Tightening Up Your TikTok Content: How To Trim Videos

Experienced and talented content producers can start talking a split second after they hit the “Record” button, and they can stop recording as soon as they’re finished.

That’s not easy for most TikTok users who’ve decided to record a video.

Most people hit the button, take a deep breath, and then begin speaking. When they’re done, they probably have to think for a second or two before finding and tapping the button to stop recording. Their TikTok video may be terrific, but there’s useless footage showing them staring at the camera at the beginning and end.

They usually have the same problem if they’re trying to capture a cute scene with their child or pet. They start recording and wait for the adorable moment to happen, but they wind up with lots of boring video before they can capture the “payoff” that they want to share with their TikTok followers.

Patient viewers won’t mind the wait, but most people will. They’ll give up and check out the next TikTok post in their feeds.

The very best TikTok content is, to use a technical but understandable term, “tight.” There are no wasted moments like the ones we’ve just described.

How do you tighten up your video? One important detail is eliminating the useless footage at its beginning and end. That’s called “trimming,” and TikTok’s video editor makes it simple.

Trimming Videos on TikTok

Once you realize how easy it is to trim the excess footage that you’ve recorded, you won’t believe it took you so long to discover this trick.

1. Record your video by tapping the “+” icon on your home screen, choosing a video length in the Create screen, hitting the white “Record” button, and clicking the red checkmark when you’re done.
2. You’ll then be sent to the Editing screen. Tap the “Edit” icon (a small horizontal monitor) near the top of the right-hand menu.
3. Below the large preview window showing your video, you’ll see a small timeline that displays your content frame-by-frame. Tap on the timeline to highlight it, and you’ll see a white bar with a left arrow. That marks the beginning of your footage.
4. Hold your finger on the white bar, and drag it to the right until you reach the moment when you want your trimmed video to begin. That eliminates the “useless” frames at the start.
5. Scroll the timeline all the way to the right, and you’ll see a similar white bar with a right arrow. Moving that bar to the left trims the frames at the end of your video that you want to cut out.
6. Once you’ve trimmed both the beginning and end of your footage, hit the “Play” arrow underneath the preview window and you’ll see what your trimmed video looks like.
7. When you’re satisfied, you can add filters or effects, or perform any other editing tasks you’d like. Then tap the red arrow at the top right of the screen to move on and upload your TikTok post.

The same process is available if you upload a video from your camera reel into the TikTok editor. The only time you can’t trim a video is after you’ve uploaded it, so be sure you’ve carefully edited your masterpiece before posting.

Properly trimming a TikTok video won’t guarantee that you’ll build a large audience for it, but it certainly will help!