How to Use the Online Video Editor

A complete guide to FreeMediaEditor: add media, cut and arrange clips, mix audio, work with images, save projects and export your finished video.

1. Open the full video editor

Open Video Editor using the link below. Choose Video or drop supported video files onto the tool to open the embedded editor and place them on the timeline. Open the editor without a file starts an empty workspace. Open Editor in the site navigation opens the full-page workspace. Audio tools and the Voice Recorder use an audio-only version; use Video Editor when you need video or images.

2. Find your way around the workspace

The preview shows your video or image sequence, with playback controls underneath. File Manager holds reusable source files. The shared timeline contains one Video / images row and separate audio rows. The toolbar provides Split segment, Delete segment, Undo, Step and zoom controls. Player shows playback time, Mark shows the edit position, and Duration shows the active timeline duration.

3. Adjust the layout

On desktop, drag the divider between the preview and File Manager to change their widths. Drag the horizontal divider above the timeline to adjust the space available to the upper panels and track editor. On smaller screens the panels stack vertically. File Manager scrolls when its list is long; at its top or bottom, vertical scrolling can continue onto the surrounding page.

4. Add files to File Manager

Choose Add files inside File Manager to select video, audio or images from your device. These files are added to the library first. This differs from choosing files on the outer tool page, which also inserts them on the timeline. Format support depends on the codec and your browser. The editor prepares supported MKV and AVI inputs for use, but not every file with those extensions can be decoded.

5. Insert and reuse media

Use Insert on a source card to place it at the current playhead, or drag the card onto the timeline at the desired time. Inserting a source again creates another clip instance, so you can reuse a shot, sound or image. Removing a source card with × removes it from File Manager without removing clips already placed on the timeline. To remove a timeline clip, select it and use Delete segment.

6. Preview and select a track

Use the player below the preview to play, pause and seek through the project. Select a video clip or an audio waveform before editing; the selected section has a highlighted outline. Picture and sound are edited independently. Selecting a video segment does not select its original audio row, and changing one does not automatically change the other.

7. Split and trim clips

Click inside a clip to place the red marker, then choose Split segment, the scissors button. Select an unwanted section and choose Delete segment. To trim both ends, split at the boundaries of the part you want to keep and delete the outside sections. The split must be inside the clip, not exactly on its edge. If the video has sound, make the corresponding edits on its audio row to keep them synchronized.

8. Move video and image clips

Drag an unsplit video or image clip horizontally to change its start time. Clips in the visual row cannot overlap. Split sections of the same video are reordered within that clip when dragged; they do not behave like independently spaced audio sections. Empty space in the visual timeline exports as black video. Audio rows retain their own positions, so review synchronization after moving or reordering picture.

9. Move audio and create silence

Drag an audio clip to a new time. Split audio sections can move independently within their row while other sections keep their positions; sections in one row cannot overlap. A gap plays as silence, and moving a section back can close it. Different audio rows can overlap to create a mix. Clip edges snap near the red marker and near the starts or ends of clips in other rows.

10. Zoom, scroll and position precisely

Hold Ctrl and turn the mouse wheel over the timeline to zoom around the pointer. Zoom ranges from 0.1× to 256×. Below 1×, empty time appears beyond the project end so you can move clips farther out. Reset zoom returns to 1×. Scroll without Ctrl over a zoomed timeline to move horizontally. With the timeline focused, Left and Right move the marker by the Step value in milliseconds; the default is 100 ms. For example, use 10 ms for finer adjustments.

11. Add music, voice and original sound

Insert audio files to create separate waveform rows. A video with decoded original sound also creates its own audio row. Use the speaker button beside an audio row to mute or unmute it, or the remove button to delete the entire row. Deleting its last segment also removes the row. To replace original sound, mute or remove that row and insert your replacement audio. Preview overlapping tracks before exporting; the current editor mixes audio to mono.

12. Use still images

Add an image to File Manager and insert it into the visual row. Its default duration is five seconds. Select the image clip to reveal Image duration, enter the desired length in seconds and apply the change. The next visual clip limits how far an image can extend. Images share the video row, so place them before, after or between video clips.

13. Undo an edit

Choose Undo to restore a previous editing state. The editor keeps up to ten undo states for supported timeline edits, including splitting, deleting, moving and muting tracks. Undo also restores saved gap information. Export an editable project before a larger editing session if you want a separate saved checkpoint.

14. Save and reopen a project

Export project downloads an editable .vrstudio file containing the project media and timeline state, including audio gaps and zoom. Import project opens a saved project and replaces the current workspace after validation. Export your current work first if you want to keep it. Export project saves a snapshot: changes made while it is being prepared need another export. A project file is for continued editing; it is not the finished MP4.

15. Export video or audio

Choose Export video + audio (MP4) to save the visual timeline with its enabled audio tracks. Video is re-encoded as H.264 with AAC audio at 1280 × 720 and 30 frames per second; sources are fitted into the frame, with black padding when needed. Export audio only (MP3) saves the audio mix without video. Video-only regions have silence; if audio continues after the final picture, the MP4 continues with black video. Keep the tab open until the download completes and review the saved result.

16. Return safely and keep your work

In the full-page editor, Back returns to the page that opened it. The editor embedded in a video tool page has no Back button. The Voice Recorder version instead has Back to recorder and, when editing an individual take, Save edit as new track. Media and edits are held locally in the browser session. Download an output or export a project before refreshing or closing the page; the finished MP4 does not preserve editable tracks.

17. Know the current limits

This editor focuses on timeline cuts, arrangement, images and audio mixing. It does not currently provide titles, transitions, filters, speed changes or adjustable export resolution. Output can differ in quality, channel layout and metadata from the source. Large or long projects can exceed browser memory, and encoding can take time. An unavailable codec or missing browser encoding support can prevent import or export. Keep original files, try a short sample first, and read any error shown in the editor.