Have you tried editing your videos in a video editing software but felt overwhelmed by all of the advanced features? Do you wish to simply trim sections of your video and add background music? YouTube provides a simple solution to your video editing troubles with their own video editor.

YouTube allows you to make simple edits to your video in their easy to use video editor. You can also directly download your final edited videos to your computer if you wish to share them across different social media platforms.

This article provides you with the knowledge of what each feature of the video editor does and how to use it.

Uploading Your Video

The first step is to upload your unedited video to YouTube so you can use YouTube’s video editor. If you already have a video you uploaded to YouTube that you wish to edit, you can skip to How To Access YouTube’s Video Editor.

1. Click the Upload Video button on the top of YouTube’s homepage.
2. Drag the video file you wish to upload onto the Select Files To Upload box.
3. Edit your title, description, and tags for your video.
4. Click Done when you are finished editing the video’s settings.
5. You’ll now have to wait for the video to finish uploading to be able to edit your video.

 

Accessing YouTube’s Video Editor

The next step in learning YouTube’s video editor is to know how to access it. You’ll need to enter into your YouTube Studio where you can view your uploaded videos. 

1. Open your YouTube studio to view your list of uploaded videos.
2. Click the title of the video you wish to edit. The Video details page appears.
3. Click the Editor button. The Video editor page opens.

 

Trimming Video

The most important feature in editing videos is the trim tool to trim the length of your videos. 

In the video timeline (located at the bottom of the screen) click the Trim button to enable the trim functionality. If you want to trim the beginning of the video, drag the start point (blue bar) of the video to trim off the beginning of your video. The same step applies to the ending of your video as well.

Trimming

1. Click on Trim.
2. Drag the beginning or ending points in the video to cut out a section at the beginning or ending of the video.

But what if you need to cut out a section of your video that occurs somewhere in the middle? To do that, you’ll need to split the clip. Click the Split pop up that appears when you are in trim mode. The clip will then split into two clips at the current position you are at in your timeline. At the point of the split, you can now drag the ends of the two clips to cut out the middle section of your video.

Splitting

1. Click on Trim.
2. Move your timeline cursor to the section of the video you wish to split in two.
3. Click on Split.
4. Drag the beginning or ending points in the video to cut out a section at the beginning or ending of the video.

 

Adding Audio

YouTube’s video editor gives you the ability to add background music to your video. On the timeline there are multiple tracks or rows. The top one is your video track, but right below it is your audio track. Click on the audio track to give you the option to add additional audio. You’ll be brought to another page where you can select music from YouTube’s music library. YouTube has a large selection of music that is royalty free that you can browse and select from.

When you find a song you like, click Add To Video to import the music track into your video. If you find that the music you have selected overpowers the original audio in the video, you are given the option to decrease the volume of the music with a scroll wheel.

1. Click the Expand dropdown on the Audio Track on your timeline.
2. Click +Audio.
3. Scroll through the music list to find a song you want to put in your video.
4. Click the Play Button next to the song to hear a preview of the song.
5. When you find a song you want to use, click Add To Video.
6. Adjust the volume of the song with the scroll wheel titled Audio Saturation.
7. Click Save Changes.

 

Adding An End Screen

An end screen gives your viewers a call-to-action by directing them to other videos on your channel, or encouraging them to subscribe to you.

On your timeline, click Add An End Screen to display the layout and call-to-action buttons that are available (either a subscription button or video playlists). When you apply an end screen template, YouTube will put your end screen over the last 20 seconds of your video.

You are able to customize your end screen by clicking your end screen elements in your video preview window, and moving them to your desired position. You can also change the length of your end screen elements by trimming them on your video timeline.

If you changed your mind on what end screen elements you want to have, you can add or delete elements in the end screen editor window above the timeline.

1. Click Add An End Screen.
2. Choose a template.
3. Click Apply.
4. If desired, click on an end screen card to move it into another position.
5. If desired, click on an end screen card to change the video playlist.
6. If desired, drag the video elements in the timeline to change the length of how long they appear.

 

Adding Blur

There may be a situation where you uploaded a video but haven’t received permission of an individual in your video to be released publicly. In the video timeline you can select the video track that is titled Add Blur to begin the process of blurring an individual’s face from your video.

YouTube is able to process the video and determines what faces appear in the video. Select which face you want blurred and it’ll do it automatically. 

1. Click Add Blur.
2. Click Edit under Blur Faces.
3. Select the face you wish to blur.
4. Click Save to apply the blur.

 

Saving Video

When you are happy with your changes, save your new video by clicking on the Save. You also have the option to save as a new video by clicking on the three vertical dots next to the save button. This feature is useful to retain your original video incase you need to re-edit it or put back a section of the video that you trimmed out.

Once you’ve clicked save, YouTube will begin processing your video and will add it to your videos once completed. The time it takes for YouTube to process your video will vary on the length and size of your video.

Saving

1. Click Save to save changes.

Save As New

1. Click on the Three Dots beside Save.
2. Click Save As New to save a copy of your video without overriding the original version.

 

Conclusion

In summary, here is the complete list of features that YouTube’s video editor offers:

• Trimming the beginning and ending of your video
• Splitting the video to remove sections in the middle of it
• Adding royalty free background music from their music library
• Adding in an end screen to direct viewers to your channel or prompt them to subscribe
• Blur out an individual’s face
• Save a copy of your original video

At Learn to Flourish we are all about creating relevant, engaging, and effective eLearning and videos. If you want to increase the quality of your educational videos, get our free training on how to make great demonstration videos for your audience.

For more tips on video and eLearning creation, check out our blog for more articles such as How To Rank Higher on YouTube and how to create online education that people will love.

Wishing you inspiration, innovation, and continuous learning,

Lorena and the Learn to Flourish Team