How to Cut out Fragments of a Video in Free Video Editor

Creating engaging video content often requires precise editing to ensure only the best fragments make the final cut. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced user, VSDC Free Video Editor offers a user-friendly platform to accomplish this task and numbers of others and does not require the latest hardware allowing for creating quality content without experiencing lag or crashes and not compromising on functionality. In this article, we'll walk you through three different methods to cut out specific fragments of a video using VSDC Free Video Editor.

Method 1: Cut out Fragment Tool

This method allows you to delete a part of the file directly in the timeline area.

  1. Launch VSDC Free Video Editor. Click on the Blank project icon on the start screen to create your own project. Adjust project’s settings in the pop-up window (if necessary) and click Finish. Then choose a file in the file explorer, drag it to the scene and drop the mouse button. If it's your first time opening VSDC, we recommend you to watch our quick start guide to familiarize yourself with the editor.
  2. First, set the Work area. The Work area is located on the timeline just above your footage and consists of two gray rectangles. To set it, put the mouse cursor on the right rectangle and, once the cursor becomes a bidirectional arrow, move it to the right holding the left mouse button down. When the end of the fragment is achieved, release the mouse button. Do the same with the left rectangle to mark the beginning of the fragment to be deleted. For this purpose, you can also use the corresponding buttons on the Timeline toolbar. In addition, by pressing the mouse button, you can move the area left and right along the footage. This area will correspond to the unwanted fragment you want to cut out.

  3. Once the Work area is set, click the Cut out fragment button which looks like scissors.There are several ways to reach it:
    • Go to the Editor tab. The tool you need is located just above the scene in the Tools section;
    • The same tool is also conveniently located on the Timeline toolbar;
    • You may also use the hotkey combination Ctrl + Del.

    Before applying this tool, make sure you have selected the file you want to cut on the timeline or on the scene. This is highly important; otherwise the effect will be disabled.
  4. When you click directly on the icon or use the hotkey, the Cut out fragment option is used by default. Apart from that, other cutting options are available in the dropdown menu. Here’s what you can apply:
    • Cut out fragment. This option cuts out the selected area and splits the file into parts afterwards. The cut out part will be indicated by a red marker. If you need to recover the deleted frames, move a splitted part of your footage to another timeline layer by pressing the mouse and dragging it downwards. Then hold the Shift key, grab the marker of the footage layer on the timeline, and drag it outwards.
    • Cut out content. This option cuts out the selected area without splitting the file. The cut out part will be indicated by a dark-red marker. To recover the removed part, simply double-click on the marker. Cut out content option doesn’t provide a hotkey, but you can set it to your convenience in a way described in our video guide How to Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts.
    This menu also provides additional options to trim your footage with Trim start/end (the hotkey combinations are Ctrl + Shift + [ / Ctrl + Shift + ] respectively). They simply cut the beginning or end of the video without changing the file’s placement on the timeline or removing blank space and do not refer to the Work area. To do the trimming, place the playhead on the timeline where you want to trim part and select the Trim start/end option. To restore the trimmed frames, press the Shift key and drag the edge of the footage outwards.

  5. Once you've cut out all the unwanted fragments, click on the Export project tab at the top of the screen. Choose the output format for your video. VSDC supports a wide range of video formats such as AVI, DVD, VCD/SVCD, MPEG, MP4, M4V, MOV, 3GP/3G2, WMV, MKV, RM/RMVB, FLV, SWF, AMV, MTV, WebM and more. Then adjust the settings for the output video (if necessary), and click on the Export Project button.

It’s also possible to cut out parts of several videos at once. Select them all with a left mouse button and choose the option you need.

Method 2: Cutting by Using Cutting and Splitting Window

  1. Start with creating a new project as described above. Then you need to reach the Cutting and Splitting window. It can be done in one of the following ways:
    • The Cutting and Splitting option is located in the Tools section above the scene on the Editor tab. Click on it for the corresponding window to appear;
    • Select your video file on the timeline and navigate to the Properties window on the right of the scene. Then click on the green Cutting and splitting button;
    • Right-click on the video file on the timeline. Then select the Cutting and splitting option from the list.

  2. In the Cutting and splitting window you'll observe a timeline. To select a fragment, put the blue playhead to the beginning of the fragment you want to delete. When the mouse cursor becomes a bidirectional arrow, hold the left mouse button down to stretch the area of deleting. Once the end of the unnecessary fragment is highlighted, release the mouse button. You can always adjust the boundaries of this fragment moving the red lines to the left or to the right.
  3. Click the Cut region button to delete the selected fragment. The same way you can delete all the unnecessary segments of the video. You can also restore the deleted fragment by clicking the Restore region button or using the Remove Area of Deleting/Remove All Areas of Deleting buttons on the Cut Areas tab next to the preview window.
  4. Hit the Apply changes button for all the editing operations to take effect.

On the main timeline you’ll notice that the piece has been removed from the footage, and you’ll see dark-red markers indicating the cut out parts. You can double-click on it to restore the deleted part or open the Cutting and splitting window and restore the part from there.

Method 3: Cutting on the Export Stage

Sometimes you may need to cut out a fragment, save the video file on your PC and continue working with the file unchanged. In this case, we recommend to do the following:

  1. After you add a video file to the scene and perform all the editing you were planning to, go to the Export project tab on the ribbon command bar and find the Set markers button in the Video conversion section above the video preview.
  2. Then Cutting and splitting window will appear. Cut out the unwanted fragment as described in Method 2 and confirm. All changes will be applied to the resulting file after the conversion.
  3. Then adjust the settings of the output file in the tab below (if necessary) and click the Export project button on the ribbon command bar. As a result, you’ll get a video without unwanted fragments saved to your PC and the initial video for you to continue editing.

Wrapping Up

Cutting out fragments of a video in VSDC Free Video Editor is a convenient process that can greatly enhance the quality of your video content. By following the steps outlined above, you can tailor your videos to include only the best footage, thereby improving the viewer’s experience. With practice, these steps will become second nature, and you'll be able to perform them quickly and efficiently, taking your video projects to the next level.

Finally, cutting tools come closely together with splitting options. To learn how to deal with them, we advise you to take a glimpse at our tutorial on splitting or watch a video guide providing you with a brief outlook on both cutting and splitting tools. To learn more editing tricks for creating amazing video projects, subscribe to our YouTube channel and feel free to message us on Facebook. And if you have questions, our support team is here for you at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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