OpenShot Crop Videos Guide: 3 Ways, Tips & Troubleshooting

In many modern video editors, we crop videos by dragging a selection frame on them. That's mostly what we expect when we talk about cropping, but not how it works in OpenShot. Now that many users are confused about OpenShot video cropping, we created this article to explain 3 solutions, plus extra tips and an easier alternative.

Part 1. Crop a Video in OpenShot: the Crop Effect

Crop Effect is the dedicated cropping tool in OpenShot. It is hidden deep, which is why many people don't know how to use it.

Step 1First things first, add the video you want to crop. Click Import File, or drag the video to the workboard on the left.

Step 2Drop the video from the workboard to the Timeline at the bottom. Make sure it's placed precisely at the start point.

Step 3Above the workboard, click the Effects button. Type "crop" in the search box, then drag the Crop effect to the video clip in Timeline. Now there should be a tiny C label on the clip thumbnail.

Step 4Right-click the C label. The Properties bar appears on the left side. There, adjust the following options to crop from different directions: Left Size, Right Size, Top Size, and Bottom Size. You can also change X Offset and Y Offset to reposition the video frame. The output is displayed in real time in Video Preview.

Step 5When it's finished, click Export Video at the top-right corner.

Part 2. Crop a Video in OpenShot by Scaling It

This is a workaround that hides the edges by making the video bigger than the project frame.

Step 1Import your video and put the clip on the Timeline.

Step 2Right-click the clip on the Timeline and select Properties.

Step 3Increase Scale X and Scale Y values above 1.000 by retyping the figure. This zooms the video in, making it larger than the project frame.

Step 4Slide the values of Location X and Location Y to shift which part of the video stays visible in the center.

Step 5Click Export Video at the top right. The invisible parts outside the Preview frame will be cropped out.

Part 3. Crop a Video in OpenShot by Transforming

This solution is similar to scaling, but it uses on-screen handles that make the process more visual.

Step 1Import and drop the video into the Timeline.

Step 2Look at the Video Preview window on the right side: there's a blue frame around it. Dragging the handles on its edges and corners will transform the video. Press and hold the Ctrl key while dragging it to keep the original ratio.

Step 3Drag the blue frame out of the preview window, and drag the video to reposition it. Be careful not to leave black bars on the edges.

Step 4Click Export Video at the top-right corner. What's outside the window frame will be cropped.

Part 4. An Easier Alternative for Cropping Video

If you want a better experience of cropping videos, try AVAide Video Converter. It's a powerful video editor that can crop videos in the modern way: drag a rectangular frame on the video, keeping the part inside of it and cropping out the rest. Very straightforward. You don't have to fine-tune any figures or sliders.

Step 1Download and install the software on Windows or Mac, then launch it.

Step 2Start adding the files on the main interface. Just drag the files from the folder and drop them at the center. Or click the Add Files button.

Step 3Hit the Edit button to open the editing window. There, drag the yellow frame around the video to manually crop it. Or, you can also go to Crop Area to change the height and the width. Click OK once you're done.

Step 4Change the output format and saving location, if needed. Then click Convert All.

Part 5. Fix Common Crop Problems in OpenShot

1. Fix Soft / Pixelated Result After Cropping

Export at a resolution close to the cropped dimensions instead of forcing it back to full quality in OpenShot. After exporting, if you really want to keep the high quality, you can upscale the video with AI Video Enhancer in AVAide Video Converter.

2. Fix Black Bars / Empty Space After Cropping

If you use the Crop effect, go to Properties, right-click the value of Resize, and set it to Yes. OpenShot will then auto-scale the remaining area to fill the full frame. But this method will stretch the pixels, causing the video to blur.

Alternatively, if you're using the scaling and transforming methods, look at the preview carefully when you adjust the video size. Make sure there are no black bars in sight before you export it.

3. Fix Wrong Part of the Video Cropped / Subject Off-Centered

Shift the cropped area by adjusting the X Offset and Y Offset, or drag the video in the preview.

Part 6. Crop vs Resize: How to Choose

Both cropping and resizing change the size of a video, but in different ways. Beginners often confuse the two. So, in this section, we'll talk about their differences to help you choose the right one.

Cropping

Cropping means cutting away the edges. When you crop a video, you draw a cropping square on the video, keep the content inside, and remove what's outside. This makes the video smaller, but the resolution stays the same.

Resizing

Resizing doesn't remove anything; instead, it just changes the dimensions of the entire video. This often leads to pixels stretching or shrinking, so you might find the video blocky after scaling. But of course, you can always enhance the video afterwards.

Quick Comparison

By Bryan Simmonds on Aug 19, 2026