X has launched its own video clipping tool, letting users cut short highlights from longer videos and post them without leaving the app. The move is the platform's latest attempt to win over creators and keep more video viewing inside X.

Clipping has become one of the most important ways short video travels online. Creators and specialist agencies routinely slice long videos into punchy segments for TikTok-style feeds, and the format is now used by businesses running marketing campaigns and even by political campaigns. Until now, X users who wanted to do the same had to download a video, edit it elsewhere and re-upload it. The new tool brings the whole process inside X.

How the X clipping tool works

To make a clip, users open a video post, choose the repost option and select “Clip video”. They can then pick a segment, add their own commentary and publish it as a separate post. Every clip carries a “Clip from” label that links back to the original video, so viewers can tap through to the full version and discover the original creator.

There are limits. Clips must run between five and 60 seconds and can be no more than 30 per cent of the original video's length. Only pre-recorded videos of at least two minutes can be clipped, and livestreams are excluded for now. For videos longer than three minutes and 20 seconds, users can select the full 60 seconds. If the original video is deleted, clips taken from it are automatically removed as well.

Creators and clippers can both earn

X says both the original creator and the person who made the clip can earn from views on the clip through its Original Content Rewards programme. Earnings from clips are included in creators' regular programme payouts. The programme is only open to eligible creators and pays out based on levels of audience engagement, and X has not published payout rates or how any split between the two parties works.

There is one notable gap. Creators cannot currently switch clipping off for their videos, meaning other users can cut and share parts of their work without an opt-out. X says it is working on an option that will let creators prevent their videos from being clipped. Clips also do not qualify for X's Video Kickstart Bonus, because they feature another user's video rather than an original upload.

Part of a wider creator push

The clipping tool is live now on X's iOS and Android apps, with web access expected to follow. It is the latest in a series of creator-focused changes at the platform. X introduced long-form video uploads in 2022, when the site was still known as Twitter, and later added long-form articles for Premium subscribers. In March it introduced exclusive threads, which let creators put parts of a thread behind a paywall for subscribers, and in July it launched a livestreaming studio and set aside $1 million for creators who broadcast live.

The strategy is clear: X wants the short clips that currently drive discovery on rival platforms to be made, watched and monetised on X itself. Whether creators welcome a tool that lets anyone re-cut their videos will depend in part on how quickly the promised opt-out arrives, and on whether the shared earnings prove worth the loss of control.