The Complete Guide: How to Crop Video to Square Aspect Ratio

Aspect ratio is a significant concept in the digital video industry. Generally speaking, there are three commonly used video aspect ratios: horizontal or portrait, vertical or landscape, and square. In most cases, the video you take on a smartphone or digital camera is in a landscape or portrait aspect ratio. Therefore, many people asked how to crop a video to a square before posting on social media. This is a concrete how-to for computer and mobile users.

Part 1: How to Crop Video to Square

Before proceeding to our step-by-step guides, let us first discuss the best resolution for general social media postings aside from the square aspect ratio. Simply put, the most advisable aspect ratio options for postings are 4:5, 9:16, and 1:1.

These are the most commonly used aspect ratios for the most popular social media sites, including Instagram Feed (1:1) and Story (4:5), X (1:1), Facebook (9:16), and TikTok (9:16). However, learning the aspect ratio is not enough; you also need to ensure that the subject of your video is within the central 80% of the square to avoid conflicts with overlays.

Cropping a video to 1:1 or 4:5 isn't just about changing the aspect ratio; it's about re-centering your story. In a square frame, the viewer's eye is naturally drawn to the center, making visual balance more critical than ever.

To know the best tools you can use for centering your subject, make sure to read the best uses of our proposed video editor tools below:

What if your action spans the entire widescreen? Instead of cropping and losing 50% of the image, use a Blurry Padding effect. Place your 16:9 video in a 1:1 canvas and use a blurred version of the same clip as the background. This maintains the square requirement without sacrificing content.

Expert Advice: Keep your main subject and captions within the central 80% of the square to avoid being obscured by platform UI overlays.

Part 2: The Easiest Ways to Crop Video to Square on PC

Clideo Online Tool

The easiest way to crop videos to a square on PC is to use online tools like Clideo. It is by far the easiest to use in exchange for performance and stability. This is because its browser-based nature makes it very reliant on connection performance. It also suffers from a very visible watermark, making edited videos not optimized for social media.

If you don’t mind these downsides, you are free to use Clideo for basic video cropping. To learn how to use the program, please read our guide below.

1. Go to Clideo Online Tool’s website and click on the Choose File button of the browser program.

2. Once the video has been imported into Clideo’s editor, click the 1:1 aspect ratio option. Then, move the video cropper tool in the preview window. With it now set up, click on Export.

3. Wait for the export process to finish. Once done, click on Download to save the edited video back to your computer.

While Clideo offers an excellent quick-fix for single files or users on the go, those dealing with large 4K video files or batch tasks may find browser-based tools a bit limiting due to upload speeds and file size caps. If you need a more robust, professional-grade solution that works offline with hardware acceleration, AnyMP4 Video Converter Ultimate is the superior desktop alternative.

AnyMP4 Video Converter Ultimate

Although traditional video editors such as Adobe Premiere can crop video to a square, they are not good choices for beginners or everyday users because of their complicated workflows. Plus, professional video editor software is pricey and not affordable. AnyMP4 Video Converter Ultimate, on the other hand, is not only easy to use but also cost-effective.

How to Crop Video to Square on Desktop

1. Add video

The best video cropping software offers two editions, one for PC and the other for Mac. Install the right one on your computer and launch it. Click and expand the Add Files menu in the upper-left corner, then choose Add Files or Add Folder to open the video or videos you want to crop to a square.

2. Crop the video to a square

A few seconds later, the video will appear in the library pane in the main interface. You can now review the video. Click the Edit button under the title with a magic-bar icon. That immediately opens the video editor window. Head to the Rotate & Crop tab and locate the Crop area. Pull down the Aspect Ratio option and choose 1:1. You can also manually crop the video to a square by adjusting the cropping box, or set the Crop Area to crop it accurately.

3. Save square video

Click OK when you are satisfied with the video. If you want to apply the cropping to other videos, click the Apply to All button. Sometimes, you might need to convert the square video to other formats. The Convert All to option in the upper-right corner can meet your needs. Finally, set the output folder in the Save to field and click the Convert All button.

Rule of Thirds Suggestion: Although the square format favors centering, in a 1:1 ratio, placing eyes along the upper third line makes the video look more professional and avoids excessive blank space above the head.

Part 3: How to Crop Video to Square on Mobile

Most social media support square videos, but their apps do not provide the video cropping feature. In other words, you have to crop a video to be square in another app on iPhone or Android before posting. Fortunately, it is not difficult to find the right tool for the job.

How to Crop a Video to Square on Android

There is no built-in video editor app on most Android devices, partly because devices from different manufacturers are pretty different, even though they run the same system. Luckily, there are video editor apps to help you crop a video to a square on Android. We use InShot as an example to show you the workflow. It is available to Android 5.0 and above. You can download it from the Play Store for free, although it includes in-app purchases.

1. Run the video editor app from your app tray, tap Video to open your gallery, and choose the desired file.

2. Then you will see several options at the bottom. Select the Canvas icon to access the aspect ratio presets.

3. Tap 1:1 under the timeline on Android to crop the video to a square. Play the video and tap the Done icon if you are satisfied.

4. When finished, tap the Save button in the top-right corner, choose a suitable resolution, and save it to your gallery or post it directly to social media.

Action Tracking Suggestion: If your subject is moving, don't just crop the static center. You must manually or automatically (AI-reframing) track the action to ensure the subject doesn't ‘walk out’ of the square frame.

How to Crop a Video to Square on iPhone

In the past, you could only do very simple video editing with the built-in Photos app on iPhone, like trimming or cutting. Since iOS 13, Apple has expanded photo-editing features to video in the Photos app. It means that you can crop a video to a square on an iPhone without an extra video editor.

1. Start the preinstalled Photos app on your iOS device.

2. Find the video you intend to crop, and tap it to open it in full-screen mode. Tap the Edit menu, and then you will see four options at the bottom. Tap the Crop option, which is the fourth from the left.

3. Then tap the Crop to a standard ratio icon in the upper right, and choose the SQUARE option at the bottom. Next, tap Done to replace the original video.

Note: You'd better back up your video before cropping since the Photos app cannot save the cropped video as a new file.

Fill the Vertical Space Suggestion: Remind users that 1:1 loses side space compared to 16:9 but gains vertical visual area, so consider extending the background up and down.

Now that we have discussed four of the best solutions for cropping videos to square for social media, we hope that one of these programs will be suitable for your social media needs.

Conclusion

Now, you should understand how to crop a video to a square or set a video to a 1:1 ratio on a computer or mobile device. For mobile-first, a video editor app is the easiest way to crop a video for sharing on social media, like Instagram. Considering the screen, we suggest you edit the video on a computer using AnyMP4 Video Converter Ultimate. If you have other questions, please leave a message.