Shotcut download for Windows

Shotcut is a video editor that does the everyday jobs well: trimming clips, putting them in order, adding titles, music and transitions, fixing colour and exporting a finished file. It handles a very wide range of formats without converting them first, and it is free and open source with no watermark.

Which Shotcut download?

The Shotcut download page offers for Windows:

• Installer for Intel and AMD PCs. The usual choice.
• Portable zip for the same PCs, if you prefer not to install.
• Builds for Windows 10 and 11 on Arm, again as installer and zip.
• Microsoft Store, which updates Shotcut for you.

The current Windows builds need Windows 10 build 1809 or newer. Windows 7 and 8 users have to stay on an older release, which the page links separately. For macOS 12 and newer there is a universal disk image; Linux users get Flatpak, Snap and an AppImage.

Your first edit

Shotcut can look empty at first. That is normal: you open only the panels you need.

1. Open a clip. Click Open File. The clip plays in the viewer.
2. Build the timeline. Drag the clip from the viewer down to the Timeline panel. Dragging it there creates the first track. Add more clips the same way.
3. Trim. Drag the start or end of a clip on the timeline, or move the playhead and press S to split it, then delete the part you do not want.
4. Add effects. Select a clip and open Filters. Click + to add brightness, colour, text, stabilisation and many more.
5. Save the project with Ctrl+S. Shotcut saves an .mlt project file that refers to your original clips, so keep them where they are.

Exporting

Open Export, choose a preset such as YouTube or a plain H.264 MP4, pick a file name and click Export File. The job runs in the Jobs panel, so you can keep editing while it works.

When your PC struggles

High-resolution video from phones and cameras can make the timeline stutter. Proxy editing, under Settings, Proxy, creates small working copies of each clip and switches back to the full-quality originals for export. Turn it on before your project grows.

Limits worth knowing

Shotcut is an editor for clean, straightforward edits. Motion graphics and complex compositing are limited. Some people find its interface less guided than commercial editors; the Shotcut tutorials cover the basics quickly.

FAQ

Is Shotcut free?

Yes. It is free, open-source software with no watermark and no paid edition.

Does Shotcut work on Windows 7?

Not the current version. The download page lists an older release as the last one for Windows 7 and 8.

Where did my clip go when I opened it?

Into the viewer, not the timeline. Drag it from the viewer down to the timeline to start editing.

Installer or portable zip?

The installer for your own PC. The portable zip runs from a folder, which helps on a computer where you cannot install software.