Can Google Photos Edit Videos?

Google Photos stores both images and videos. In terms of editing features, you can customize your images by adding filters or changing other elements like lighting or color.

But can Google Photos edit videos, too? The simple answer is – yes. However, these editing features are far less spectacular than some other, designated video editing apps.

On the other hand, sometimes these small adjustments are more than enough. In this article, you’ll learn how to edit videos with Google Photos and even make short movies.

How to Access Video Editing

You can add minor changes and trim your videos in the Google Photos video editor. The process consists of choosing the video, accessing the video, and saving it to your local storage.

Step 1: Access the Video That You Want to Edit

To edit your videos, you need to use the Android or iOS app. If you don’t have it, download it from the Play Store (Android) or App Store (Apple). Then proceed with these steps:

1. Launch to Google Photos app.
2. Select ‘Albums.’
   
3. Choose the ‘Videos’ album.
   
4. Open the video that you want to edit.

After this, you can proceed with editing the video.

Step 2: Editing the Video

When you open the video that you want to edit, you should click the edit button at the bottom of the screen. This should take you to the editing screen. Here, you can change your video in three different ways: Stabilize, Rotate, and Trim.

The ‘Stabilize’ option is in the bottom-left corner of the screen. You can use this option to stabilize a ‘shaky cam’ and make your video smooth and easy to follow.

If you want to rotate your video, you can use the ‘Rotate’ option in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This option will rotate the video 90-degrees clockwise each time you tap the button. You can then choose whether you want your video to be displayed in portrait or landscape.

To trim the video, simply tap and drag the bar at the timeline to choose the range you want to trim. If you hold the bar a little longer, the timeline may expand, allowing you to choose more frames. This usually depends on the length of the video. Once you choose the time range, just tap the ‘Save’ option in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 3: Finishing Up

When you apply all touches and edits, all you have to do is tap the ‘Save’ button in the top-right corner of the screen. Your video will be saved both in your local storage and Google Photos drive.

Trimming and editing parts of your large video can help you make short movies by using the same app. Read more about it in the next section.

How to Make a Short Movie with Google Photos

Your edited videos can become parts of a larger movie. Alternatively, the Google Photos app also has a feature that allows you to make short movies. You can combine multiple videos and photos from your storage. If you want to try this feature out, follow these steps:

1. Launch the Google Photos app.
2. Tap the ‘Assistant’ tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. Select ‘Movie’ under the ‘Create New’ section on the next screen.
   
4. Tap the ‘New Film’ option with ‘Select photos and videos’ displayed underneath.
   
5. Choose items for your new movie. You can select up to fifty.
6. Tap the ‘Create’ button at the top-right of the screen.

Additional Movie Editing Tools

From the movie editing screen, you can choose the order of your photos and images. Do this by holding an item and dragging it above or under another item.

The top item will be displayed first, and the bottom item will be displayed last. You can also trim the length of the media by holding and dragging the timeline bar.

If you want to add audio to the video, just press the musical note icon and add a nice background track. Google Photos also provides several default background tracks that you can use.

Once you’re done, save the movie so you can share it with your friends on social networks.

Scarce Editing Features, but Still Effective

To sum up – Google Photos can edit videos, but offers only minor features. There are no filters, additional effects, transitions, or other tools featured on other serious video editing apps.

However, these minor edits are extremely effective if you just want to trim down or rotate your video, and they can work if you want to blend selected clips and images. If you’re looking for something more, you should probably edit videos in another app.

Which apps do you use to edit your videos? Do you find Google Photos sufficient? Share your experiences in the comments section below.