FREE Download | Video Editing Software for Beginners

Are you someone who loves the idea of creating video content for social media and YouTube, but have no idea how to edit videos? You are not alone! There are millions of people who want to become content creators, but most have little or no video editing experience.

Coming up with video ideas and shooting them on your smartphone can be fun and easy. But video creation often comes to a standstill when it gets to the editing part. Download video editing software for free so you can get those videos off of your phone and create professional-looking content.

With the right free and beginner-friendly software, video editing can be fun and easy too! Keep reading to find out how you can download a free video editor and edit videos today.

• Best Free Video Editing Software for Beginners
• How to Edit Videos With a Free Video Editing Software
• Tips for Editing Videos for Beginners
• Download the Best Video Editing Software for Free
• Download Free Video Editing Software for Beginners FAQ

Best Free Video Editing Software for Beginners

PowerDirector Essential - Best Overall Software

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

PCMag Rating: 5/5

Price: Free
*Premium subscription available for $4.33/month

Key Features:

• Drag-and-Drop effects and transitions
• Pop-up designers to help make video creation easier
• Chroma key for simple green-screen effects
• Video collage and slideshow designer

If you are looking to download a free video editor, we recommend PowerDirector Essential as the best choice. PowerDirector Essential is the free version of the award-winning video editing software, PowerDirector. It is the best choice for beginners because it is extremely easy to use and allows them to try pro-level features without spending a dime.

PowerDirector comes with an Online Learning Center filled with step-by-step tutorials and helpful blogs that explain video editing procedures in layman’s terms. On the editing interface, you’ll find Guided Edits to explain every feature and simple drag-and-drop tools.

Beginners can start out in PowerDirector’s Auto Mode which uses the Magic Movie Wizard to automatically create movies from scratch with only a few clicks. As your editing knowledge increases, you can work your way up to the program’s Full Mode, which gives you more creative control over edits.

Unlike the free trials available for most video editors, PowerDirector Essential is yours to use forever, with no time limits. Best of all, you can download a free video editor and try all the premium features found in PowerDirector for free for 30 days. If you decide to pay for a video editor, PowerDirector is one of the most affordable available.

Click the link below to download a free video editor and start creating clickable content with PowerDirector Essential.

How to Edit Videos With a Free Video Editing Software

To download a free video editor like PowerDirector Essential is really as simple as clicking the download button below, selecting the program once it’s installed, and following the instructions and prompts that appear.

Once installed, you can open your video editing software for free and follow the steps below to edit videos.

Import Your Media

1. Click the Import Media icon in the top left of your screen. Click Import Media Files, and choose your video clips and/or photos from your computer.
2. Click Open to add the files to PowerDirector’s Media Library.

3. Drag your clips onto the Editing Timeline in the order you want them to appear.

Trim Your Clips

1. Place your cursor on the beginning or end of a clip until you see a Double Arrow.

2. Move the double arrow in to cut off a portion of your video.

For more information on how to trim videos with video editing software for free, click here.

Add Transitions Between Clips

1. Click the Transition Room icon that looks like a lightning bolt from the toolbar on the left.

2. Click on any transitions you’d like to see and view them in the Preview Window.
3. Drag and drop your favorite transition between 2 clips on the Editing Timeline.

For more information on how to add transitions with video editing software for free, click here.

Export and Share Your Video

1. When you have finished your video, click the blue Produce button in the top left.
2. To save the video to your computer, choose a File Format and click Start.

3. To upload to YouTube or Vimeo, click Online, then choose your destination. Fill in the metadata and click Start.

For more information on how to produce and share videos, click here.

Tips for Editing Videos for Beginners

Here are some tips new editors should know before they download a free video editor and start to edit videos.

• Follow the 321 Rule

The 321 rule is a rule of thumb for video editors and suggests having 3 separate copies of all video files in at least 2 separate places. It takes a lot of time, effort, and sometimes money to capture video content - don’t lose it all because of a technical issue! Most seasoned editors could tell you they’ve had footage get lost or ruined at least once. Save a copy to your hard drive, one in cloud storage, and one in a flash drive or other external device.

• Stay Organized

After you upload your video clips to your computer, review them all and save the best takes in a separate folder (don’t delete any clips unless they are completely unusable until you are done editing your video. You never know what you will end up needing!). After you download a free video editor, you can import the entire folder into PowerDirector in one step, and won’t crowd your Media Library with clips you don’t need. You should also name all your folders and individual clips so they are easy to find. This will greatly speed up the editing process and your future self will thank you!

• Tighten Your Edit

Watch your video all the way through from beginning to end when you are done editing. If you aren’t on a time crunch, you may want to wait a day and watch it with “fresh eyes.” Most likely, the video won’t be perfect the first time through. Try and decide when parts of the video lag and which parts are unnecessary. Anything that doesn’t add to your story should be cut. You may also notice parts that were too fast for an audience to understand and may need to lengthen some clips as well. Keep tweaking your edit until the flow seems right.

Download the Best Video Editing Software for Free

As a brand new editor, it would be a shame to spend hard-earned money on a video editor only to find out it’s too difficult to use or doesn’t have the features you need. That’s why we suggest you download a free video editor, so you can try out all the features before making a monetary commitment.

PowerDirector Essential is the best video editing software for free. It has plenty of tools to allow you to edit videos for free as long as you wish and lets you try out the advanced features found in PowerDirector. PowerDirector is by far the best video editor for beginners because of its intuitive user-friendly interface, pre-made templates, and automatic one-click tools. PowerDirector also comes with tons of user support such as guided edits, tutorials, blogs, customer support, and more.

Click the link below to download a free video editor and edit videos for your friends, family, or followers today!