Trim video in photos app on iMac with Monterey?

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Level 1

5 points

Trim video in photos app on iMac with Monterey?

I've recently upgraded to a new iMac and have come up with a problem. The article on Apple Support on trimming videos says to hover over a video to bring up the 'action' button (some articles refer to it as the gear icon that I was used to using previously). But I can't find any such action button for any of my videos, nor any obvious way to do a trim of the beginning or end of a video. Would appreciate any advice. (I'm not really needing to do big edits of little videos that are really for fun so I really don't want to bother with exporting to another app). Thank you to the wise ones.

iMac 24″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Feb 26, 2022 2:53 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

TonyCollinet

Level 7

23,867 points

Feb 26, 2022 3:51 AM in response to MaryKinn

Hi

In Big Sur, there are two white arrows on either end of the time bar. These can be dragged to trim the video (and turn yellow when you have:

I did find that on a very short video (<1s) it was not possible to move them.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

195,311 points

Feb 26, 2022 6:46 AM in response to MaryKinn

MaryKinn wrote:

Thank you so much Tony. I couldn't find that on any article or in Photos help.

It is described on the middle of this help page for Photos 7:

Change and enhance a video in Photos on Mac – Apple Support (UK)

See the paragraph "Trim a Video Clip".

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Answer 3

MaryKinn Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 26, 2022 3:27 AM in response to TonyCollinet

Thanks for very quick reply Tony. In edit mode I see all the thumbnails across the bottom of the screen with a white vertical line moving as the video plays. Highlighting the thumbnails used to give a yellow 'box' that could be adjusted in length but this is no longer the case. In non-edit mode I have a dark grey bar with a play arrow in the centre but no gear icon at the right of that as it used to have.

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Answer 4

MaryKinn Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 26, 2022 3:34 AM in response to MaryKinn

A search for 'trim' in the help section on the photos app gives options to trim a movie or clip in Quick Time Player, Numbers, iMovie, Pages, Quick Look, Keynote and Numbers. The 'Play video clips in Photos on Mac' lists trim as an option but there is no information on how to do that.

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