# How to Crop a Video on iPhone, Android, Mac and PC > How to crop a video on a phone or computer, crop vs resize vs reframe, which ratio each platform wants, and how to crop a whole edit for 9:16 by chat. Canonical: https://cut.express/blog/how-to-crop-a-video [Guides](https://cut.express/blog/category/guides) Cut Express · November 3, 2026 · 6 min read To crop a video, open it in an editor, pick the crop tool and drag the frame edges (or pick a ratio like 9:16 or 1:1), then export. On iPhone it’s in the Photos app under Edit, then the crop icon. Google Photos on Android has Crop under Edit. On a computer, CapCut, iMovie, Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve all have a crop control on the clip. The button is easy. The part people get wrong is the ratio and where the subject sits once the edges are gone. ## Why does a cropped video still look wrong? You shot it wide and the platform wants it tall. After the crop, the speaker’s head is cut off, the product sits half outside the frame, or the picture looks soft. A crop throws pixels away, so it has to keep the part that matters, and it has to land on the size the platform shows. ## What does a bad crop cost you? A Reel posted in 16:9 shows up as a thin strip with bars above and below, and it reads as a reposted clip. A centered crop on a clip where the subject moves leaves the action outside the frame half the time. Either way, the viewer swipes before the first line lands, and the minutes you spent filming go nowhere. ## Crop, resize or reframe: what’s the difference? | Term | What it does | Use it when | |---|---|---| | Crop | Cuts away edges of the picture | Removing a distraction or changing the ratio | | Resize | Changes the pixel size, the whole picture stays | Exporting a smaller file | | Reframe | Crops to a new ratio and moves the crop to follow the subject | Turning a 16:9 clip into a 9:16 Reel | | Letterbox (fit) | Keeps the whole picture, adds bars or a blurred copy behind it | Wide shots where every edge matters | If you only need a vertical version of a wide video, see [horizontal video to vertical](https://cut.express/blog/horizontal-video-to-vertical): it covers reframing in depth. ## Which ratio should you crop to? | Where it goes | Ratio | Size | |---|---|---| | Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Stories | 9:16 | 1080×1920 | | YouTube, a website | 16:9 | 1920×1080 | | Instagram feed post | 4:5 or 1:1 | 1080×1350 or 1080×1080 | Crop to the ratio first, then check the subject. A clean 9:16 with the face in the upper third beats a perfect face position in the wrong ratio. ## How do you crop a video on iPhone? 1. Open the video in **Photos** and tap **Edit**. 2. Tap the **crop** icon at the bottom. 3. Tap the ratio button at the top and pick **9:16**, **Square** or another preset, or drag the corners freely. 4. Drag the picture inside the frame so the subject sits where you want, then tap **Done**. The crop applies to the whole clip. Photos can’t move the crop over time, so a moving subject may drift out of frame. ## How do you crop a video on Android? In **Google Photos**, open the video, tap **Edit**, then **Crop**. Pick a ratio or drag the corners, then tap **Save copy**. Samsung Gallery has the same tool under the pencil icon. Like the iPhone, it’s one fixed crop for the whole clip. ## How do you crop a video on Mac or PC? - **CapCut (desktop and phone):** select the clip, open **Edit** or the crop control, choose a ratio and drag the box. - **iMovie on Mac:** select the clip, click the **Cropping** button above the viewer, choose **Crop to Fill** and drag the frame. - **Premiere Pro:** add the **Crop** effect to the clip and set Left, Top, Right and Bottom in Effect Controls. To change the ratio, change the sequence frame size and scale the clip to fill. - **DaVinci Resolve:** select the clip, open the **Inspector**, and set the **Cropping** sliders. - **Windows:** Clipchamp, the editor built into Windows 11, has a crop button in the toolbar over the preview. In every editor, keyframes (where the app has them) let the crop move with the subject. That’s how pros reframe a moving shot by hand. ## How