This guide gives you the two best (and free!) methods to trim a long video for Instagram Reels.

For that, we’ll use the following:

  • Instagram’s built-in feature
  • SendShort, a free but powerful AI editor

Let’s not waste any time!


How to Trim Long Videos for Reels

The easiest way to trim a long video for Instagram Reels is to use Instagram’s editor. Alternatively, you can use SendShort for accurate AI trimming.

We’ll explore both methods now.

Method 1: On Instagram

  1. Open Instagram
  2. Create a new post
  3. Tap “Edit video” > Reveal the timeline
  4. Tap the video > Pull the yellow corners
How to trim Instagram Reels videos

There you go!

That’s how you trim a video directly in Instagram.


Method 2: With SendShort

  1. Sign up for SendShort (it’s free)
  2. Upload a video
  3. Click to edit that video
  4. Pull the yellow corners to trim it
How to trim a video using SendShort.ai

There you go with SendShort!

This is the second method to trim your Reels.


Thanks a lot for reading this,
David Ch
Head of the Editing Team at SendShort

About the author

David leads the editing team at SendShort. With this help, the team delivers the latest guides on using your favorite social media apps and creating short-form content.