LosslessCut — The Magic of Video Cutting: No Re-encoding, No Quality Loss, Fast as Copying a File
In a word: Cut out ads from videos, extract highlights, split long videos — no re-encoding, no quality loss, lightning fast.
You Just Want to Cut a Segment from a Video — Why Re-encode the Entire Thing?
You recorded a 2-hour livestream and want to extract a 10-minute highlight. You drag the video into an editor, cut out the 10 minutes, export — the software says “Estimated render time: 25 minutes.” During rendering, your CPU fan spins up, GPU hits 100%, and the file finally comes out.
You just wanted to chop off the beginning and end. Why recompress the middle portion that you didn’t touch? Every re-encoding loses a bit of quality — like repeatedly screenshotting a Word document and running OCR on it.
LosslessCut does things differently: it doesn’t re-encode. You specify which parts to keep and which to remove, and it directly cuts and joins the video at the encoded data level — bypassing the decode → re-encode → recompress pipeline. So:
- Blazing fast: a 2GB, 2-hour video, extracting a 10-minute segment takes just seconds (the time it takes your hard drive to copy a similarly sized file)
- Zero quality loss: since nothing gets re-encoded, every pixel is identical to the original
- CPU/GPU barely work: no encode/decode calculations needed
What Can LosslessCut Do?
1. Lossless Cutting: Remove Ads, Intros, Outros, Silent Parts
Drag a video into LosslessCut → drag the sliders to set start and end points → click “Export.” LosslessCut extracts that segment from the original video and saves it as a new file.
Common scenarios:
- Recording a livestream, cut off the 10-minute “getting ready” intro and the 5-minute “be right back” outro
- Recording online course videos, cut out the intermission in the middle
- Downloaded videos with 30-second ads at the beginning, cut them off
2. Lossless Splitting: One Large Video into Multiple Segments
You can set multiple segments, each with a name. After marking them all, export all segments at once. For example, a 1-hour recording with 6 knowledge-point segments — mark them all and export in one go.
3. Extract Audio Tracks from Video
No need to drag the video into Audacity or a format converter. In LosslessCut, you can choose to export only the audio track (AAC, MP3, OGG, etc.) without the video. Again, lossless — audio data is extracted as-is, no re-encoding.
4. Merge Videos (Same Encoding Parameters)
If multiple video files use identical encoding parameters (shot with the same camera, or sequential segments from the same source), LosslessCut can merge them losslessly — like gluing two pieces of rope together without re-encoding at the joint.
5. Preview Keyframe Positions
LosslessCut shows every keyframe position on the timeline. You can only cut at keyframe positions (this is a limitation of all lossless cutting tools — cutting at non-keyframe positions requires re-encoding). But LosslessCut lets you mark anywhere; on export, it automatically snaps to the nearest keyframe.
When Does LosslessCut Fall Short, Requiring Traditional Editing Software?
- Precise cutting at non-keyframe positions: If you need frame-accurate cutting (keyframes occur every几十 to hundreds of frames), LosslessCut can only cut to the nearest keyframe. For frame-accurate needs → use traditional editing software
- Adding filters/text/transitions/watermarks: LosslessCut is strictly a cutting and joining tool — no editing capabilities. For these → Shotcut / DaVinci Resolve / Premiere Pro
- Merging videos with different encoding parameters: Two videos with different encodings? (e.g., one H.264, one H.265) LosslessCut can’t merge them losslessly → use traditional editing software
- Need to adjust bitrate/encoder/resolution: Lossless cut means no encoder operations — you can’t modify encoding parameters at all
Professional Media and User Reviews
| Source | Review |
|---|---|
| How-To Geek | ”LosslessCut is the fastest way to trim a video — no quality loss, no encoding wait, dead simple” |
| AlternativeTo | User rating 4.6/5.0 — “The simplest tool for the most common video task: cutting out the unnecessary parts” |
| MakeUseOf | ”LosslessCut does one thing — lossless video trimming — and does it perfectly” |
What Real Users Say
“After recording VOD (livestream recordings), I need to split them into individual videos for Bilibili. A 4-hour stream recording is 15GB. Mark chapters in LosslessCut, and in a few minutes everything is cut — quality untouched. If I used Premiere, just rendering would take an entire afternoon.” — Game Streamer, Bilibili
“School lecture recordings — 15 minutes of teacher prep at the beginning, 10 minutes of empty footage at the end. LosslessCut chops off both ends in one go. Processed all 20 classes’ recordings in one afternoon. If I had to load them into editing software and export one by one, I’d probably still be at it three days later.” — School AV Teacher, Zhihu
“Extracting audio tracks from recordings for podcast episodes. No need to open Audacity for conversion — just select ‘Export Audio Only’ in LosslessCut. Seconds. Lossless quality.” — Podcast Producer, Reddit
“I collect concert recordings. Downloaded official recordings often have intro/outro credits and sponsor ads. Use LosslessCut to strip everything, leaving only the performance. Cleaned up hundreds of videos in my collection in a month, saving dozens of GB of disk space.” — Music Fan, Xiaohongshu
