Edit video on iPhone: Photos, iMovie, free apps and talking-head edits

You can edit video on your iPhone for free with two apps Apple makes. Photos is already on your phone. Use it to trim the start and end, crop, rotate and add a filter. iMovie is a free download. Use it to cut out the middle, join several clips and choose the export resolution. If your video is you talking to camera, a transcript editor is often quicker than either. You read what you said and strike the parts you want gone.

Which tool for which edit

What you want to do	Free tool on iPhone	Where to find it
Cut off the start or the end	Photos	Edit, then drag the ends of the frame viewer
Crop, rotate, flip or straighten	Photos	Edit, then the crop tool
Filters, slow-mo section, playback speed	Photos	Edit
Cut out a part in the middle	iMovie	Split the clip, then delete the piece
Join several clips into one video	iMovie	Add clips to one project
Choose the resolution of the finished file	iMovie	Share, Share Video, Options
Remove ums, retakes and long pauses from a talking-head	A transcript editor	Strike words in the text

Trim a video in Photos

1. Open the video in Photos and tap Edit.
2. Drag either end of the frame viewer to set the new start and end.
3. Save. Apple’s guide describes two choices: Save Video “saves only the trimmed version of the video”, and Save as New Clip “keeps the original version and saves an additional trimmed version in your library” (Apple).

To undo a trim later, open the video, tap Edit, then Revert (Apple). A clip you saved as a new clip cannot be reverted to its original length, but your original is still in the library (Apple).

The same Edit screen lets you rotate, add filters and, for a video shot in Slo-mo, set which part plays slowly. On iOS 18 and later, you can also slow down a video recorded at more than 30 fps (Apple).

Upside: It is already on your phone, it takes seconds, and you can undo it.

Downside: It only trims from the ends. If you stumbled in the middle of a take, Photos cannot take that bit out. Our guide to cutting out parts of a video on iPhone, not just the start and end shows the workarounds.

Edit video size: shape, resolution and file size

“Edit video size” can mean two things, and each has a different fix.

The shape of the frame. To fit a horizontal video into a vertical Reel or a square feed post, crop it. Photos can crop, rotate, flip and straighten videos as well as photos (Apple). Open the video, tap Edit, choose the crop tool and pick a ratio or drag the corners.

The resolution and file size. Photos does not let you choose an export resolution. iMovie does:

1. In iMovie, open your project from the Projects browser and tap the Share button.
2. Tap Share Video, then Options.
3. Tap a resolution and, if offered, a frame rate.
4. Tap Done, then Save Video to save to your photo library, or Save to Files to choose a folder (Apple).

iMovie saves to Photos “in resolutions up to 4K at 60 frames per second” (App Store). The 60 fps option only appears when “more than 50 percent of your project media is 1080p or 4K video at 60 frames per second” (Apple). A lower resolution gives you a smaller file.

Cut the middle and join takes in iMovie

iMovie is free on the App Store (App Store). It is the free tool on iPhone that can remove a section from the middle of a clip: split the clip on both sides of the section and delete the piece in between.

1. Create a new movie project and add your clip.
2. Scroll the timeline so the playhead sits where the unwanted part begins.
3. Tap the clip, then the Actions button, then Split (Apple).
4. Move the playhead to where the unwanted part ends and split again.
5. Tap the piece in between and tap Delete (Apple).
6. Export as described in the section above.

If you recorded several takes, add them all to the same project and they will play one after another. Our guide on combining videos on iPhone with iMovie, the Photos workaround and multiple takes explains the order and the transitions.

Upside: It is free, made by Apple and can do most of what a short video needs.

Downside: Each cut is two splits and a delete, and you find each one by listening. That is fine for three cuts. It gets slow when you need thirty.

Other free apps worth knowing

Some free editors from other companies add things Photos and iMovie do not have, such as automatic captions.

• Edits, by Instagram, is free with in-app purchases. Its listing says it exports “in 4K with no watermark” and can “generate captions automatically” (App Store).
• CapCut is free with in-app purchases. Its listing mentions auto captions and 4K 60 fps export, and the US store lists subscriptions such as a $9.99 Standard Monthly and an $89.99 Yearly plan (App Store).

If you want effects, music, overlays or captions burned into the video, these apps fit the job better than Photos. See CapCut vs iMovie as free editors for the differences, and iMovie alternatives for iPhone and Android for a wider list.

Talking-head edits: work from the words

Talking-head videos have a particular problem. What you need to cut is not a scene but a sentence: a false start, a repeated line, an “um”, a pause that went on too long. On a timeline, each cut means finding the spot by ear and making two splits.

A transcript editor works from the text instead. slicecut is one option. It is a phone app for iPhone and Android that transcribes your take and shows it as text. Tap a word to strike it, or drag across a sentence to strike the whole line, and the cut lands right before the next word. One tap sets every pause in the project to a length you choose. Nothing is rendered until export, so you can undo every strike. The export is rendered on the phone at source quality and saved to your gallery with no watermark. It does not add filters, effects or subtitles. For those, use one of the apps above after you have made your cuts.

Whichever tool you use, cut in passes: retakes first, then filler words, then pauses. Our guide on how to edit a talking-head video, pass by pass covers the order. If your video still feels slow after that, read how to remove silence without making it sound rushed.

The short version

• To trim the start and end, use Photos.
• To cut the middle, join takes or choose the resolution, use iMovie. It is free.
• For captions and effects, try a free editor such as Edits or CapCut.
• For a talking-head with lots of small cuts, edit from the transcript.