How to Crop a Video to 9:16 for TikTok and Reels

To make a landscape video vertical for TikTok, Reels or YouTube Shorts, open Crop Video, add the video, choose 9:16 Story / TikTok, and drag the box over the part of the picture you want to keep. Check a few moments with the Preview at slider, press Crop video, and download the MP4. It runs in your browser — no app, no upload, no watermark.

Crop to 9:16 step by step

1. Open Crop Video.
2. Add your video — MP4, MOV or WebM.
3. Under Aspect ratio, choose 9:16 Story / TikTok. A tall box appears in the centre of the picture.
4. Drag the box sideways onto the subject. Drag a corner to make it smaller (it keeps the 9:16 shape).
5. Move the Preview at slider to check other moments — make sure the subject doesn't walk out of the frame.
6. Press Crop video and download the MP4.

The tool shows the result size, such as "Source 1920×1080 → crop 606×1080 px".

Crop or resize?

Cropping a 16:9 video to 9:16 keeps only about a third of the width. That's perfect when the action is in one place — a person talking, a product, a single player. When the whole width matters — a group, a landscape, a slide — use Resize Video instead with 9:16 · 1080×1920 (Reels, TikTok, Shorts) and Blurred background: the full picture sits in the middle with a soft blurred copy filling the top and bottom.

Quality: about resolution

A 9:16 crop of a 1080p landscape video is about 606×1080 pixels — sharp enough on a phone, but below the 1080×1920 the apps prefer. They'll scale it up; it will look fine for most content. For the crispest result, start from 4K footage: a 9:16 crop of 4K is about 1214×2160.

Other useful crops

The same tool offers 1:1 Square and 4:5 Portrait post for Instagram, 16:9 Widescreen for YouTube, 4:3, and Free for any shape — for example, to remove black bars burned into a video or to zoom in on a detail.

Tips for vertical videos

• Keep the subject in the middle third when filming landscape footage you plan to crop.
• Leave space at the top and bottom: TikTok and Reels put captions, buttons and your username over the lower part of the screen.
• Trim first with the Video Cutter — short clips crop faster.
• Add captions after cropping with Add Text to Video, so they're placed in the final frame.

If the subject moves

The crop box stays in one place for the whole video. If the subject moves across the frame, either choose a larger crop that covers the movement, split the video into parts with the Video Splitter and crop each one differently, or use Resize with a blurred background.

Square and portrait versions for Instagram

Posting the same clip to Instagram's feed too? Crop it again from the original with 4:5 Portrait post (it takes the most room in the feed) or 1:1 Square. Always crop from the original rather than from the 9:16 version, so you keep as much of the picture as possible.

Privacy

Cropping happens in your browser with ffmpeg (WebAssembly). Your video stays on your device, and the result has no watermark.

Frequently asked questions

What format is the result?

MP4 (H.264 video, AAC sound) — the format TikTok, Instagram and YouTube all accept.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. Drag the box with your finger; short clips work best on phones.

The file is too big to upload — what now?

Use Compress Video to shrink it before posting.