Comparison with Similar Tools
| Dimension | LosslessCut | Avidemux | FFmpeg (Command Line) | Traditional Video Editor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lossless Cutting | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Perfect | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Supported | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Perfect | ⭐ Export needed (re-encode) |
| Keyframe Visualization | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Available | ⭐⭐ None | ❌ No GUI | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Available |
| Multi-Segment Marking | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Supported | ⭐ Not supported | ❌ Needs scripting | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Supported |
| Audio Track Extraction | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Supported | ⭐⭐⭐ Supported | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Supported | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Supported |
| Format Support | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Almost all | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rich | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Everything | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Almost all |
| Interface | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Clean intuitive | ⭐⭐ Old-school | ❌ Command line | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Modern |
| Video Editing Features | ❌ None | ⭐⭐ Basic filters | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ All-powerful | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Full-featured |
| Cross-Platform | ✅ Win/Mac/Linux | ✅ Win/Mac/Linux | ✅ All platforms | Varies |
| Price | Free | Free | Free | Free to ¥168/month |
Selection Guide:
- Remove unwanted segments, extract clips, extract audio → LosslessCut (fastest, simplest lossless solution)
- Need basic editing beyond cutting (some filters, simple format conversion) → Avidemux (lossless cut + light editing)
- Need automated batch processing of videos → FFmpeg (scriptable, command-line, absolute control)
- Need full editing (subtitles/transitions/effects/multi-layer) → DaVinci Resolve / Shotcut / Premiere Pro
Download and Installation Guide
Official Download (Recommended)
LosslessCut’s only official distribution channel is GitHub:
| Channel | Download Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub | github.com/mifi/lossless-cut | Source code + Release downloads |
⚠️ Safety Reminder: LosslessCut is hosted on GitHub (
github.com/mifi/lossless-cut), open-source (MIT License). Download the installer for your OS (.exe / .dmg / .AppImage) from the GitHub Releases page. Note: LosslessCut has no separate official website. Any site claiming to be “losslesscut.com” or similar is not official. Downloading from GitHub Releases is safest.
2-Minute Quick Start
- Open github.com/mifi/lossless-cut, find Releases on the right, download Windows version
- Extract and double-click LosslessCut.exe to launch
- Drag a video file into the window
- Drag the sliders on the bottom timeline to set start and end points (or manually enter timecodes)
- Click the + button in the bottom-left to add multiple segments (if needed)
- Click the “Export” button above, choose output format → Export
Tips and Tricks
- Quick navigation: Mouse wheel zooms in/out on the timeline for precise positioning
- Keyframes: Orange vertical lines on the timeline mark keyframe positions. Cut points automatically snap to the nearest keyframe
- Audio track selection: If your video has multiple audio tracks, choose which to keep and which audio format to export in the right panel
- Shortcuts: I = Set in point, O = Set out point, Space = Play/Pause, Left/Right arrows = Frame-by-frame movement
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why isn’t my cut point where I set it — off by a few seconds? Because lossless cutting can only cut at keyframes (I-frames). In video encoding, most frames are difference frames (P-frames / B-frames) that only store differences from the previous frame. If your set position doesn’t land on a keyframe, LosslessCut automatically finds the nearest keyframe as the actual cut point. This is the only cost of lossless cutting — cutting precision is about 2-10 seconds (depending on the keyframe interval in encoding settings).
Q: Why does my exported file have a few seconds of black screen or artifacts at the beginning? This usually happens because the cut portion included a keyframe, causing subsequent difference frames to lose their reference frame. Solution: slightly adjust the cut position to a farther keyframe, or increase the keyframe density in your original recording settings.
Q: Is there a difference between this and dragging into an editor and exporting “in the same format”? Big difference. Even if the editor exports “the same format” (e.g., both H.264 MP4), it still goes through decode → edit → re-encode. Each re-encoding slightly reduces quality (like a photocopy of a photocopy). LosslessCut copies the original — video data never touches an encoder/decoder.
LosslessCut is the “precision scissors” of the video world — never redrawing or reprinting, cutting precisely along the video’s natural grain. Fast, lossless, and so simple anyone can use it.