How to Remove a Section of Video on iPhone & iPad with iMovie

Do you want to remove an unwanted section of video you captured on an iPhone or iPad? With the iMovie app that’s freely available for iOS and iPadOS devices, cutting out sections of videos is a fairly simple and straightforward procedure.

While the built-in video editor in the stock Photos app is adequate for most basic needs, you can’t use it to access advanced features like being able to add transitions, cut out sections of videos from the middle of a movie (though you can trim the overall length), combine multiple videos, and so on. This is exactly where a dedicated video editing app like iMovie comes in handy. There are several video editing apps on the App Store, but Apple’s iMovie is easy, completely free to use, and it’s quite powerful too. Interested in taking advantage of iMovie for some video editing needs? In this article, we’ll be guiding through how to remove a section of a video using iMovie on either the iPhone or iPad.

How to Remove a Middle Section of Video on iPhone & iPad with iMovie

Before you get started with the following procedure, you need to install the latest version of iMovie from the Apple App Store on the iPhone or iPad. Once you’re done with that, follow the steps below.

1. Open the “iMovie” app on your iPhone or iPad.
   
   
2. Tap on “Create Project” to start a new video editing project within the app.
   
   
3. Next, choose the “Movie” option when you’re asked about the type of project you want to create.
   
   
4. This will open your Photos library. Here, you can scroll through your videos and select the clip you want to add to your project. Once you’re done with the selection, tap on “Create Movie” at the bottom of the menu.
   
   
5. The video you selected will be added to the iMovie timeline. The cursor will be at the end of the clip by default, but you can gradually drag the clip towards the right and stop exactly where you want to make the cut.
   
   
6. Now, tap on the timeline to proceed to the next step.
   
   
7. You’ll be able to access various tools available in iMovie now. Make sure the cut tool is selected, which is indicated by a “scissors” icon as shown below. Tap on “Split” to cut the video clip exactly where you marked.
   
   
8. Repeat steps 5, 6, and 7 to split the portion where you want to end the cut. Next, select the unwanted middle section of the video clip you just cut out in the timeline and then tap on “Delete” to remove it.
   
   
9. The deleted portion will no longer be visible in the timeline, but if you think you made a mistake, you can tap on the “undo” option located above the timeline. Once the middle portion is removed, the starting and ending portions will be automatically clipped together in the timeline. However, you can tap on the icon between the two clips to add a transition effect, if preferred. Once you’re finished, tap on “Done” to save the project.
   
   
10. Here, tap on the “share” icon located at the bottom, as shown in the screenshot below.
    
    
11. Choose “Save Video” to save the final video file in the Photos app.
    
    

Now you know how to remove an unwanted clip, portion, a section, or something from the middle of a video clip using iMovie. That wasn’t too difficult, right?

Keep in mind that while you’re saving the final video, iMovie must be running in the foreground. Depending on the length of the video, it could take anywhere from a few seconds to minutes, or longer, for finishing the export.

Using the Split tool to cut out the unwanted portions of a video is just one of the several things that iMovie has to offer. If you’re going to be using iMovie for most of your video editing needs, you might also be interested in learning how to combine multiple videos with iMovie on your iPhone and iPad. Or perhaps you might want to know how to crop/zoom a video using iMovie on your iOS device. Check out our other iMovie articles for more tips and tricks too.

Apart from the aforementioned capabilities, iMovie also brings many other nifty features to the table, like being able to slow down or speed up a clip, increase or decrease the audio volume of a video, add background music, add transitions, and much more.

Do you use a Mac? If so, you’ll be pleased to know that iMovie comes pre-installed on macOS devices, where you have a similar set of tools on the Mac version too. For example, you can check out how to crop videos using iMovie on macOS.

Were you able to cut out a portion of video, or remove a section that you don’t want included from a movie? Do you have any advice, tricks, or suggestions for using iMovie to edit video clips? Let us know in the comments