CapCut is an easy-to-use video editor, and while it doesn’t have comprehensive editing features like Adobe Premiere Pro, it’s great for editing short videos for social media.
You can overlay text, add stickers and emojis, speed up or reverse the video, and add filters to give the video the look and feel you want. It also has a large selection of sounds and royalty-free music that you are free to use. When you’re done, there is an export and share button, so you can quickly share your videos to YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other similar sites.
CapCut is designed specifically as a mobile app for Android and iOS, but if you follow the instructions below, I’ll show you how to download CapCut on your PC for free.
How to Download and Install CapCut on Your PC for Free
Note: Before you can download CapCut on PC, you will need an Android emulator, such as Bluestacks.
- Open Bluestacks and click on the Play Store icon.
- Search for CapCut and then press the Install button.
- When the installation is complete, press the Open button.
- Accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and the app is ready to be used. Because CapCut is installed on the Android emulator, you won’t find it on your desktop or on the Start Menu. You must open the emulator to use CapCut, and you’ll find the icon on the main screen.
How to Uninstall CapCut
If CapCut isn’t the right video editor for your needs, you can easily remove it from your PC. Since you installed CapCut on Bluestacks, you won’t find it on your hard drive or control panel. To uninstall the app, you must open Bluestacks and follow these simple steps.
- Locate the CapCut icon.
- Put your mouse over the icon and press the left button for about 2 seconds, and a menu will appear. Press the Uninstall option.
- Confirm that you want to uninstall the app, and Bluestacks will delete it from your device.
Check out the free CapCut alternatives below if you’re still looking for a software to edit videos.
CapCut Overview
CapCut is owned by ByteDance, which also owns TikTok. So it should come as no surprise that the editing features are geared for TikTok style videos. The app was originally released in 2019 under the name Jianying, exclusively for a Chinese audience. In 2020, ByteDance rebranded the app for a global audience, and by 2021 it became one of the most downloaded apps in the App Store and Play Store.
CapCut Features
CapCut has an intuitive interface that allows anyone to add creative edits to their videos. There are two options when getting started:
New Project: Take control of the editing process with a timeline-style editing board where you can make cuts, and add elements.
Shortcut: Take advantage of AI. Let CapCut analyze your video and pictures, and then suggests templates, filters, music, and transitions that will make your video pop.
Precision Split Function
Getting rid of unwanted parts in your videos or separating out sections that you want to keep is usually the first step in the editing process. Move the cursor to the beginning of the part you want to cut, press the Edit button and then click Split – do the same at the end. Now you can either delete that clip or extract it and upload it to your library for future use.
CapCut lets you adjust the video frame-by-frame, so you can find the perfect position to do your splits.
Control the Playback Speed
CapCut has two options for controlling the video playback speed.
- Select an area of the video and adjust it from 0.1x to 100x.
- Use curves to add flow where the video speeds up and slows down in certain areas.
Adjusting the speed can affect the quality of the video. CapCut has an option to “Make it Smoother,” which prevents the video from jumping too fast and maintains the video quality as much as possible. When you adjust the speed, the video time will automatically adjust, which I found helpful if you have a specific length you want the clip to be.
Nice Selection of Filters
CapCut comes with 7 categories of filters, and each one has several different options. Once you choose a filter, you can adjust the brightness, exposure, shadow, temperature, color, and more to set the correct tone of the video.
Filters do more than just change the tone of your videos. If you combine multiple video clips with different lighting or colors, you can apply a filter to all the clips and create uniformity.
Personalize the Video with Stickers and Text
There is a large library of stickers and emojis that you can add to your videos to add a touch of personality. There is also the option to add text to your video with different fonts, styles, and animations.
When used correctly, stickers and text overlays can engage with your viewers, add humor, and draw their attention long enough to stop scrolling through their timelines or feeds.
Special Effects
CapCut has thousands of video overlay special effects to choose from. They are divided into two main categories: Video and Body.
In the realm of Video effects, you’ll discover 19 subcategories, including Retro, Split Screen, Love, Variety, Dark, and Party. These effects have the potential to bestow a polished appearance upon your video, as they introduce various elements to your clip.
The Body effect category has 7 subcategories such as headwear, hands, surroundings, and emotions. When you choose an effect, the software will recognize a person in the video and add the effect shown in the thumbnail.
Remove Background
You don’t need the perfect background to produce a good-looking video. First, select an image from your gallery that you want to use as a backdrop. First, tap the Remove Background option. CapCut will then eliminate the background from your video and substitute it with the chosen image. Alternatively, you can employ the Chroma Key feature to eliminate a particular color from your video.
Free Alternatives to CapCut
Adobe Premiere Pro: If you need a video editor with top of line editing tools, Adobe Premiere Pro is your best option. It has an auto reframe feature that automatically adjusts the aspect ratio of your videos to fit with all the popular social media networks.
Filmora: Download Filmora for PC, Mac, Android, and iOS to edit your videos and get them ready for social media. It has a wide range of editing tools, including converting text to voiceover, an audio visualizer, and a large selection of filters.