Trimming video in PowerPoint in 3 Easy Steps

If you are in the impression that a dedicated and overly complex program is needed to edit a clip, you would be surprised to know that you can even trim video in PowerPoint. While Microsoft PowerPoint is majorly used to prepare presentations and basic animated explainers, you can easily learn how to cut video in PowerPoint with the tools available within the app itself.

With that said, here you will get to know how to trim a YouTube video in PowerPoint. In addition, one of the following sections will also discuss about another, rather better alternative to trim video in PowerPoint in case you need a perfect, flawless output that can be used for both personal uses and commercial gains.

Part 1: Trim Video in PowerPoint (2010/2013/2016/2019)

Regardless of the version of PowerPoint you have access to, the basic concept of trimming a video in the app is identical. Depending on the PowerPoint variant you are using, even though the tools that are used for the purpose may be located under different menus or ribbons, once you are familiar with the process, things would be easy. This tutorial uses Microsoft PowerPoint 2019 for the instructions and demonstrations.

The instructions given below explain how to cut video in PowerPoint 2019:

Step 1: Import a Video to PowerPoint

After launching PowerPoint and starting a new project (or opening an existing one), go to Insert from the menu bar, click Video from the Media section of the ribbon, click Video on My PC from the available options, and locate and import the source video to PowerPoint.

Step 2: Get to the Trim Video Box

Right-click anywhere on the video you imported, and click Trim from the panel that appears above (or below) the context menu to get to the Trim Video box.

Step 3: Trim Video in PowerPoint

Drag the Green trimming handle to the right and/or the Red one to the left to trim out the starting and ending portions of the video respectively. Alternatively, you can also enter your preferred values in the Start Time and End Time fields to trim the clip with more precision. Click the Play button to preview the edited video, and click OK to save the changes.

Part 2: How to Trim a YouTube Video in PowerPoint

As it is with the videos from your local hard drive, 2016 and earlier versions of Microsoft PowerPoint also allow you to trim YouTube videos with ease. However, the process is slightly different as the media on YouTube needs to be shortened without downloading.

To learn how to trim a YouTube video in PowerPoint, you can follow the steps given below:

Note: At the time of this writing, Microsoft PowerPoint 2019 doesn’t allow to trim online videos. Therefore, this section explains how to get the job done in PowerPoint 2016.

Step 1: Get the Correct Embed Code for the Source YouTube Video

Launch your favorite web browser, go to the YouTube video that you want to trim in PowerPoint, click the Share icon, go to the Embed tab, click SHOW MORE from under the code field to reveal the other setting options, uncheck the Show suggested videos when the video finishes box, and ensure that the Show player controls and Show video title and player actions boxes are checked. Now select the entire embed code (Ctrl + A), and copy (Ctrl + C) it to the clipboard.

Step 2: Paste and Modify the Embed Code in PowerPoint for Trimming

Launch PowerPoint on your PC, get to the slide you want to add the trimmed video to, go to the Insert tab, click Video from the Media category of the ribbon, and click Online Video. On the Insert Video box, paste (Ctrl + V) the embed code you copied in the From a Video Embed Code field, add “;start=<seconds>;end=<seconds>;” (without quotes) right after where the code says “rel=0” (without quotes), and click the Go arrow present at the right of the field to.

Note: Replace <seconds> with the number of seconds you want to start and end the video at (E.g. ;start=20;end=180;).

Step 3: Resize the Video Player and Save

Once the trimmed video is added to PowerPoint, drag the resizing handles present at the corners of the player to scale up or scale down the embedded playback window, and click the Save (Floppy) icon from the Quick Access toolbar at the top-left to save the changes.

Part 3: Do More on the Trimmed Video in PowerPoint

A couple of other things that you can do on the trimmed videos in PowerPoint include:

1. Save the Trimmed Video to Computer

After you trim video in PowerPoint, you may wish to use the clip in other projects too. The good thing is, it is easy to save the modified media to your PC. To do so:

• Right-click the video after trimming
• Click Save Media as
• Save the clip with your preferred name on your local hard drive

Note: By default, the video is saved in MP4 format.

2. Play the Video in PowerPoint

Post trimming, when you click the OK button to close the Trim Video box saving the changes, you can watch the clip by clicking the Play button that appears at the left side of the player control bar present at the bottom.

