How to Speed Up a Video (Screen Recordings Especially)
Speeding up a video is the quickest way to tighten a slow screen recording. How to do it on any platform, the speed range that stays watchable, when cuts beat speed, and when re-recording as a demo is faster than either.
Speeding up a video is the fastest way to tighten a slow screen recording, and every editor can do it — set the clip's speed above 100%. Screen recordings of software use stay watchable at 1.25x to 2x; past 2x, actions outpace the viewer and narration gets hard to follow. Turn on preserve pitch so voices don't go chipmunk. Speed is the right tool when the whole recording is just slightly slow and all of it matters; when there's identifiable dead time, cut it instead. And if the recording is a walkthrough you'll reuse, re-recording it as an interactive demo — where there's no playback speed to worry about — is often faster than editing.
How to do it
Mac — iMovie: add the clip, click the speedometer icon, choose Fast and a multiplier. Photos/QuickTime don't do speed directly.
Windows — Clipchamp: select the clip, open the Speed tab, drag above 1x. The Photos app's video editor has limited speed control.
Any platform — a browser-based editor with a speed slider, or ffmpeg for a whole file:
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -filter:v "setpts=0.5*PTS" -filter:a "atempo=2.0" out.mp4
(setpts=0.5 = 2x video; atempo=2.0 = 2x audio with pitch preserved.)
The watchable range
- 1.25x — subtle; trims a slightly draggy recording without anyone noticing.
- 1.5x — noticeable but fine; a common default for tightening tutorials.
- 2x — the practical ceiling for screen content with narration.
- Above 2x — actions blur past the viewer. If you're reaching for 3x, the recording has dead time to cut, not speed through.
Speed and cuts aren't either/or. Cut the obvious dead sections first — page loads, "let me just find that," long silences — then apply a gentle 1.25–1.5x to what's left. The result reads as brisk, not rushed.
Preserve the pitch
Faster playback raises audio pitch by default. Look for "preserve pitch," "maintain pitch," or "pitch correction" in the speed settings and turn it on. Without it, a 1.5x voiceover sounds cartoonish and undermines the whole video.
When re-recording beats editing
If the video is a product walkthrough you'll use more than once, editing it — cutting, speeding, re-exporting — is recurring work every time the UI changes. Capturing the flow as an interactive demo removes the pacing problem entirely: there's no playback speed because the viewer advances step by step at their own pace:
See how to make a clickable product demo.
Related: how to trim a video online, how to make a screen recording smaller, screen recording best practices.
Frequently asked questions
How do I speed up a video?
In almost any editor: select the clip, find the speed or rate control, and set it above 100% (150% and 200% are common). Free options include the Photos apps on Mac and Windows, iMovie, Clipchamp, and browser-based editors. For a whole file with no editing, ffmpeg or an online 'speed up video' tool does it in one step.
How much can you speed up a screen recording?
Screen recordings of someone clicking through software usually stay clear at 1.25x to 2x. Past about 2x, actions happen faster than a viewer can follow, and narration becomes hard to understand. If you need more than 2x, the recording probably has dead time that should be cut rather than sped through.
Does speeding up a video change the audio pitch?
By default, faster playback raises the pitch (the chipmunk effect). Most editors have a 'preserve pitch' or 'maintain audio pitch' option — turn it on to keep voices sounding normal at higher speed. Some tools apply this automatically.
Is it better to speed up a video or cut it?
Cut when there is identifiable dead time — a page loading, a long pause, a section that does not matter. Speed up when the whole thing is just a bit slow and every part is relevant. Often the best result is both: cut the obvious dead sections, then apply a gentle 1.25–1.5x to what remains.