# Crop Video Online Reframe your video by dragging a crop box or picking a social aspect ratio. Everything runs in your browser - no upload, no watermark. HTML: https://grepcut.com/en/tools/crop-video ## How to Crop a Video Online in Your Browser 1. **Add your video**: Drop a file into GrepCut or click to browse. Your video opens in a live preview without being uploaded. 2. **Set the crop**: Drag and resize the crop box, or lock it to 9:16, 1:1, 16:9, 4:5 or Free. 3. **Export your MP4**: Check the framing, export the cropped video, then download a clean MP4 with the original audio preserved where possible. Need captions, music, a blur background or a moving crop? Send the clip to [GrepCut Studio](/) after cropping. ## Reframe Your Video Without Uploading It Cropping is useful when your video has the right moment but the wrong frame. You can cut away empty borders, remove a messy edge, center a face, or turn a horizontal recording into a vertical clip for Shorts, Reels or TikTok. GrepCut runs the crop in your browser. That means your file stays on your device, which is especially helpful when you are working with personal recordings, client footage, school clips or internal screen recordings. ### Use the crop box when you need to: - **Make a vertical short**: Crop 16:9 footage to 9:16 and keep the action in the center. - **Create a square post**: Use 1:1 when your clip needs to fit a feed or profile-style layout. - **Clean up a recording**: Remove browser bars, black borders, desktop clutter or unused space around the subject. - **Keep a platform-friendly frame**: Use 4:5, 9:16 or 16:9 when you want a predictable export ratio before posting. ## Best Crop Ratios for Popular Platforms | Platform or placement | Recommended crop | Why it works | | --- | --- | --- | | TikTok videos and in-feed ads | 9:16, 1080 x 1920 | This fills the vertical phone screen and matches the native feed layout. | | Instagram Reels and Stories | 9:16, 1080 x 1920 | Use this when you want full-screen vertical playback without side borders. | | YouTube Shorts | 9:16 or square | Vertical is the safest full-screen crop, while YouTube also treats square uploads as Shorts when they meet Shorts rules. | | Snapchat Stories, Spotlight and video ads | 9:16, 1080 x 1920 | Snapchat is built around full-screen vertical creative. | | Instagram and Facebook Feed | 4:5, 1080 x 1350 | This gives your video more vertical space in the mobile feed than square. | | Instagram and Facebook carousel-style posts | 1:1, 1080 x 1080 | Square is a safe choice when each card needs a consistent crop. | | LinkedIn feed video | 4:5, 1:1 or 16:9 | Use 4:5 for more mobile space, 1:1 for a balanced feed post, or 16:9 for widescreen footage. | | X video posts and ads | 1:1, 16:9, 4:5 or 9:16 | X supports several shapes, so choose based on whether your clip is feed-first or full-screen-first. | | Pinterest standard Pins | 2:3 | A 2:3 crop is the safer Pinterest shape when you want a standard Pin to show well in the feed. | | Pinterest full-bleed video Pins | 9:16, 1080 x 1920 | Use this when your video is meant to take over the full screen. | | YouTube regular videos, websites and presentations | 16:9, 1920 x 1080 | Use widescreen when your video is meant for a player, slide deck or desktop layout. | Platform specs can change. If you are preparing paid ads or a large campaign, check the official links in the sources section before exporting your final batch. ## Crop Ratio Easter Eggs: Small Facts That Help You Frame Better A 9:16 video is basically 16:9 turned upright. That sounds simple, but it changes the whole composition: your subject needs to live in the center column, not across the full width like in a landscape shot. The 4:5 crop is a quiet feed trick. It takes up more vertical space than 1:1 without becoming a full-screen Story, Reel or Short, so it can make your video feel larger in mobile feeds while still looking natural. Pinterest is the odd one out. A crop that feels perfect for Reels or TikTok can be too tall for a standard Pin, where 2:3 is often the safer visual shape. Cropping does not just change the shape. If you crop a 1920 x 1080 landscape video into 9:16, the usable source area is roughly 607 x 1080 before scaling. If you start with 4K, you have much more room to reframe without the export looking soft. ### Tiny framing rules worth remembering: - **Keep faces away from the edges**: Vertical apps often place buttons, captions and UI near the sides or bottom of the video. - **Shoot wider if you plan to crop later**: A little extra space around your subject gives you more freedom to make 9:16, 4:5 and 1:1 versions from the same clip. - **Do not stretch to fit**: If your video looks squeezed, you are resizing instead of cropping. Crop to reframe, resize to scale. A good crop should feel invisible: your viewer should notice the subject, not the fact that the video was converted from another shape. ## What Cropping Changes, and What It Does Not Cropping changes the visible frame. It does not magically create extra detail outside the crop, so a tight 9:16 cut from a 1080p horizontal video will use fewer source pixels than the full original frame. If your source is 4K, you usually have more room to reframe before the result looks soft on a phone screen. If your source is already small or heavily compressed, use the largest crop that still removes the unwanted area. Changing aspect ratio can mean three different things: crop the sides, add padding, or stretch the image. GrepCut's crop tool is for real reframing, so your subject keeps its natural shape instead of being squeezed. For animated reframes, zooms, pans or background padding, open the result in [GrepCut Studio](/) and finish the edit there. ## Which Crop Ratio Should You Choose? | Crop ratio | Best for | What to watch | | --- | --- | --- | | 9:16 vertical | TikTok, Reels, Stories, Shorts, Snapchat and vertical ads | Keep faces, captions and key action away from the top, bottom and side UI areas. | | 4:5 portrait | Instagram Feed, Facebook Feed and LinkedIn mobile feed | A strong option when you want more screen space without going full-screen vertical. | | 2:3 portrait | Pinterest