Downloading a YouTube Clip, and only the part that was clipped
To download a clip from YouTube, copy the clip's own link, the one that starts youtube.com/clip/, paste it into the YouTube video downloader and choose MP4. The file holds only the clipped seconds, not the video they were cut from. Measured on our own engine in October 2026, a 10.7 second clip of a video about 21 minutes long came back as a 10.72 second MP4 at 720p, 1.3 MB in all. A link with a timestamp is a different thing: it downloads the whole video from the start, and this tool has no trim feature to cut a section out for you.
What a YouTube Clip actually is
A clip is a bookmark into an existing video, not a new upload. YouTube's help describes clips as 5 to 60 seconds long and played on a loop from the original video's watch page. The clip stores a start, an end and a title of up to 140 characters, while the picture and sound stay inside the original.
That design explains how clips behave. Anyone who can watch the original can watch the clip, and YouTube removes the clip when the original is deleted, set to private or found to break the Community Guidelines. Clips of unlisted videos stay available. Clipping is switched on by default, but a creator can turn it off for their channel.
The feature is also being replaced. In April 2026 YouTube announced that Share at Timestamp will become the main way to share a moment, replacing Clips, and that existing clips will still be viewable. A timestamp link cannot carry an end time, so it is not a clip and does not download like one.
YouTube Studio has a separate creator tool called Video clips, which republishes a section of the creator's own video as a new upload. That is an ordinary video with an ordinary link, and it downloads in full.
Getting the clip link and the file
Use a link that starts youtube.com/clip/ followed by a long code, because that is the only form that carries the clip's start and end. A clip link someone sent you is ready to paste.
Clips you made yourself are listed under Your clips: in the left menu under You on a computer, and under your profile picture in the YouTube app. Open the clip from there, copy its link and check that it starts youtube.com/clip/. A link copied from the original video's page points at the whole video instead, and any t= on the end is only a start position, as the guide to share links explains.
- Copy the youtube.com/clip/ link.
- Paste it into the box on the YouTube downloader and wait for the title and thumbnail to appear.
- Choose MP4 and a resolution. The buttons are the original video's resolutions.
- Download. The file contains the clipped seconds and nothing else.
What we got back from a real clip link
Only the clipped section, with picture and sound merged into one file. Our engine reads the clip page, finds the original video and the clip's start and end times, and fetches just that stretch. We measured a clip running from 29.0 to 39.7 seconds into a video of about 21 minutes, using the same settings the site uses:
- Length: 10.72 seconds, against the clip's 10.7. Nothing before or after the clip came with it.
- Picture: 1280 by 720 at 60 frames per second, in H.264.
- Sound: AAC at about 127 kbit/s, in the same file.
- Size: 1.3 MB.
- Resolution buttons: the same set the full video gets, which for this video meant 1080p down to 240p.
That is one clip measured once, and another video will differ in frame rate and size. The method does not change: for every clip link, the engine asks for the start and end times, not the whole video.
Clip, Short, timestamp or plain link: what each one downloads
Only a clip link downloads a section. Every other YouTube link downloads a whole video, including a link that opens at a chosen moment. Shorts have their own questions about frame shape and resolution, which the Shorts download guide answers.
There is no trim feature on this site. If the Clip option still appears under the video for you, clipping the section yourself (up to 60 seconds) and pasting that clip link does work, though YouTube is replacing the option. Otherwise this tool downloads the whole video and cannot cut a section out of it.
| Link you paste | What it looks like | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Clip | youtube.com/clip/ plus a code | Only the clipped 5 to 60 seconds |
| Short | youtube.com/shorts/ plus the video ID | The whole Short, vertical frame kept |
| Timestamp link | A watch or youtu.be link ending in t=90 or t=1m30s | The whole video from 0:00, the timestamp is ignored |
| Normal link | youtube.com/watch?v= or youtu.be/ | The whole video |
| Studio video clip | An ordinary watch link | The whole republished clip, like any upload |
Which format to choose for a clip
Choose MP4, because it was the only format that kept to the clip exactly when we measured it.
The MP3 is usable if a few extra seconds do not matter: it held the clip plus roughly nine seconds of the surrounding video, and the YouTube to MP3 converter takes a clip link the same way as the video page. If the sound has to stop exactly where the clip stops, take the MP4, whose audio is cut to the same 10.72 seconds as the picture. Skip M4A for clip links.
| Format | Our result on the 10.7 second clip | Use it for clips? |
|---|---|---|
| MP4 | 10.72 seconds, cut cleanly at the clip | Yes |
| MP3 | 19.70 seconds, the clip plus extra seconds around it | Yes, if the extra seconds are fine |
| M4A | Failed: YouTube's server answered with a 403 error | No |
Quality follows the original video
A clip downloads at the quality of the video it was cut from, never higher. Because the engine resolves the clip to the original, the resolution buttons are built from the original's renditions, and in our measurement they matched the full video's list exactly. A clip of a 1080p video tops out at 1080p, and a clip only offers 2160p when the uploader published 2160p, which the 4K download guide explains along with the separate picture and sound streams behind it.
Size barely matters at this length: ours came to 1.3 MB for 10.7 seconds at 720p and 60 fps.
Using a downloaded clip in your own work
A clip belongs to whoever made the original video, not to whoever clipped it. Clipping only marked the seconds, so keeping a clip for yourself and posting it on your own channel are as different as they are for any video, and the guide on downloading versus republishing sets out where that line sits.
Inside YouTube, the platform's own tools cover some reuse: you can remix a clip if its source video allows remixing, and a creator who owns the source can turn a whole clip into a Short.
For an editor, the MP4 from our test was H.264 with AAC sound, which Premiere, DaVinci Resolve and iMovie open without trouble. It was also 60 fps, so match the timeline to it or expect the editor to convert it, as the guide to preparing footage for editing explains.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still make a new clip to download?
Possibly not. YouTube announced in April 2026 that Share at Timestamp is replacing Clips, and a timestamp link has no end time, so it downloads as the whole video. Clips made before the change stay viewable, and the older clip we measured in October 2026 still downloaded normally.
Why is the file named after the whole video?
The engine takes the title and other details from the original video, not from the clip, so the clip's own title is not used. Rename the files afterwards if you keep several clips from the same video.
What happens to a clip link if the clip is deleted?
It stops working. Deleting a clip removes it from YouTube, and everyone holding the link loses access, including the owner of the original video. A file you downloaded before that keeps playing, because it is a copy on your device rather than a link.
Why is there no Clip option on some videos?
Clipping is on by default, but a creator can untick "Allow viewers to clip my content" under Settings, Channel, Advanced settings in YouTube Studio. Live streams without DVR cannot be clipped either, and YouTube is replacing the option altogether.
Can I download a clip of an age-restricted or members-only video?
No. Only people who can watch the original can watch the clip, so if the original needs a sign-in, so does the clip, and this tool fetches nothing that needs a signed-in account.
Can I download a YouTube clip on my phone?
Yes. The downloader runs in the phone's browser, so paste the clip link there. On iPhone the file lands in the Files app first, not in Photos. On Android it goes to the Download folder and shows up in the gallery.