Crop Video Online
Drag a selection box to crop your video frame, and crop it into square, portrait, or landscape with one click — remove black bars, crop out watermarks, and fit every short-video platform. Supports 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, and 1:1 aspect-ratio presets, with in-browser local processing and no uploads.
Local processing protects your privacy
Video files are never uploaded. All cropping runs locally in your browser, keeping your privacy protected.
Visual crop preview
Drag directly on the video frame to select the crop region. Move or resize the selection in real time — what you see is what you get.
Multiple aspect ratio presets
Built-in presets for 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, 1:1 and more. One click to lock the ratio and drag precisely for any platform.
Turn landscape into portrait in one click
Crop landscape video into 9:16 portrait to quickly fit Douyin, TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts, and other short-video platforms
Remove black bars and crop unwanted areas
Use free mode to drag the selection box and crop out the black bars, screen-recording toolbars, or edge watermarks around your video to highlight the main subject
Free, no watermark, no sign-up
Completely free to use, ready the moment you open it with no registration, no watermark added to your exported video, and no usage limits
Video File
Supports MP4, WebM, MOV, and more
How to crop a video online
Upload Video
Drag or select the video file you want to crop
Choose a ratio
Pick a 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, or 1:1 preset, or free mode
Drag the crop box
Frame the region you want to keep on the preview
Crop and download
Click Start Cropping, then download the new video when it is done
Which ratio should you crop to? Common size reference
Different platforms require different video aspect ratios. The table below maps common ratios to the platforms they suit, helping you pick the right crop preset in one click.
| Ratio | Orientation | Best-fit platforms and uses |
|---|---|---|
| 9:16 | Portrait | Full-screen portrait short videos on Douyin, TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Kuaishou, and more. |
| 1:1 | Square | Instagram feed posts, WeChat Moments, and Facebook square ads — squares take up more screen space in the feed. |
| 16:9 | Landscape | YouTube landscape videos, Bilibili, desktop playback, and promos — the most universal landscape widescreen ratio. |
| 4:3 | Landscape (near-square) | Traditional TV, some presentations, and older surveillance footage — a more compact composition that keeps more vertical picture. |
| Free | Any | Remove black bars, crop edge watermarks, or capture any part of the frame — no ratio lock, just drag the selection box freely as needed. |
Common use cases for video cropping
Crop landscape video into portrait for short videos
Use the 9:16 preset to crop landscape video recorded on your computer or shot on a camera into portrait. Frame the main subject and it fits Douyin, TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts — no need to add black bars in editing software.
Crop to square for Instagram and WeChat Moments
Use the 1:1 preset to crop your video into a square that fits Instagram feed posts, WeChat Moments, and Facebook ad placements — square frames take up more screen space in the feed and grab more attention.
Remove black bars on all sides of a video
Letterbox black bars caused by mismatched resolutions really hurt the viewing experience. Use free mode to leave the black bars outside the selection and keep only the central frame, removing them in one step so your video fills the playback window.
Crop out a corner watermark or screen-recording toolbar
When a watermark or software watermark sits at the edge of the frame, crop away that edge area and keep only the central picture to remove it. You can also crop out the browser address bar, player borders, and other irrelevant elements left over from a screen recording.
Zoom in to highlight part of the frame
When the main subject is small and there is too much background, crop out the region that contains the subject — effectively a "zoom in" — to make product demos, tutorials, or close-ups stand out more.
Prepare material for a cover or screenshot
Crop your video to a specific ratio before extracting a cover, or prepare versions with different compositions for multi-platform distribution, so the aspect ratio is just right for every channel.
Frame cropping vs. resizing vs. trimming — what's the difference?
Frame cropping (this tool)
Captures a portion of the frame and discards everything outside the selection, changing the composition and ratio. Ideal when you want to remove unwanted areas of the picture.
Resize video
Keeps the entire frame and only changes the overall resolution; no content is lost. Ideal when you want to change the file dimensions.
Trim duration
Captures a segment along the timeline and cuts away extra length at the start and end, without changing the frame size. Ideal when you want to keep a specific stretch of time.
About this video cropper
VideoKit's online video frame cropper is built on WebCodecs technology and crops your video right in the browser. After you upload a video, the tool automatically extracts a middle frame as a preview, and you can drag directly on the preview to draw the crop box, with free cropping and common aspect-ratio presets supported.
