How to cut YouTube videos down to the good parts
To cut a YouTube video down, decide the target length first, keep only the takes that serve the video's one main idea, remove pauses, repeats and setup with jump cuts, and start on the first interesting line. If the video is already published, use YouTube Studio's Trim & cut to remove sections without changing the URL. Here's how much to cut, what to cut first, and a worked example.
How much to cut
| Recording | Typical finished length |
|---|---|
| 20-minute interview | 60–120 seconds per topic, or 8–12 minutes for the whole conversation |
| 1-hour talk or webinar | 10–15 minutes, plus a few Shorts |
| 2-hour livestream | A 10-minute highlight |
| 10 minutes of vlog clips | 3–5 minutes |
A useful test: if you can't say in one sentence why a section is there, cut it.
What to cut first
- Interviewer questions, if the answer stands on its own.
- Repeats. Keep the best version of each point.
- Setup. Start on the first interesting line, not the greeting.
- Pauses and false starts inside answers (captions make jump cuts easier to follow).
- Tangents, even good ones. They can become separate videos or Shorts.
Cutting before upload
19 minutes of interviews became an 87-second YouTube video. Sped up. Phone-size version.
We asked Novacut for a 90-second video about one topic from 19 minutes of interviews. It kept 11 answers (87 seconds), cut every interviewer question and repeat, and explained why it stopped short of 90 seconds rather than pad. Then refine by asking: "drop the third answer", "make it 60 seconds", "start on the line about the cave". Full walkthrough →
Cutting after upload
In YouTube Studio → Content → (video) → Editor → Trim & cut, drag the edges to trim or add a New cut to remove a middle section, then save. The URL and views stay. It's good for removing a mistake, not for re-editing the video.
FAQ
Can I cut a YouTube video that isn't mine?
You can only edit your own uploads. To use clips of other people's videos you need their permission, or a use that falls under fair use where you live. When in doubt, ask.
Will cutting a published video lose views?
No. Trimming in YouTube Studio keeps the URL, views and comments. Re-uploading creates a new video.
How do I cut out "um"s and pauses?
Delete them one by one on the timeline, edit the transcript in a text-based editor, or ask an AI editor to remove them. Expect a few to stay where the cut wouldn't sound clean.
What's the difference between trimming and cutting?
Trimming removes the start or end. Cutting removes a section from the middle. Trimming long videos →
Demo footage: NASA interviews with astronaut Jeanette Epps (public domain). NASA does not endorse Novacut.