3. Crop a Video in PowerPoint

Cropping a media clip is equally important as it helps you eliminate the unwanted portions such as watermarks from the frames. To crop a video in PowerPoint:

• Select the trimmed video in the slide
• Ensure that Format is selected in the menu bar at the top
• Click Crop from the Size section of the ribbon

• Use the cropping handles that appear at the sides of the video to get rid of the unwanted portions

4. Add Video Bookmarks

If you want to trigger some animations at a particular time in the video, or want the audience to easily locate the point of interest, adding bookmarks would be the best thing you can do. To add video bookmarks to a trimmed video in PowerPoint, you can:

• Select the video
• Play the clip and pause at the point where you want to add a bookmark
• Go to the Playback tab
• Click Add Bookmark from the Bookmarks section of the ribbon to add a video bookmark
• Repeat the process to add as many bookmarks as you want

5. Trim a Music Clip or Sound Clip

If you have inserted an audio clip to your PowerPoint presentation, you may want to trim this media as well in order to make it more precise and informative. Therefore, to trim a sound clip in PowerPoint, you can:

• Select and right-click the audio
• Click Trim from the panel that appears above (or below) the context menu

• Use the trimming handles in the Trim Audio box to trim off the unwanted segments from the media. Alternatively, you can manually enter the start and end time in the Start Time and End Time fields to trim the audio with more precision
• Click OK to save the changes

6. Creat Video Text in PowerPoint

Adding captions to a video in PowerPoint is merely the matter of a few mouse clicks as long as you have access to the correct WebTT (*.vtt) file. If you don’t, you can easily convert an *.srt subtitles file to *.vtt for free using any of the available online conversion tools.

Assuming that you have already imported a video from your local hard drive, and have obtained an *.vtt file, you can follow the instructions given below to create video text in PowerPoint:

Note: At the time of this writing, you can add *.vtt file only to the videos that you import to PowerPoint from your computer. This process does NOT work when you embed YouTube videos to the slide.

• Select the video you imported
• Go to the Playback tab from the top
• From the Caption Options category in the ribbon, click Insert Captions

• Select and import the *.vttfile from your PC to PowerPoint
• Click the Show/Hide Audio And Subtitles Menu from the right side of the playback controller present under the player window

• Select the subtitles (*.vtt) file that you imported

• Click the Play button to confirm if the captions are synced with the video, and are displayed correctly

FAQ: How to Deal with Trim Video in PowerPoint Not Working?

Answer: If you want to prepare a movie clip professionally or for commercial distribution, you might notice that when you trim video in PowerPoint, you get quite a few tools and options to work with. This is where a robust and comparatively more efficient tool called Wondershare DemoCreator comes into the picture.

Part 4: A More Efficient Way to Trim Video

When talking about Wondershare DemoCreator, the app is a complete tool for screencasting and almost all post-production tasks. The simple and intuitive interface enables you to easily record your computer screen along with audio, and then edit the recordings to remove any unwanted sections from the footage. In addition, you can even import a foreign media clip to DemoCreator for fine tuning and precise editing.

You can follow the simple instructions given below to learn how to trim a video with Wondereshare DemoCreator:

Step 1: Import the Source Video

Launch Wondershare DemoCreator on your computer, and click Video Editor on the main screen to open the app in editing mode. Next, click Import from the media bin present at the upper-left section, and import the source video from your computer to the program.

Step 2: Trim the Video

Select the clip and then cursor to the clip edge until the icon below appears, then drag it forward or backward to cut off the unwanted start or end. And you can now add a Marker on the clip and then drag the clip edge to the Marker point to trim precisely.

Step 3: Export the Video

Once you are done trimming, click Export from the top-right corner of the interface. When the Export box opens up, ensure that the Local category is selected in the left pane, choose your preferred output format from the Format drop-down list, enter a name for the video in the Name field, choose an output location, define other output settings as needed, and click Export from the bottom-right corner of the box to export the video with the specified preferences.

Conclusion

Although it is easy to trim video in PowerPoint, the options and tools the software offers are limited. On the other hand, if you use a dedicated program like Wondershare DemoCreator, both trimming and cropping the media footages get extremely simple and fun. Furthermore, while PowerPoint doesn’t allow any custom preferences when saving the video, DemoCreator offers plethora of options to configure the output settings such as video and audio format, type of encoder you want to use, framerate, and much more. With Wondershare DemoCreator, you can even publish the trimmed videos directly to your YouTube channel.