How to crop a video on Mac
Last updated 2026-10-20
Apple's QuickTime Player guide lists no crop tool. Photos can crop: open the video, click Edit, then Crop, and drag the rectangle. iMovie can crop too, but its crop frame is locked to 16:9. To change a video's shape, such as 16:9 to vertical 9:16, you need an editor with a canvas size and per-clip crop, like Woven.
What QuickTime Player, Photos and iMovie can do
Apple's QuickTime Player guide lists split, rearrange, rotate, flip, trim and remove audio or video under editing. It lists no crop. Rotate and flip turn or mirror the whole picture. They do not remove its edges.
Photos has a Crop tool for video, with a rectangle you drag. Apple's crop page lists Square, 4:5, 16:9 and Custom as aspect ratios, but it describes them for photos and does not name 9:16, so look at the list on your Mac. Edits apply to the whole video, not one section.
iMovie has Crop to Fill in the timeline. Apple notes its frame is constrained to 16:9. Apple's page does not cover making a vertical movie or changing a movie's aspect ratio.
| App | Crop a video | Change the shape to 9:16 |
|---|---|---|
| QuickTime Player | No crop listed | No |
| Photos | Yes, drag a rectangle | 9:16 not named by Apple; check the list on your Mac |
| iMovie | Yes, Crop to Fill, locked to 16:9 | Not covered by Apple's page |
Cropping is not the same as changing the aspect ratio
Cropping cuts away the edges of a picture. Changing the aspect ratio changes the shape of the whole frame, the canvas. Turning 16:9 into 9:16 usually takes both.
The cost is larger than most people expect. A full-height 9:16 window cut from a 1920 by 1080 clip is 608 pixels wide, about 32% of the width. That works for one speaker in the middle. It does not work for a wide shot of two people.
Use a rule. One subject near the center: fill the frame and slide the clip until the subject sits in the window. A wide shot or text near the edges: fit the whole clip, accept bars, and put a background behind it. Going the other way, vertical to horizontal, is the same trade: fill crops the top and bottom, fit adds bars at the sides.
The common mistake is cropping before you choose the shape. Set the canvas first, then crop each clip, or you redo the work.
Masks and moving subjects
A crop is a fixed rectangle. If your subject walks across the shot, a fixed crop cuts them off. Woven's crop cannot be animated, but position and size keyframes can, so the picture follows the subject. A mask cuts a clip into a circle or rectangle instead, which suits a facecam in a corner.
Pick the shape for where the video is going, then export. The size guides list what each platform accepts. Woven exports with a short side of 1080 or 1440 pixels, so a 9:16 canvas exports at 1080 by 1920 or 1440 by 2560.
Crop and reframe in Woven
Woven treats the two jobs separately. The Format menu sets the canvas. Each clip has its own Crop tab. A blank reel adopts the first video's size, so if your first clip is 16:9, change the format yourself.
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- Make this vertical 9:16 and keep the speaker centered.
- Put this clip on a square canvas and fill the frame.
- Set up a 1080 by 1350 canvas for a feed post.
- Crop the facecam into a circle in the bottom corner.
Or do it by hand
- 1Set the canvas. Click Format in the toolbar and choose Vertical 1080x1920, Square 1080x1080, Horizontal 1920x1080 or Custom…, then enter the size. There is no 4:5 preset, so use Custom… with 1080 by 1350.
- 2Add the clip. Choose Add, then Video, or drag the file onto the timeline.
- 3Fit or Fill. Select the clip, open the Crop tab and, under Framing, choose Fill to cover the canvas or Fit to show the whole clip. The Aspect page lists Original, Freeform, 9:16, 1:1, 4:5 and 16:9.
- 4Move and scale. Drag the clip on the canvas, use Zoom (up to 4 times), or set Width, Height and Scale under Dimensions. Choose Reset crop to start again.
- 5Export. Choose Export, then 1080p or 1440p.
Common questions
In Photos, double-click the video, click Edit, click Crop and drag the rectangle. iMovie has Crop to Fill. For a different canvas shape or several clips, use an editor such as Woven.
Not according to Apple. Its QuickTime Player guide lists trim, split, rotate and flip under editing, and no crop. Rotate and flip change the whole picture, not its edges.
Set the canvas to the new shape, then crop or fit each clip inside it. In Woven, the Format menu offers Vertical 1080x1920, Square 1080x1080 and Horizontal 1920x1080, plus Custom… for other sizes.
Put it on a 16:9 canvas. Fill keeps the whole width and crops the top and bottom, leaving about 32% of the height. Fit keeps everything and adds bars at the sides.
Check the sizes Instagram accepts in the Reels size guide, set your canvas to match, crop or fit your clips, then export.
It can. Cropping keeps only part of the pixels, then zooms them to fill the frame. A tight crop on 1080p footage is softer than the original, so crop as little as you can.
Sources
- QuickTime Player User Guide - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Rotate or flip a clip in QuickTime Player on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Change and enhance a video in Photos on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Crop, extend, reframe, and straighten photos and videos on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
- Crop clips in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
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