Instagram introduced the story feature in recent years to compete with similar features from Snapchat and TikTok. As you may already know, Instagram stories are created in the form of short 15 seconds videos and are visible at the top section of every Instagram profile.
An Instagram story cannot be longer than 15 seconds; if you attempt to upload a longer video, Instagram will automatically attempt to trim down the video. The issue, in this case, is that your video ends up being trimmed randomly in various different parts, so you have no control over the final results. Instagram also doesn’t allow you to manually trim which parts of the video you wish to cut or keep.
It is recommended to trim the video beforehand and then post it as an Instagram story.
We’ll discuss some easy methods to trim a video for an Instagram story. These methods will work for various platforms such as desktop, Android, and iPhone. You need not install a 3rd party app to trim your videos. You can easily use these services to cut down your original video to a suitable format for Instagram stories.
Reel Editor
You may use the default reel editor offered by Instagram to trim your videos for Instagram stories. The Instagram reel editor is available to every user, and it has some inbuilt tools that offer basic features such as trimming a video, adding text or stickers, or creating a voice-over.
You can use this very editor to trim your videos using these simple steps:
- Open up the mobile app for Instagram on your phone and make sure that your app is updated to the latest version available from the app store.
- On the bottom bar, you’ll find the option for reels. You may click the “+” symbol found on the home page. From there, pick the option for creating reels.
- From the gallery option, you can browse your recent video or simply navigate to the folder where your video file is stored.
- Choose the video you wish to upload as an Instagram story. You can also search for the video title if you’re familiar with the filename.
- Once you find the video file, select the video in question to open it inside the reel editor.
- The real editor will display a preview of your video. Select the option for trimming and use the slider bar to trim any part of the video you wish to cut.
- Once you’ve made all the trims you need, click the “add” menu at the top. Then click the forward button to proceed to the preview page.
- Once you’re redirected to the main editing screen. Here you may choose to make further changes to your story. You can add stickers, music, and special visual effects to your story which makes it more interesting.
- Once you’re done editing your story, just click the download button.
Now that you have the video in the trimmed and edited format, you can go ahead and upload it to your Instagrams story.
Open Instagram and click the “+” symbol. Pick the videos you wish to upload. Click share when you’re ready to add it to your Instagram story.
In this way, you can trim any video for the Instagram story using the reel editor.
Trim videos for Instagram Story on iPhone
If you’re using Instagram on your iPhone and you wish to upload an Instagram story, you may use the default photos app to trim your videos for your Instagram story. It’s a convenient way to trim your Instagram stories directly on the iPhone.
Here is how you can use the photos app to trim a video for an Instagram story:
- Open the photos app on your iPhone and select the video of your choice from the gallery.
- Click the edit menu on the top right of the app’s screen.
- This will open up a screen for editing the length of the video.
- Similar to the reel editor, you can move the slider left or right to choose the starting and ending point of each trim.
- Once you’ve selected all the video parts you’d like to remove, you can click the done button.
- Photos will give you the option of saving your newly edited video into a new file or overwriting the original.
- Select whichever option suits you, and your trimmed video will be saved to your iPhone, ready to be uploaded as an Instagram story.
- Upload your story on Instagram, and you will find it to be in the right format and length for viewing.
Third-Party Editors
If neither of these methods suits you, there are dozens of third-party video editors that offer the same functionality for free. These are the top recommended video editors for Android and iPhone:
InShot
InShot is available for the mobile platform and has all the necessary features of a powerful video editor. This app is completely free to use and does not restrict its features by leaving a watermark on your video when using the paid version. You can get the inShot app from the Play Store for Android or App store for iPhone. Upload your video inside the inShot app and use the trim feature to cut to your liking for an Instagram short format.
VN
An alternative app is VN for mobile. This is another free-to-use app that offers all the needed features to trim and edit videos for Instagram reels. It also has many additional features for video editing, so you can use it to make interesting reels for your Instagram page.
You may use these tools to trim your videos on Instagram. The easiest way is definitely to use the inbuilt reels editor offered by Instagram. You won’t need any third-party video editors to trim your stories. Similarly, for iPhone users, you can use the built-in photos app to trim any videos to your liking. The final alternative is to use a third-party app or website to trim your videos to be the right format for Instagram stories.
I work at Likes Geek as a marketing researcher and journalist with over 5 years of experience in media and content marketing. With a demonstrated history of working in the international news and financial technology publishing industries. I manage content and the editorial team at Likes Geek.