How to clip a YouTube video now that YouTube Clips is gone

You find the moment, go to clip it, and the scissors are gone. It is not a glitch or a setting you missed. On April 17, 2026, YouTube stopped letting viewers make Clips, and nothing left on YouTube does quite the same job.

Here is what changed, what YouTube offers instead, and how to clip part of a video and share it now.

What YouTube Clips did

Clips let anyone watching a video pick a stretch between 5 and 60 seconds long, give it a title of up to 140 characters, and share it as a link. Whoever opened the link saw that stretch playing on a loop, with the original video one click away.

Nothing was downloaded or re-uploaded. A clip pointed into the original video, which made it the easy, respectful way to share the best thirty seconds of a two-hour stream.

What changed in April 2026

On April 17, 2026, YouTube removed the ability to create new Clips. Clips made before that date still play, but the Clip button is gone for viewers, as 9to5Google reported at the time.

YouTube said it would put its effort into tools for creators instead: “We are focused on launching more clipping tools for creators in 2026. Video Clips is available in Studio today, allowing you to republish clips from longer videos and archived live streams.” That tool works on your own uploads. It does nothing for a viewer who wants to point a friend at thirty seconds of someone else's video.

For viewers, YouTube pointed to sharing at a timestamp, and brought that option to its phone and tablet apps at the same time.

What still works on YouTube itself

Share at a timestamp. On a computer, choose Share under the video and tick Start at, or right-click the player and pick Copy video URL at current time. On phones, the share sheet now has a timestamp toggle. The link opens the video at that moment.

It records a start, not an end. The video plays on past the part you meant, nothing loops, and there is no title to say why you sent it. For “watch from here” that is fine. For “watch this bit” it is not the same thing.

Old clips. Every clip made before April 17 keeps playing, so links you have already sent still work. You just can't make new ones.

Three ways to clip a YouTube video now

1. Send a timestamp and say where to stop

The zero-install option: a timestamped link plus a line in your message, like “watch until the applause, about thirty seconds”. It works everywhere, and it leaves the other person to do the trimming in their head.

2. Download it and cut it in an editor

A screen recorder or a video editor will give you a real, standalone clip file. It is also by far the heaviest option, and for someone else's video it is usually the wrong one: YouTube's terms don't allow downloading videos except where YouTube itself offers a way to, and re-uploading another creator's footage can infringe their copyright. That is a lot of work to end up somewhere you shouldn't be, just to say “look at this part”.

3. Use an extension that clips inside the player

The closest thing to the old Clip button is an extension that puts one back: pick a stretch on the progress bar, save it, and get a link that plays just that stretch through YouTube's own player. YTMark works like this:

1. Open the video on youtube.com in Chrome and press X, or click the scissors in the player's controls, at the start of the part you want.
2. A 30-second clip appears over the progress bar, starting where you are, and loops while you work on it.
3. Drag either end to trim it. The arrow keys nudge a selected end by a second, or a tenth of a second with Shift held.
4. Press Enter, or Save.
5. Click the link icon beside the clip in the panel. A share link is created and copied.

The person you send it to gets a page that plays the clip on repeat, with your note as its title and a button through to the full video. They don't need an account or the extension, and it works on their phone.

How YTMark clips compare with YouTube Clips

• Length. YouTube Clips ran from 5 to 60 seconds. A YTMark clip can be anything from 5 seconds to the whole video.
• Title. Clips took a title of up to 140 characters. A YTMark clip's note, up to 500, becomes its title when you share it.
• Loop. Both play the clip on repeat.
• Where you make them. Clips worked in the YouTube apps too. YTMark clips are made in Chrome on a computer; the links play anywhere.
• After you share. A shared YTMark clip shows its view count, and Stop sharing turns the link off for everyone without deleting the clip.
• Privacy. A YTMark clip is private until you share it, and shared clips aren't listed or searchable anywhere.

A note on creators' settings

A clip link plays the original video in YouTube's embedded player; it never copies it. If an uploader has turned off embedding for a video, the clip page can't play it and sends viewers to the video on YouTube instead. Their settings win, which is how it should be.

Which should you use?

• One moment, sent once: share at a timestamp. Nothing to install.
• A part with a beginning and an end: a clip, so it stops where you meant it to.
• Something worth watching twice: a clip, because it loops.

For more ways to point someone at part of a video, see how to share a specific part of a YouTube video. If the part is for you, to practise or study, looping a section covers that.