Trim a YouTube video
Pick exactly where it starts and where it ends, and download only that section as MP4 or as a GIF. No need to grab the full video or install an editor.
You are responsible for respecting the copyright and terms of each platform. Copyright Policy
Why use PullVid for YouTube?
Available qualities
How to download YouTube videos?
Copy the YouTube video link and paste it above.
Press 'Trim' and mark the start and end of the part you want.
Choose whether you want it as an MP4 video or as a GIF.
Download the section — it saves straight to your device.
Cutting a YouTube video is usually done backwards: people download the whole thing, install an editor and trim there. To keep thirty seconds of a one-hour lecture, that means fetching a huge file and learning a program in order to throw away 99% of what you fetched.
Here only the section is downloaded
When you mark start and end, only that interval is requested. The practical difference is large: a one-minute section of a two-hour video downloads in seconds and weighs what a minute of video weighs. No giant intermediate file, no editor to install.
MP4 or GIF, depending what it's for
MP4 is what you want nearly always: it keeps the sound and the quality and opens anywhere. GIF makes sense when the destination won't take video — forums, wikis, some apps — or when you want it to play by itself on a loop. In exchange it carries no audio and weighs considerably more for the same length, so keep it short.
What people actually use this for
- Quoting a specific moment from a talk, an interview or a podcast without sending the whole video.
- Pulling a play or a scene out of a long stream or match.
- Keeping the useful bit of a tutorial: the minute with the step you care about.
- Making a GIF of a reaction or a funny moment.
What this tool doesn't do
It isn't an editor: it doesn't join clips, rotate, add text or music. It cuts an interval out of a video that already exists online and hands it to you. If what you have is a file on your own device, this is no use: that's what the converter is for, working on your files inside the browser. And if the problem is that the video is too heavy, what you want is to compress it.
Trimming before sharing saves more than compressing
Worth knowing: when a video won't fit where you need it, trimming usually beats squeezing. The same data spread over less footage means more quality per second. If only ten seconds matter, sending those ten seconds at good quality looks far better than the whole video crushed.
Another platform? You can also trim a TikTok video or an Instagram one. And if you want the full video, there's the YouTube downloader.
Frequently asked questions about YouTube
Do I have to download the whole video to cut it?
No, and that's the difference. When you mark the start and end, only that section is requested from YouTube's server. A 20-second cut from a two-hour video takes seconds and weighs what 20 seconds weigh, not two hours.
How precisely can I cut?
To the second. You set start and end with the slider or by typing the time, and you see the length of the section before downloading. For frame-accurate trimming on a file already on your disk, that lives in the converter with Premium.
Is there a length limit on the cut?
Not for MP4 — cut whatever you need. GIF does have one, deliberately: a GIF longer than a few seconds weighs a fortune and looks worse than the video, so the maximum is capped to keep the result usable.
Can I trim a livestream or a very long video?
Yes, and that's where the advantage shows most. On a multi-hour stream or a long podcast, requesting a section saves you downloading gigabytes to keep one minute.
Does trimming lose quality?
The MP4 is served at the original video's available quality, up to 1080p on the free tier. GIF does lose: the GIF format has a very limited colour palette and carries no sound, so use it when you genuinely need a .gif, not as a stand-in for video.