What a YouTube Clipper Does
A YouTube clipper does one job: it takes a start point and an end point inside a video and gives you exactly that part. The useful ones give it to you as a file. A file is the thing you can post to another platform, drop into an editor, send to someone without a YouTube account, or keep after the original video is gone.
That distinction matters more in 2026 than it used to. YouTube had its own clip feature for five years: a scissors button under the player that made a 5 to 60 second loop and gave you a link to it. On 17 April 2026 YouTube removed that button for viewers. Existing clip links still play, but nobody can make a new one, and those links were never files in the first place. They were pointers into somebody else's video, and they stopped working the moment that video went private.
YTCut is a clipper in the file sense. Paste a YouTube link, set the in and out points on the timeline to the second, choose a format, and download the clip. The video is fetched and cut on our server, so nothing is uploaded from your device and nothing needs installing.
A Clip You Keep Versus a Link to a Moment
Every way of sharing part of a YouTube video falls into one of two kinds: a link that points into the original, or a copy of the part itself. Here is how they compare now that the Clip button is gone.
| Method | What you get | Start and end | Who can use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Clip button | A youtube.com/clip link to a 5 to 60 second loop | Both | Nobody new. Removed for viewers on 17 April 2026; old links still play |
| Share at timestamp | A link that opens the video at one moment | Start only. Playback runs on to the end | Anyone, on desktop and in the mobile apps |
| Embed with start and end | An embedded player that plays a range | Both, in whole seconds | Anyone with a web page to put it on |
| Video Clips in YouTube Studio | A new video published on the channel | Both | The channel owner, on their own videos |
| YTCut | A file: MP4, MP3, M4A, WAV, WebM or MKV | Both, to the second | Anyone with the link |
Sources: YouTube Help on clips and on Video Clips in Studio; 9to5Google, 17 April 2026; YouTube IFrame player parameters.
The links are the right answer when you only want somebody to watch a moment and you are happy for them to watch it on YouTube. A file is the right answer for everything else: a Short, a Reel, a slide in a presentation, a sample for an edit, a quote for a podcast, a moment you want to keep. Our article on the end of YouTube's Clip button covers the four link options in detail.
How to Clip a YouTube Video With YTCut
- Copy the video's link. From the address bar, the Share button, or the app. Watch links, short youtu.be links, Shorts links and /live/ links of finished streams all work.
- Paste it on the YTCut homepage. The timeline loads with a strip of frames from the whole video, so you can see where things happen before you play anything.
- Set the in and out points. Drag the handles, or type the times. The selected duration updates as you move them, so you know the length before you download.
- Choose the format and quality. MP4 for video, MP3 or M4A for audio, WAV for editing, WebM or MKV if you need them. Pick the resolution your plan allows.
- Download. The clip is cut on the server and the file comes straight to your device. Your first clip needs no account.
If the video is long, finding the moment is the slow part, not the cutting. A timestamp in the comments, a chapter title, or a time somebody quoted to you is usually faster than scrubbing.
How Long Should a Clip Be
As long as the moment, and no longer. The old Clip button forced everything into 5 to 60 seconds, which is the right length for a reaction and the wrong length for most other things. Across every clip cut on YTCut since May, fewer than half would have fitted inside that window.
| Clip length | Clips | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5 seconds | 2,252 | 8.5% |
| 5 to 15 seconds | 3,970 | 15.1% |
| 16 to 30 seconds | 3,522 | 13.4% |
| 31 to 60 seconds | 4,216 | 16.0% |
| 61 seconds to 3 minutes | 6,658 | 25.3% |
| 3 to 10 minutes | 5,666 | 21.5% |
| Over 10 minutes | 56 | 0.2% |
First party totals from the YTCut clip log: every completed clip from 23 May to 25 October 2026, 26,341 clips from 21,777 different videos. Percentages are of completed clips.
The median clip is 56 seconds. The biggest single group, a quarter of everything, runs between one and three minutes: a full answer from an interview, a song chorus with its build, a tutorial step with its result. That is the band the old Clip button could not make at all.
If the clip is going to YouTube Shorts, TikTok or Reels, the platform limits matter too: Shorts can run up to three minutes, and a Short that uses licensed music has its own shorter limit. If it is going into a presentation or a message, shorter is almost always better, because nobody watches the second half of a clip they did not ask for.
Formats: Video, Audio, or Both
A clip does not have to be a video. Roughly one clip in ten cut on YTCut is audio only, usually a quote, a song section or a podcast moment. These are the six formats and what each is for.
| Format | What you get | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|
| MP4 | Video and audio, H.264 | You want to post, edit or play it anywhere. 89.4% of clips here are MP4. |
| MP3 | Audio only | You want a quote, a song section or a podcast moment for a phone or a playlist. 10.4% of clips here. |
| M4A | Audio only, AAC | You want better audio than MP3 at the same size, for Apple devices or an editor. |
| WAV | Uncompressed audio | You are editing the sound further and want no extra compression. |
| WebM | Video and audio, VP9 or AV1 | You want the web format YouTube itself streams, for a browser or a site. |
| MKV | Video and audio in a flexible container | You are archiving or editing and want every stream kept as it came. |
For audio, the clip is cut from the video's own audio track, so an MP3 of a 40 second quote is the same 40 seconds you selected, not the whole video converted and trimmed later. Our audio format guide goes deeper on MP3 against M4A and WAV.
