Whenever I need a quick rough cut of video footage, apart from the built-in macOS tools, this is the app I reach for—let me share it with you.
About LosslessCut
LosslessCut is an audio/video lossless trimming & processing utility powered by FFmpeg. It delivers high performance for fast cutting, merging and extracting media without re-encoding, boosting workflow speed. The project has earned 22.9 k stars on GitHub and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Key Features
- Lossless cut & merge: manipulate video streams directly to trim or join segments while preserving original quality;
- Multi-track editing: combine audio/video tracks from several files, add background music or subtitles, and extract standalone tracks losslessly;
- Format remux & snapshots: re-wrap files into MP4, MKV, etc., and grab full-resolution JPEG/PNG stills;
- AI assistance: latest builds integrate AI algorithms that auto-detect content to help editing decisions.
Hands-On Experience
What is lossless cutting—and why care?
Traditional editors (e.g., FormatFactory) re-encode clips, wasting time and quality. I used to wait 18 min to trim a 10 min clip—longer than watching it! LosslessCut uses index editing and stream copy, skipping re-encoding and finishing in seconds, often 1–2 s, a huge efficiency gain.
Clean, easy UI
Switch to Chinese via menu 「File → Settings → App Language」. Drag-and-drop plus familiar shortcuts (space to play, I/O for in/out points) make it almost zero-learning-curve.
Broad format support
Handles mainstream video (MP4, MKV, MOV) and audio (MP3, AAC, FLAC); proprietary codecs may be limited.
Usage Tips
I typically use LosslessCut to:
- rapidly merge drone or action-cam footage and cut dead air;
- extract key segments from tutorial videos or combine several lessons;
- losslessly remux MKV to iPhone-friendly MP4 in seconds.
Download Notes
LosslessCut releases live on GitHub; due to unstable access I’ve mirrored the latest v3.64.0 packages for Windows, macOS and Linux in the cloud-drive linked on this page—pick the build that matches your system.
Free & Open Source
LosslessCut is free and open source under GPL 2.0—download and use without restriction.
Wrap-up
LosslessCut excels at rough cuts. Whether you’re a casual user trimming daily clips or a pro optimizing workflow, its lightweight, high-speed design is worth a spot in your toolkit. For fine editing (effects, color) turn to Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, etc.