standard Pins | Use this when Pinterest is your main destination and you want a feed-friendly vertical shape. | | 1:1 square | Carousel cards, balanced feed posts and thumbnails | A wide video will lose both left and right space. | | 16:9 landscape | YouTube regular videos, websites, presentations and widescreen playback | Good for removing borders while keeping a familiar wide frame. | | Free | Custom crops, screen recordings and unusual source dimensions | Use this when no platform preset matches your exact frame. | If you are unsure, start with the platform ratio first, then move the crop box until the important part of your video stays visible throughout the clip. ## How Browser-Based Cropping Works GrepCut uses browser media APIs to decode, crop and encode the video locally. The app can use WebCodecs where your browser supports it, with WebAssembly support for the processing pipeline. Because there is no server upload step, you avoid the slowest part of many online video tools: sending a large file away and waiting for it to come back. Your browser reads the file, applies the crop coordinates, and exports an MP4. Cropping video usually requires a new video encode because the visible frame has changed. GrepCut keeps the workflow simple and aims for a crisp export while preserving audio without re-encoding where the source allows it. ## Browser Cropping at a Glance ### Advantages - Your video stays on your device. - You can drag a live crop box before exporting. - Aspect-ratio presets cover 9:16, 1:1, 16:9 and 4:5. - The export is a clean MP4 with no watermark. - No sign-up is needed for the crop workflow. ### Disadvantages - Very large 4K files depend on your device memory and browser support. - A tight crop from low-resolution footage can look softer. - Moving crops, background fills and multi-clip edits need the editor. - WebCodecs support varies by browser. ## Crop Video - FAQ ### What crop ratio should you use for TikTok? Use 9:16, ideally 1080 x 1920. Keep your subject, captions and important text near the center because platform controls can cover the edges and lower part of the frame. ### What crop ratio should you use for Instagram Reels? Use 9:16 for Reels and Stories. If you are posting to the main feed instead, 4:5 is often a better crop because it uses more vertical space than square while still fitting feed layouts. ### What crop ratio should you use for YouTube Shorts? Use 9:16 for a full-screen vertical Short. YouTube can also treat square videos as Shorts when they meet Shorts upload rules, but vertical is still the clearest crop when you want a phone-first result. ### What crop ratio should you use for Pinterest? Use 2:3 for standard Pins and 9:16 for full-bleed video Pins. If your video is mainly for Pinterest, test the 2:3 crop before assuming that a TikTok-style 9:16 version is the best fit. ### Can you crop one video for every platform? You can, but one crop is rarely perfect everywhere. If you want the safest set, export 9:16 for short-form vertical platforms, 4:5 for mobile feeds, 1:1 for carousel-style posts and 16:9 for YouTube or websites. ### Can you crop a 16:9 video to 9:16? Yes. Choose the 9:16 preset, then move the crop box over the part of the frame you want to keep. This is the usual choice when you want a vertical version of a horizontal clip. ### Will cropping reduce video quality? Cropping removes pixels outside the selected frame, so the export contains less of the original image. The result can still look sharp when the source has enough resolution, but a very tight crop from a small video can look softer. ### Can you change aspect ratio without cropping? Not with a crop alone. To fit a wide video into a vertical frame without cutting anything, you need padding, a blurred background or a design layout. Cropping keeps the frame filled by removing the outside area. ### Does cropping remove the audio? No. Cropping changes the video frame, not the audio track. GrepCut keeps the audio in sync and preserves it without re-encoding where possible. ## Platform specs and further reading - [Meta guide to aspect ratios across Facebook and Instagram placements](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/103816146375741) - [YouTube Help on video resolution and aspect ratios](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6375112) - [YouTube Help on uploading Shorts](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/12779649) - [TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads specifications](https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/tiktok-auction-in-feed-ads) - [TikTok ad format and functionality policy](https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/tiktok-ads-policy-ad-format-and-functionality) - [LinkedIn video ads specifications](https://business.linkedin.com/advertise/ads/sponsored-content/video-ads/specs) - [X creative ad specifications](https://business.x.com/en/help/campaign-setup/creative-ad-specifications) - [Pinterest video Pin specifications](https://help.pinterest.com/en/article/review-pin-specs) - [Pinterest business ad specs](https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/pinterest-product-specs) - [Snapchat single image or video specifications](https://businesshelp.snapchat.com/s/article/top-snap-specs) - [Reddit discussion about cropping 16:9 video to 9:16](https://www.reddit.com/r/handbrake/comments/wff67h/how_to_crop_video_from_169_to_916/) - [Reddit discussion about resolution loss when cropping horizontal video to vertical](https://www.reddit.com/r/VideoEditing/comments/1ii2qc8/how_much_loss_in_resolution_when_cropping_a_1080p/) ## Crop Your Video for the Right Platform Open GrepCut, choose the crop ratio for your platform, and export a clean MP4 without sending your file to a server. After that, you can keep editing with captions, music and effects in the full studio. ## Related Tools - [Resize Video](https://grepcut.com/en/tools/resize-video) - scale your video to exact dimensions. - [Video Trimmer](https://grepcut.com/en/tools/video-trimmer) - cut the start or end of your clip. - [Mute Video](https://grepcut.com/en/tools/mute-video) - remove the audio track from a video.