Download only part of a video

Updated October 7, 2026 · tested with version 2.0.0

Top Video Downloader 2.0 can download just part of a video instead of the whole thing. In the quality picker, tick Download only a part, type a start and end time (90, 1:30 or 1:02:03) or click a chapter. Cuts land on the nearest keyframes with no re-encoding, so the edges can shift by a second or two.

How to set it

a from/to time, or one of the video's chapters

Time format

seconds (90), minutes (1:30) or hours (1:02:03)

Precision

nearest keyframes, no re-encoding, no quality loss

Limit

the clip must end within 24 hours of the video's start

Cost

same as a normal download at that quality: free up to 720p within your quota, 1 credit above

How to download a YouTube clip by start and end time

1. 1

   Paste the video link and click Download to open the list of formats.

2. 2

   Choose the quality and folder, and edit the file name if you like.

3. 3

   Tick Download only a part. You get from and to fields and, if the video has chapters, a row of chapter buttons with their start times.

4. 4

   Click a chapter to fill both fields, or type the times yourself, for example 1:02 and 2:31. An end time past the video's length is simply clamped to the end.

5. 5

   Click Add to queue. The queue row gets a "clip" label, and the file name gets the range added, like Blender Studio - Spring (1-02…2-31).mp4.

Typos get a plain answer: "Write times like 1:30 or 1:02:03", "The end must come after the start" or "The start is past the end of the video". Minutes and seconds after a colon can't go past 59, so 1:75 is rejected, but 135 on its own works and means 2 minutes 15 seconds.

Why the clip starts a little early: keyframes explained

Online video is compressed so that a complete picture is stored only every so often, with just the changes recorded in between. Those complete pictures are keyframes. You can't slice a file at exactly 1:02.000 without re-encoding, because the frames before the next keyframe wouldn't have a picture to build on. So the app cuts at the nearest keyframes and copies the video and audio as they are.

• The upside: zero quality loss, and a short clip from a long video is fetched and saved quickly. Nothing gets re-encoded.
• The trade-off: the start and end can move. By how much depends on the video; keyframes are usually a few seconds apart.
• Tip: if you need frame-exact edges, grab 3–5 seconds extra on each side and trim in any video editor. It's quick, since the file is already small.

Clip in the app or download the whole video and cut it?

Where clips work and what they cost

• Sites. The from and to fields aren't tied to YouTube. Chapter buttons only appear when the site provides chapters, as YouTube does.
• Audio only. Clips work in audio-only mode too: a chorus, a podcast segment or a quote from a lecture as an MP3. The YouTube to MP3 guide covers the audio formats.
• One video at a time. Clips are set in the single-video quality picker; playlists don't have a cut option.
• Cost. A clip counts as one download at the quality you picked. Up to 720p and audio are free within your 10 downloads a day; 1080p, 2K and 4K take 1 credit, even for a ten-second clip. See the pricing page.
• Want the sponsor read gone rather than one part kept? On YouTube that's what SponsorBlock is for: it cuts sponsor segments out of the whole video.

Clips are good for a quote in a presentation, a teaching excerpt, or one moment from a long stream you don't want to pull down in full. Only download what you have the right to and follow each platform's terms; see is it legal to download videos.