bottom of your screen to find the screen recording button. Remember to turn on Do Not Disturb so that your video clip isn’t interrupted by notifications.

Once you’ve finished recording your clip, press the End recording button. This will look different on every device, but on iPhone, it’s the red timing button in the top right corner.

Step 4. Rewatch the YouTube video clip

Most smartphone operating systems save screen recordings to the device’s Photos app. To find yours, go to Photos and filter by videos (though it should be the most recent file). From here, you can watch it later, edit, or share your clipped YouTube video.

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How to trim or clip a YouTube video that isn’t yours

Step 1. Check whether the creator allows clipping

On YouTube, creators can decide whether they give permission to have their videos clipped. If the original creator has this setting turned on, open the video and go to Menu and select Clip. Drag the sliders to choose which portion of the video you want to clip, give the video a name, then press Share clip.

Step 2. Choose a clipping tool

If the creator hasn’t given permission to clip their YouTube video, there is a workaround—but we want to preface this with one thing: only use the video clip for personal use (like saving it to reference in the future). It’s unethical to create clips from a YouTuber who doesn’t want their content to be clipped.

If the creator disabled clipping or you don’t have permission, don’t share your screen-recorded snippet publicly. Stick to personal reference or educational use—it’s the ethical move. Open a new project in Descript, press Record, and capture the relevant section for your own notes. If you plan to share publicly, always get the creator’s go-ahead.

Step 3. Trim your clipped video

Descript will automatically save your screen recording footage in the dashboard, ready for you to start video editing. Play around with the different features here, such as:

Trimming tools to cut down the video

Studio Sound to improve audio quality

Captions or subtitles to make the video easier to reference

Automated transcript to turn the video into written text

AI Summarizer to condense the content into a simple summary

How to stop others from clipping your YouTube videos

What happens if you’re on the other side and you’re a content creator who’s posting video content to your own YouTube channel? You can stop from clipping your video, which is useful if you don’t want your content to be repurposed or manipulated by anyone else.

To prevent people from clipping your own YouTube videos:

Go to your YouTube Studio

Choose Settings from the left-hand sidebar

Go to Channel

Click Advanced settings

Untick the Allow viewers to clip my content box. That way, if you don’t want other people snipping pieces of your video and sharing them, they won’t be able to—at least not using YouTube’s official Clip feature.

An AI-powered tool to clip YouTube videos

YouTube has a wealth of features that make it easier for creators to produce video content. If you want to take your content to the next level and repurpose YouTube videos into shorter clips you can share online, you need Descript.

Descript is the best video editor for modern content creators because it offers:

YouTube Cutter to trim and cut YouTube videos

YouTube Description, which uses generative AI to write your video description for you

Create Clips, which uses AI to clip the most interesting parts of your video

Social Post Writer, which suggests captions to share alongside your repurposed videos

Turn Into Blog Post, which turns your video content into written text

Thousands of creators are already using Descript’s AI-powered video editor. Join them today by signing up for your free plan.

How to clip a YouTube video (FAQs)

Why can't I trim a YouTube video?

YouTube gives creators control over who can clip their video. If you don’t see the “Clip” button, the owner may have turned off clipping. YouTube also blocks clipping on certain uploads, like videos shorter than two minutes or those marked “made for kids.” If you’re the channel owner and want to trim your video, open YouTube Studio, select Content, and use the Editor tab to cut the video directly.

How can I cut a part of a YouTube video?

If you own the channel, go to your YouTube Studio.

Click Content, then choose the video you want to edit.

Open the Editor tab and select Trim & cut.

Drag the timestamps to remove unwanted sections, then click Save.

If you just want to share a quick snippet (5–60 seconds) from any publicly available YouTube video, click the three-dot menu under the video and select Clip to grab your short highlight. For longer clips or a more polished edit—especially from a video you don’t own—use a video editor like Descript to import the YouTube link and trim exactly what you need.

How do you snip a video?

Download Descript for Mac or Windows.

Start a new project from the main Drive view.

Import your footage from your computer or paste a YouTube URL directly into Descript.

Drag the sliders or highlight text in the transcript to snip the video.

Add optional stickers, transitions, music, or captions to customize.

Preview your snip to make sure it’s correct.

Export or publish the final clip to share anywhere.

Is there an app to clip YouTube videos?

The Descript app for Mac and Windows is a great option. You can use its free plan to import any YouTube link, trim just the portion you need, and export or publish the edited clip. Unlike YouTube’s built-in 60-second Clips feature, Descript lets you create longer snippets and offers editing tools for captions, transitions, and more.

Can I publish YouTube Shorts directly from Descript?

Not at this time. Descript supports direct publishing to standard YouTube videos but not to YouTube Shorts. If you want to publish a Short, export your clip locally or publish to regular YouTube first, then manually upload and set it as a Short within YouTube’s platform.

Elise Dopson

Elise Dopson is a freelance writer, creator, and fierce Descript user. She's also the co-founder of Peak Freelance.