How to trim video and MP3 on Mac

It's like clothes. Media files you download or create on your computer are not always a perfect fit. Therefore, we cut them. What tools do you need to cut videos and songs on Mac? Well, a random online MP3 cutter will do the job. However, many users are reluctant to share their media files online for security reasons. What’s more, free web tools are often buggy and contain annoying ads — which makes the process slow and cumbersome. 

The best alternative is a reliable Mac app that works with versatile formats and doesn’t share or keep your personal files. In this article, we review the best MP3 cutters and ways to trim a video on Mac. 

Why do you need an MP3 cutter and video cutter?

Let me rephrase it: Why would you keep an app on your Mac if you only need to cut MP3 once? Maybe, you don’t. Or maybe, you should explore more ways to use such tools regularly. Here are just a few: create a ringtone for your phone, save space on Mac by trimming large files, start recording your own music, create unique media content for social media, extract funny scenes from movies and turn them into memes, and more. 

Best ways to trim video on Mac 

Most of the tools that cut videos are really simple to use — you move the sliders through the timeline, select the part you want to save, and hit Trim to remove the rest. Below, we describe how you can trim video online, with a basic QuickTime toolkit, an online tool, or an advanced video editor. Pick what works best for you. 

How to trim video with Capto 

There are great dedicated Mac apps for cutting video. Of all solutions, we recommend Capto. 

Not only is it the most secure way to trim video, it also covers tons of superb video editing features. You can use it to quickly record your screen without desktop icons, annotate videos, add voiceover, and more. In other words, it helps you both create and edit video files on Mac. Here’s how to trim a video with Capto: 

1. Open Capto > Video (your video recordings will automatically appear here), or import video via the menu 
2. Click on the Edit button > Scissors 
3. Move the red sliders to trim your video 
4. Once you’re ready, hit Trim
5. Save/Export your video via the app menu. 

How to trim video with QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player has a basic video trimming feature. So if you need a one-time solution, it will certainly do the job. Here’s how it works: 

1. Right-click on your video > Open with > QuickTime Player
2. From the menu bar, select Edit > Trim 
3. Adjust the length of your video by moving the sliders 
4. Once you’re ready, hit Trim to save the changes
5. Save your video to any location on Mac via the File menu. 

How to trim a video online 

Here’s a quick tutorial on how to trim video with a free online tool: 

1. Go to online-video-cutter.com
2. Click on the upload button to add your video
3. Move the sliders to adjust the length 
4. Customize the original size and quality of the video if needed
5. Once you’re ready, hit Save > Download. 

Best ways to trim MP3 on Mac 

Apple doesn’t offer a dedicated audio trimmer, but it has two native apps that can trim MP3 on Mac — QuickTime Player and GarageBand. In the following section, we explain how to use both of them for the job. If none of these apps cuts it (pardon the pun), we’ll also guide you through the way to trim MP3 online or use an advanced downloader and trimmer app. 

Let’s start at the end. We’ve already mentioned that having a native Mac app is the most secure solution. For audio cutting tasks, we recommend Pulltube. 

Pulltube can do many jobs, from downloading video and audio files to Mac to trimming them easily. Our favorite thing: Pulltube offers you to trim a file before you download it, so you don’t have to waste your drive storage. Here’s how to use Pulltube’s trimming mode: 

1. Open Pulltube and drop a link to your audio/video file
2. If it’s a video, click the Quality icon and choose Audio only 
3. Click the Scissors icon > Enter Trimming Mode 
4. Move the sliders to trim your audio file
5. Click Trim once you’re ready
6. Now you can download your trimmed audio file. 

If you don’t have Pulltube, you can use one of the Mac’s free apps or an online tool. 

How to use QuickTime Player as an MP3 cutter 

QuickTime Player is a native media player developed by Apple. Whether you want to quickly record your screen or edit a video clip, QuickTime Player has the basic toolkit you’ll need. Even though it’s essentially a video player, the app can open and edit MP3 files, too. Here’s how the music cutter in QuickTime Player works: 

1. Right-click on your audio file > Open with > QuickTime Player
2. From the menu bar, select Edit > Trim 
3. Adjust the length of your MP3 file by moving yellow sliders 
4. Click on the Play button to listen to the trimmed version before you save it
5. Once you’re ready, hit Trim to save the changes
6. Save your MP3 to any location on Mac via the File menu.

How to trim MP3 with GarageBand 

GarageBand is Apple’s native digital audio workstation with some basic audio recording capabilities. It enables you to record voices and musical instruments as well as edit and share your audio projects. The app also offers simple piano and guitar lessons taught by artists (that’s one of the main reasons people love GarageBand). 

Back to an audio cutter. GarageBand has the ability to trim audio files — both the ones you record and those you import into the app. Be ready to spend a few minutes to get used to the interface, though. It’s a bit overwhelming for a beginner. 

Here’s how you trim MP3 in GarageBand: 

1. Select your track and click on the Scissors button in the control bar
2. Drag the playhead to the spot where the track should be cut and press Command + T
3. Once the track is split in two, click on the part you want to remove and hit Delete. 

That’s it. You can repeat this process multiple times to achieve the perfect length of your MP3. 

How to trim music with an online MP3 cutter

If you don’t mind taking your audio file to the web, you can use Audio Trimmer. It’s the easiest tool for trimming audio we’ve found. Note that it works with files up to 100MB (which is enough in most cases). For those worried about security, Audio Trimmer claims it deletes your files from servers within two hours after you upload them. Still, if your audio contains any sensitive data, we recommend avoiding online tools. 

Here’s how Audio Trimmer works: 

1. Go to audiotrimmer.com
2. Click on the plus button to add your file, then click Upload
3. Adjust your MP3’s length by moving the green sliders 
4. Set Output Format to MP3 
5. Hit Crop > Download. 

Get a universal audio and video editing kit 

Downie and Permute are a combination of apps developed by one developer to relieve all your media download and conversion pains. If you tend to download, trim, and convert audio and video often, we recommend investing in this combo — you won’t regret it! 

Here’s how you can trim downloaded video and audio with these apps: 

1. Open Downie and drop the link to an online audio/video file
2. Wait until it downloads automatically 
3. Click Actions (the three-dots icon) > Send to Permute and select the format you want to convert your file to (for example, MP3)
4. Permute will open automatically with your downloaded file and convert it in seconds.

Both Downie and Permute, as well as Pulltube and Capto mentioned above, are part of Setapp, so you can try them all for 7 days free and choose what works best for you. 

Summing it up, you already own at least two MP3 and video cutters for Mac — they are natively built into your system. What your Mac truly misses is good solutions for downloading and editing media. If you want to expand your content creation toolkit, Setapp has all you need. Sign up for free and gain access to 240+ apps for macOS and iOS.