Length and Quality by Plan
The first clip needs no account at all. After that, a free account gets one clip a day, and Pro removes the daily limit and raises both the length and the quality ceilings.
| Plan | Longest clip | Best quality | How many |
|---|---|---|---|
| No account | 5 minutes | 720p | Your first clip, free |
| Free account | 10 minutes | 1080p | One clip a day, free |
| Pro | 4 hours | 4K (2160p) | No daily limit |
Current limits on ytcut.org. A day pass gives Pro for 24 hours; prices are on the pricing page.
Quality here means the resolution the clip is downloaded at, up to what the original video offers. A clip from a 1080p upload cannot become 4K by choosing 4K. Our video quality guide explains what each resolution is worth in practice.
Clipping From Long Videos and Streams
One clip in eight cut on YTCut starts more than an hour into its video. Those are mostly podcasts, lectures, conference talks and archived live streams, where the moment worth keeping is somewhere in the third hour and nobody wants to download five hours to find it.
Clipping works the same way on a long video: paste the link, jump the timeline to the time you need, set the in and out points. Only the part you selected is fetched and cut, which is why a 40 second clip from hour three takes about as long as a 40 second clip from minute one.
A stream that is still live is the one exception. There is no finished video to cut until the stream ends and YouTube publishes the recording, and YTCut says so rather than handing you half a file. Our guide to clipping a YouTube live stream covers what to do during the stream so you can find the moment quickly afterwards.
Clipping on a Phone
YTCut runs in the phone's browser, so the steps are the same as on a computer: copy the link from the YouTube app's Share button, paste it on ytcut.org, set the in and out points, and download. Typing the start and end times is easier than dragging on a small screen.
| Device | Where to find the file | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone or iPad, Safari | The Files app, in Downloads | Open it and use Share, then Save Video, to put it in Photos |
| Android, Chrome | The Downloads folder, also shown in the Files app | Most gallery apps pick it up on their own |
| Windows or Mac | The browser's Downloads folder | Drag it straight into an editor or a chat |
When a Clip Will Not Work
Most failures have nothing to do with the clipper and everything to do with the video. These are the messages you can meet on YTCut, and what each one means.
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| This is a live stream | The stream has not ended, so there is no finished video yet | Wait for the recording, then clip it |
| The video is private or unavailable | The owner made it private, deleted it, or it was removed | Nothing can be clipped. Ask the owner for a copy if it is yours to use |
| Blocked in our server's region | The uploader limited the video to certain countries | It cannot be clipped from here |
| The download came back incomplete | YouTube closed the stream part way through | Try again; it usually works the second time |
Messages as YTCut shows them. Videos removed for a policy reason, members only videos and private videos cannot be clipped by anyone without access.
What You Can Clip
A clipper is a tool, and what you do with a clip decides whether it is fine. Clipping your own uploads, videos you have permission to use, Creative Commons material and short excerpts for commentary or criticism are the normal uses. Reposting a clip of someone else's work as your own, or putting a clip with a song under it into a video, is how clips get claimed. Our guide to how long a clip can be under YouTube's copyright system covers the details, and the short version is that no length is automatically safe.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a YouTube clipper?
A tool that takes a start and end point inside a YouTube video and gives you that part on its own, usually as a downloadable file. YTCut does this from a pasted link, to the second, in six formats.
Can I still use YouTube's Clip button?
No. YouTube removed the ability for viewers to create new Clips on 17 April 2026. Clip links made before then still play. The replacements are share at timestamp, which only sets a start point, and Video Clips in YouTube Studio, which only channel owners can use on their own videos.
How long can a clip be?
On YTCut, up to 5 minutes without an account, 10 minutes with a free account, and 4 hours on Pro. The old YouTube Clip button allowed 5 to 60 seconds.
Can I clip just the audio?
Yes. Choose MP3, M4A or WAV and only the audio of the selected part is downloaded. About one clip in ten cut on YTCut is audio only.
Do I need to install anything?
No. YTCut runs in any browser on a computer or a phone. The video is fetched and cut on our server, so nothing is uploaded from your device.
Is the first clip really free?
Yes, with no account and no signup. After that a free account gets one clip a day, and Pro or a day pass removes the limit.
Can I clip a live stream?
Not while it is still live, because there is no finished video to cut yet. Once the stream ends and YouTube publishes the recording, it clips like any other video.
Is it legal to clip a YouTube video?
Clipping your own videos, material you have permission to use, Creative Commons content and short excerpts for commentary are normal uses. Reposting someone else's work is what gets clips claimed. No clip length is automatically safe.