How Do I Crop or Resize My YouTube Video?

To crop or resize your YouTube video, first, log in to your YouTube account. Then, click on the video you want to edit. Use the crop and rotate feature in the Video Editor. Click on the crop icon to crop your video to start. You can change the size of your canvas by adjusting its width or height in pixels. Click on Change Dimensions and select a value for either width or height.

Adam Goldkamp is the editor / author responsible for this content.
Dec 9, 2022

Cropping and resizing your YouTube video is easy to do. You can customize the look of the video by cropping out unwanted portions so that it fits within a specific aspect ratio, or by increasing or decreasing its size. If you use the YouTube editor, you have several options for cropping and resizing your video. Here are ways to crop or resize a video.

1. Log Into YouTube

To crop or resize your YouTube video, you'll need to log into your YouTube account.

2. Open Your Video in the Video Editor

Go to your video manager and select the video you want to crop or resize. Here are the steps:

  • Click on the Edit button. You can change this by clicking on the drop-down menu and selecting Edit or clicking the pencil next to your video title.
  • If you're using YouTube Studio (formerly Creator Studio), click on Creator Studio in the top navigation bar, then click on Create.
  • In either version, click on Video Manager to access all of your videos.
  • Once there, click on a given video from which you'd like to make edits.
  • Now that your selected video is open for editing, look at its bottom right corner for an edit button labeled as such (it will appear in red).
  • Clicking this button will open up a drop-down menu where one of three options should be available: Crop & Resize, Rotate and Trim
  • Click on Crop and Rotate. The button will turn green to indicate that it is active. You'll now see your video play in a preview window.
  • This is where you can select different aspect ratios and rotate them before saving or publishing your video.

3. Specify Which Section You Want To Play

Once you have your video selected, you can drag the bars on either side of it to specify which section of the video will play. This is especially helpful if you want to crop or resize your video without losing any content.

Here's how to do this:

  • Drag a bar down will expand the selection from top to bottom, showing more of your clip.
  • Drag a bar up will contract your selection from bottom to top, hiding more from view and leaving only what's visible below that point.

4. Drag the Dotted Rectangle to Crop

You can crop or resize your video by dragging the dotted rectangle in your video. Follow these steps:

  • Drag the dotted rectangle to play over only part of your video. This will create a smaller version for uploading, but it won't remove any frames from the original clip.
  • If you want to edit out unwanted sections and create an entirely new video, drag the dotted rectangle over them until they disappear from view.

5. Click the Canvas Size Button

You can crop or resize your YouTube video using the YouTube editor. To resize your video:

  • Click on the Canvas Size button.
  • You'll see a list of standard YouTube ratios, such as 16x9.
  • Select from this list or choose Custom.
  • You can specify your size by dragging two corners of the grid.
  • Click Apply to apply your changes and return to where you left off in YouTube's Video Editor interface.

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Adam has been tirelessly trying to help customers find the best tips and tricks to get through phone trees and writing many guides for prickly customer service problems. He's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inside Edition and Bloomberg.
How Do I Crop or Resize My YouTube Video?

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Asked 2 years ago
Updated 2 years ago
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Crop or resize my YouTube video
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