do you crop a whole edit with Cut Express? [Cut Express](https://cut.express/) is a video editor you drive from Claude. You upload your clips, say what you want, and Claude writes the edit while Cut Express renders the MP4. Cropping is part of every clip in the edit, so you don’t crop files one by one: - **Format** sets the whole video to **9:16** or **16:9**, and every clip fills that frame. - **Focus** picks the point the crop keeps, so a speaker on the left of a wide shot stays in a vertical Reel. - **Crop** keeps one part of the source (a box you describe, like “only the left half”), after any rotate or flip. - **Rotate** fixes a phone clip shot sideways, and **flip** mirrors it. - **Blur fit** keeps the whole wide picture over a blurred copy of itself, for shots where every edge matters. - **Split screen** layouts crop each cell on its own. See [split screen video](https://cut.express/blog/split-screen-video). Before it cuts, Claude looks at your footage frame by frame, so “keep the guitar in frame” lands on the right part of the picture instead of a guess. A prompt that gets a good first version: > “Turn my 16:9 interview into a 9:16 Reel. Keep the speaker’s face in the upper third, crop out the window on the right, and use blur fit for the wide establishing shot.” Then give notes like “move the crop a little left on the second clip” and the next version renders. New to it? Here’s how to [upload your footage](https://cut.express/blog/upload-footage-to-cut-express). ## FAQ ### Does cropping a video lower its quality? It keeps fewer pixels, so a heavy crop looks softer. Cropping a 1080p wide clip to 9:16 uses a strip about 608 pixels wide, scaled up to 1080. Shoot in 4K when you know you’ll crop to vertical. ### Can I crop a video without a watermark? Yes. The Photos app on iPhone and Google Photos on Android add no watermark. Free tiers of some online editors do, so check before you export. ### How do I crop only part of a video? Split the clip where the crop should change and crop each piece. Or use keyframes in an editor that has them. ### What’s the best ratio for Reels and TikTok? 9:16, at 1080×1920. Anything else gets bars or gets cropped by the app, often in the wrong place. More guides on the [blog](https://cut.express/blog). ## Crop your next edit with Cut Express Send the clips, say the format and what has to stay in frame, and get the MP4 back. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, so you can try it on your own footage before you pay; after that, Pro is $19 a month. [See the plans](https://cut.express/#pricing). **About this article.** Written by the team that builds Cut Express, the video editor you drive from Claude: upload clips, describe the edit, get the MP4. Cut Express is made by [nxcturnez](https://nxcturnez.com), the studio behind Valta, Karou, Klevo, Copix and Nexin; we cut our own videos with it. Spotted something wrong or out of date? Write to [support@cut.express](mailto:support@cut.express). ## Edit videos by chatting with Claude. [Start your 7-day free trial](https://cut.express/#pricing) 7 days free, then $19/mo. Cancel before day 7 and you pay nothing. More in Guides [GUIDES](https://cut.express/blog/category/guides) Oct 30, 2026 · 5 min ## [How to Reverse a Video: Rewind Shots, Boomerangs and Sound](https://cut.express/blog/how-to-reverse-a-video) How to reverse a video on a phone or computer, which shots look good played backwards, what happens to the sound, and how to make a boomerang by chat. [GUIDES](https://cut.express/blog/category/guides) Oct 26, 2026 · 6 min ## [Split Screen Video: Layouts for Reels, Shorts and YouTube](https://cut.express/blog/split-screen-video) How to make a split screen video: which layout fits 9:16 and 16:9, where to put the subject in each half, whose sound plays, and how to build one by chat. [GUIDES](https://cut.express/blog/category/guides) Oct 26, 2026 · 5 min ## [How to Speed Up a Video: 2x, Time-Lapse and Speed Ramps](https://cut.express/blog/how-to-speed-up-a-video) How to speed up a video: which speed to pick for each kind of shot, constant speed vs speed ramps, what happens to the sound, and how to do it by chat.