How To Edit YouTube Videos (Without it Taking Hours)

If you're a one-person business owner or solo creator starting out on YouTube, you'll probably be your own editor from day one. You don't have to outsource it. Some tools now let you edit a whole video just by editing text.

I walk you through how to edit YouTube videos without it taking hours: the tools I've used inside and outside YouTube Studio, the pros and cons of each, and why I've settled on the one I use today.

Key Takeaways

• Edit before you upload where you can, and use the YouTube Studio editor only for small fixes after publishing.
• I've moved from iMovie to ScreenFlow to Riverside to Descript, each time solving a specific problem with the last tool.
• Text-based editing in Descript means if you can edit a document, you can edit a video, which keeps editing time to a minimum.

Two Ways to Edit YouTube Videos

• Before you upload: edit on your computer or in your browser, then upload the finished video. This is the recommended way.
• After you publish: use YouTube Studio's built-in editor to make small changes without deleting the whole video.

Personally, I keep editing to a minimum. It doesn't excite me, but I get it done. What does excite me is running a one-person business without hiring anyone, and minimal editing is part of how I do that.

The YouTube Studio Editor: For Small Fixes After Publishing

If you've published a video and spot something you need to change, go to Content in YouTube Studio, open the video and choose Editor.

What you can do in the YouTube Studio editor:

• Trim and cut: remove sections from the timeline.
• Blur: face blur or a custom blur.
• Audio: add an audio track.
• Extras: end screens, info cards, mid-roll ad slots and quizzes.

It's basic, so it's mainly for cutting or blurring things out, like a phone number or personal email address that was visible. Don't try to re-edit a whole video here. In that case, re-upload a fully edited version. I cover it in full in my post on the YouTube Studio editor.

Better still, avoid the need: watch your video all the way through after editing, and if you can, get someone else to watch it too before you hit publish.

The Video Editing Tools I've Used

iMovie: Free and Easy to Start

If you're on a Mac, iMovie is free and very easy to use. Once you get the hang of it, you can edit quickly and get videos published. I started here, but soon wanted more functionality.

ScreenFlow: Powerful, but Heavy on Storage

ScreenFlow, from Telestream, is the tool I used for the longest time. It captures your audio, video and screen, which makes it great for tutorials, and it handles both recording and editing. The downside was the bulky files filling up my computer. Here's my ScreenFlow tutorial.

Riverside: Fully Cloud-Based

To free up space, I moved to Riverside, a fully cloud-based tool for recording your screen, audio and video. It's excellent for interviews: it records locally on each person's device, then uploads the best quality and stitches it together, so a poor connection doesn't spoil the recording.

It edits too. But because editing was fully in the cloud, a weak connection sometimes made my edits a bit janky or slightly out of line. More in my Riverside guide.

Descript: The Best of Both Worlds

Descript solved that. It has a desktop app for smooth editing and a web version for storage, so I get desktop performance without filling my hard drive. I record and edit in the desktop app.

If you can edit text, you can edit your video. You also get a timeline, AI tools, captions, media and Underlord, Descript's AI assistant. Click "improve this video" and Underlord suggests edits for the best result. See my full Descript walkthrough.

Which Video Editor Should You Use?

• YouTube Studio editor: small fixes after publishing.
• iMovie: free and simple, a good place to start on a Mac.
• ScreenFlow: powerful for screen recording and tutorials, but heavy on storage.
• Riverside: best for interviews, fully in the cloud.
• Descript: my choice, with desktop and web versions and text-based editing.

You can see how editing fits into my full process in how I make my YouTube videos.

Conclusion

Editing YouTube videos doesn't have to take all day. Edit before you upload, use the YouTube Studio editor only for small fixes, and choose a tool that suits how you work.

For me, that's Descript. Keep your edits minimal, watch your video through before you publish, and get it out there.