Vidkito

Cut a Video in Half Online - Free, No Upload

Cut a video in half — one click, two equal parts. Drop your video into the box above and press cut. You get two files of identical length, ready to download. No timeline to scrub, no markers to place, no settings to learn. Everything runs locally in your browser, so nothing is uploaded and no watermark is added.

Everything runs locally in your browser. No upload, no queue, no server-side size limit. Parts are made by copying the encoded video stream — no re-encoding, no quality loss.

  • One click, two halves

    No decisions to make. The tool finds the midpoint for you.

  • No re-encoding needed

    The video stream is copied, so both halves keep the original quality.

  • Works without an app

    Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone. Nothing to install, no account to create.

How to cut a video in half

  1. Add your video

    Drag the file onto the box above, or tap it on a phone and pick a clip from your camera roll. MP4, WebM, and MOV all work. Read from your own device, so even a large video opens immediately.

  2. Press cut

    The mode is already set to two equal parts. If you would rather the halves meet somewhere other than the midpoint, switch to custom cut points and place a single marker.

  3. Download both halves

    Each part appears with a length, a size, and a download button. Save one or save both. Nothing expires, because nothing was stored.

When cutting a video in half is the right move

A single file that will not go through

Mail boxes, upload forms, and messaging apps all have size ceilings. Compressing the video softens the picture everywhere; cutting it in half produces two files that each pass, at the quality you started with. The first thing to try is almost always the cheaper one.

Splitting the work between two people

Two editors, two halves. Handing over "the first half" is unambiguous in a way that "the part up to around 12 minutes" never is, and the split is instant enough to do mid-conversation.

Two episodes out of one recording

A long recording that naturally divides into two parts — a morning session and an afternoon session, part one and part two — is easier to publish as two files than as one file with a chapter marker nobody clicks.

Uploading the first half while the second still processes

Publishing platforms accept the start of a series before the rest is ready. Cutting in half means the first file can go up immediately instead of waiting for a whole export to finish.

Cutting in half vs. equal parts vs. custom cut points

How the three cut modes differ in what you decide and when they fit
ModeWhat you decideWhen it fits
Cut in halfNothing — the midpoint is found for youThe job is "two files" and any even split will do
Split into equal partsHow many parts — 3, 5, 10One recording becomes a series of evenly sized episodes
Custom cut pointsWhere exactly each cut landsYou know the timestamp you want, and the midpoint is not it

Why the cut point can land a fraction of a second off

Video encoders do not store every frame in full. They store one complete frame every second or two — a keyframe — then record only what changed. A cut inside that gap either moves to the nearest keyframe or re-encodes the small section around it. Vidkito moves the cut by default: the two halves come out quality-identical to the original, because the video data is copied rather than rebuilt — but the meeting point may sit a fraction of a second before or after the true midpoint. If you need an exact frame, only that thin section is re-encoded. For “cut it in half and post it”, moving the cut is the better trade every time.

About this tool

Cutting a video in half is the simplest thing Vidkito does, and it is deliberately built to stay that way — one button, no mode selection, no timeline. It runs entirely in your browser, which is why there is no upload step and no server-imposed size limit. If you want several parts rather than two, use the video splitter. If you want one shorter section, use the video trimmer. To cut an MP4 specifically, see the MP4 splitter.

Frequently asked questions

How do I cut a video in half?

Drop your video into the box at the top of the page and press the cut button. The tool is already set to two equal parts, so there is nothing to configure — no timeline to scrub, no markers to place. Both halves appear within seconds, each with its own length, file size, and download button.

Can I cut a video exactly in the middle?

By default the cut lands on the nearest keyframe, which can be a fraction of a second either side of the true midpoint — that is what keeps both halves lossless. If you need the split at an exact frame, for a precise hand-off between two editors for example, choose exact-frame cutting and only the thin section around the cut is re-encoded.

Does cutting a video in half reduce quality?

No. Both halves keep the original resolution, frame rate, and bitrate, because the video data is copied rather than rebuilt. Nothing is being compressed — the same frames are simply written into two files instead of one. That is also why the split finishes in seconds rather than taking as long as a fresh export.

Can I cut a video in half without re-encoding?

In almost every case, yes. When both halves can keep the source codec, the video stream is copied as-is — no decoding, no encoding, no generation loss. Only a frame-exact cut triggers re-encoding, and only for the small section around the cut point. The rest of each half is an untouched copy of the original.

Can I cut a video in half on an iPhone?

Yes. Open the tool in mobile Safari, tap the box, and pick a clip from your camera roll. Short and medium clips work well. For a very long recording — an hour or more in 4K — a desktop browser is more comfortable, because the limit is your phone's memory, not the tool itself.

Do I need an app to cut a video in half?

No. It runs entirely in your browser, so there is nothing to download or install — no editor, no extension, no account. That also means you can use it on a computer you do not own, such as a shared laptop or a work machine, without leaving anything installed behind. The file is processed locally and never uploaded.

What's the difference between cutting in half and trimming?

Cutting in half produces two files that together contain everything the original did — nothing is discarded. Trimming keeps one section and drops the rest, so the output is a single shorter video. If both halves are wanted, cut in half; if you only need one short moment out of the middle, use the video trimmer.

What happens to the audio when I cut a video in half?

The audio is split along with the video and copied at its original quality, so each half keeps the sound that belongs to it. Because both the video and the audio streams are copied rather than re-encoded, the sound stays in sync with the picture on either side of the cut. No track is dropped and no volume is altered.