Once you have framed the region, click "Start Cropping", and the tool keeps only the content of the selected region and exports it as a new video file. All processing happens locally, and your video data never leaves your device. If you want to change the overall resolution rather than the composition, use "Resize Video"; if you only want to capture a stretch of time, use the "Trim Video (Duration)" tool.
Features
- Drag the crop box visually with real-time, what-you-see-is-what-you-get preview
- Built-in 16:9, 9:16, 4:3, and 1:1 presets plus free mode
- Turn landscape into portrait in one click or crop to square, fitting every short-video platform
- Use free mode to remove black bars, crop edge watermarks, or capture part of the frame
- Supports MP4, WebM, MOV, MKV, AVI and more as input
- Exports to MP4, WebM, or MOV
- Processed locally in your browser with the WebCodecs API — no uploads
- Completely free, no sign-up, no watermark
Supported Video Formats
Use Chrome or Edge for the widest format support
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I crop the frame of a video online?
After you upload a video, the tool automatically extracts a frame as a preview. First choose the aspect-ratio preset you need (16:9, 9:16, 4:3, or 1:1) or "Free" mode, then drag directly on the preview to draw the crop box — you can move it and resize it. Once you have framed the region you want to keep, click "Start Cropping", and the tool keeps only the selected region locally in your browser and exports it as a new video file to download. The whole process requires no upload and is completely free.
Does cropping a video reduce quality? Can it be lossless?
Cropping re-encodes the selected region. The tool uses high-quality encoding settings, so quality loss is minimal and barely noticeable to the eye. Strictly lossless cropping is not possible when you change the frame size, because the resolution becomes the size of the selection box and the video must be re-encoded. That said, the tool preserves as much of the original bitrate and sharpness as possible, and the output quality is more than enough for posting on social platforms, remixing, and most other uses.
How do I crop a video into a square (1:1) or portrait (9:16)?
Click the "1:1" preset to crop your video into a square (perfect for Instagram posts and WeChat Moments), or click "9:16" to crop it into portrait (perfect for Douyin, TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts). Once a ratio is selected, the crop box locks to that ratio — you just drag it to decide which part of the frame to keep, with no manual size calculations.
Can I use it to remove the black bars around a video?
Yes. Many videos get top-and-bottom or side black bars (letterboxing) because of mismatched resolutions. Use "Free" mode to drag the crop box so the black bars fall outside the selection and only the central content remains, then click Start to remove them. This is also handy for cropping out a browser toolbar, player borders, or other irrelevant areas from a screen recording.
Can I crop out a watermark in the corner of a video?
If the watermark sits at the edge of the frame (such as the bottom-right corner or the top), you can use the crop tool to cut away the edge area that contains it and keep only the central frame, removing the watermark. But if the watermark is in the center or covers the main content, cropping would sacrifice too much of the picture — in that case a dedicated watermark-removal tool is a better fit. The advantage of cropping out a watermark is that it is fast and leaves no traces.
What is the difference between cropping a video and resizing it?
Cropping captures a portion of the frame and discards everything outside the selection;the Resize Video toolkeeps the entire frame and only changes the overall resolution. Use "Crop" when you want to remove unwanted areas or change the composition; use "Resize" when you want to change the file dimensions while keeping the whole frame.
Do I need to pay or sign up to crop videos?
Completely free, with no account registration, no watermark, and no usage limits. Just open the page and start using it. All processing happens locally, it consumes no server resources, and it never adds any platform watermark to your exported video.
Will my video files be uploaded to a server?
No. All video processing happens locally in your browser, and files are never uploaded to any server. Your video data stays entirely in your hands, so there is no privacy concern — making it ideal for videos with personal or sensitive content.
Which video formats are supported? Is there a size limit?
It reads most common video formats (MP4, WebM, MOV, MKV, AVI, and more) and exports to MP4, WebM, or MOV. There is no fixed size limit, but since all processing happens in the browser, we recommend keeping files under 2 GB and using desktop Chrome or Edge for the best performance.
Can I crop videos on my phone?
Yes. The tool works in mobile browsers (iOS Safari 16+ and Android Chrome) with no app to install, so you can drag the crop box on your phone too. Because phones are limited by memory when handling large files, we recommend compressing first or choosing a shorter video.
Want to understand aspect ratios, black bars, and quality trade-offs in depth?
Check out our complete guide to How to Crop a Video, which covers crop vs. resize vs. trim, cropping by aspect ratio, removing black bars and watermarks, and whether cropping hurts quality.