How to combine videos on iPhone

Shooting video on iPhone is as common as taking selfies these days, but most iPhone users take short, just-in-case clips and then struggle with how to combine them into a cohesive movie. Sure, you could let those clips languish on your iPhone, taking up valuable space in the process, or you can combine your videos into memorable movies that you can send to your friends and family, share on social media, or save for all posterity.

This article will cover the easiest way to combine videos on iPhone using tools that are already on your phone.

How to merge videos on iPhone the easy way

The easiest way to combine videos on your iPhone is by using iMovie, which comes standard on all new iPhones, iPads, and Macs. iMovie isn’t difficult to use, and it’s definitely the easiest way to combine videos on your iPhone.

Use iMovie to quickly merge videos on iPhone

iMovie’s interface is easy to navigate, and you can trim, edit, and crop your videos before combining them into one. If you don’t have iMovie on your iPhone, it’s available for free on the App Store. Once you’ve downloaded iMovie, here’s how to combine multiple videos into one on iPhone:

1. Open iMovie on your iPhone. If this is your first time using it, you may need to give permission for iMovie to access your photos.
2. Under ‘Start New Project,’ tap ‘Movie.’
3. You will see a new screen showing all of your photos and videos. Tap the ones you want to combine into one movie. A blue checkmark will appear on the videos you’ve chosen.
4. Tap ‘Create Movie.’
5. From here, you can preview your video. If you are happy with the results, simply tap ‘Done,’ and your new movie will be saved in iMovie.

Clean up your Photo Library with CleanMy®Phone

You’ll soon see how quickly videos gobble up space on your iPhone. So, it is better to free up some space before starting to combine videos on a regular basis. The largest space hogger is your photo library, so clean it out first. With CleanMy®Phone, you can quickly sort your photos and delete the ones that you no longer need. Its Declutter module finds duplicates, screen recordings, blurred photos, and other useless stuff. And the Organize tool that also comes with CleanMy®Phone scans your photos library and locates all similar shots, grouping them neatly into categories, like Portraits, Food, etc. Just select what to remove and tap Clean > Delete — all those pics are now sent to the Recently Deleted album in your Photos app. Empty it to reclaim some space, and you’re ready to combine more videos.

Crop your video clips to the right size

When you upload videos to iMovie, they will play as a square video, but you don’t have to settle for that. Here’s how to quickly crop your videos after merging them on iPhone:

1. Within the iMovie editing interface, tap each of your clips, one at a time.
2. Tap the small magnifying glass on the right side of your video.
3. Pinch to zoom in or out on the video. Zooming out can pull the video out to the original orientation and allow you to see the full screen. Zooming in will result in landscape orientation, with less of your video showing.
4. Complete this step for every clip in your video.
5. Tap ‘Done’ to save your work.

Reorder clips to make your movie unique

When you upload your video clips to iMovie, they will be added to your project in the order that you tap on them. Press play to watch your video, and if it makes sense, you can easily rearrange the clips so they play in a different order. 

To reorder clips, simply hold your finger down on the one that you want to move and drag it to the new position. Press play again to watch your video. Continue to drag and drop your clips until you are happy with the order. Tap ‘Done’ to save your work.

Name your movie and export it to your Photo Library

Now that you’ve successfully combined your videos on iPhone, it’s time to save your project to your Photo Library. Here’s how:

1. From the main dashboard, tap on the movie you want to work on. The default name for each movie is My Movie (My Movie 1, My Movie 2, etc.).
2. Tap on the name to highlight it in blue.
3. Type a new descriptive name for your movie. If all of your videos are called My Movie, you will get confused when you have more than a few in iMovie.
4. Tap the share icon and choose ‘Save Video’ to save it to your Photo Library. From this menu, you can also choose to save your video to Instagram, send it via text message, or share it through email.
5. You will always be able to find your new video in your Photo Library, or you can continue to add clips, edit, or change it within iMovie.

That’s all it takes to combine videos on iPhone. And finally, if you were wondering how to combine videos on iPhone without an app, unfortunately, it is not possible for now. But using iMovie is not difficult, so go ahead and give it a try.