How to Clip a YouTube Video in 2026 (After YouTube Retired Clips)

YouTube removed the option to create new Clips in April 2026. If you are looking for the scissors button under a video, it is no longer there for most people. Old Clips still play, but you cannot make new ones.

You can still clip a YouTube video. Which method to use depends on what you need at the end: a link to a moment, a new video on your own channel, or a file you can post anywhere.

Pick a method by what you need

You want to	Use	You get	Works on others' videos
Send someone to a moment	Share at timestamp	A link that starts at that second	Yes
Republish part of your own video	YouTube Studio, or Remix in the app	A new video or Short on your channel	No
Cut one precise clip to post anywhere	A video editor	An MP4 file	With permission
Get many clips from a long video	An AI clipper	Captioned 9:16 files	With permission

What happened to YouTube Clips

Clips let any viewer mark 5 to 60 seconds of a video and share it as a looping link. In April 2026 YouTube said it was removing the ability to create new ones and pointing viewers to Share at timestamp instead. Clips that already exist remain viewable.

Two things were lost. A timestamp link has no end point, so the video keeps playing past the moment you meant. And you can no longer attach your own title to the excerpt.

For creators, YouTube pointed to the Video Clips tool in YouTube Studio, which republishes sections of your own long videos and archived live streams. It also said that Video Clips for Shorts and automatic suggestions of clip-worthy moments would follow later in 2026. YouTube rolls features out gradually, so what you see in your account may differ.

Method 1: Share a YouTube video at a timestamp

Use this when the goal is to show someone a moment. Nothing is downloaded or re-uploaded, and the original creator keeps the view.

On a phone or tablet

1. Pause the video where the moment starts.
2. Tap Share.
3. Turn on the timestamp toggle at the top of the share sheet.
4. Copy the link or send it to an app.

On a computer

1. Pause at the moment.
2. Right-click the player and choose Copy video URL at current time. Or click Share and tick Start at.

You can also write the link by hand. Add ?t=90 to a youtu.be link, or &t=90s to a youtube.com/watch link, to start 90 seconds in.

Limit: the link has a start but no end, and it only plays on YouTube. You cannot post it as a Short, Reel or TikTok.

Method 2: Clip your own video inside YouTube

If the video is on your channel, YouTube has two built-in options.

Edit into a Short

1. Open your video in the YouTube app.
2. Tap Remix, then Edit into a Short.
3. Drag to select the segment and choose a layout.
4. Add text or a caption and publish.

The Short links back to the full video, which makes this a good way to send Shorts viewers to your long-form content.

Video Clips in YouTube Studio

Studio's Video Clips tool republishes a section of a long video or an archived live stream as a new video. It is the quickest way to pull a highlight out of a three-hour stream without leaving YouTube.

Limit: both options work only on your own uploads, give you little control over captions and framing, and produce something that lives only on YouTube.

Method 3: Cut the clip in a video editor

Use this when you need one precise clip as a file.

1. Get the source file. For your own video, use the original recording, or download it from YouTube Studio under Content → the video's menu → Download. For someone else's video, ask for the file or for permission.
2. Trim. Open it in CapCut, DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, or the editor on your phone. Set the in and out points around one complete thought.
3. Reframe. For Shorts, Reels and TikTok, change the project to 1080 × 1920 and reposition the picture so the speaker stays in frame. See YouTube Shorts size and dimensions for the settings and safe zones.
4. Caption. Most short-form video is watched with the sound off. Add captions before you export. Here is how to add them automatically.
5. Export as MP4.

Limit: time. One clip takes 10 to 20 minutes, and finding the right moment in a long video takes longer than cutting it.

Method 4: Use an AI clipper

Use this when you want several clips from a long video, or you do this every week.

1. Paste the YouTube URL into Short.now's YouTube clip maker, or upload the file.
2. The AI transcribes the video and scores each moment on whether it works without the surrounding context.
3. You get a ranked list of clips, already reframed to 9:16 with the active speaker tracked and captions added.
4. Review them, adjust the start and end if needed, and export without a watermark.

An hour-long video usually returns 8 to 15 candidates in a few minutes. Your job becomes choosing, not searching. The longer walkthrough is in how to clip long videos with AI.

Limit: the AI works from what is said, so it is strongest on talk-heavy video such as podcasts, interviews, tutorials and commentary. Footage with little speech still needs a human eye.

Is it legal to clip someone else's YouTube video?

Linking to a moment is fine. Copying it is where the rules start.

• Your own videos: clip freely. Check any music in the original, because a claim on the source carries over to the clip, and a Short over one minute with a claim is blocked.
• Videos you have permission for: many streamers and podcasters allow or even pay for clipping. Look for a clipping policy on the channel, and keep the permission in writing.
• Everyone else's: re-uploading without permission can get the clip removed and a copyright strike on your channel. Adding commentary, criticism or analysis strengthens a fair-use argument, but fair use is decided case by case.

YouTube also excludes unedited clips of other people's content from Shorts revenue sharing. A plain re-upload earns nothing even when it stays up.

How to choose a moment worth clipping

• It makes sense alone. A viewer who has never seen the full video should understand it.
• It opens strong. Start on the claim, the question or the reaction, not on the lead-up to it.
• It finishes. End when the point lands. For most platforms that is 30 to 60 seconds. The limits are in how long YouTube Shorts can be.