How can I crop a mp4 video and cut a part of it in Windows?

Yeah, I feel you. Sometimes you just want a simple, free tool that doesn't come with a million buttons, ads, or a "Pro" version nag screen. HandBrakeCLI is the command-line version of the popular HandBrake encoder, and it's surprisingly straightforward once you know the magic words.

If you're looking to crop an MP4 video in Windows 11 without installing yet another bulky video editor, this method is perfect. It's lightweight, completely free, and runs entirely from the command line—no mouse clicking required.

Step 1: Grab HandBrakeCLI
Go to the official HandBrake website.
Look for the Command Line Interface (CLI) download (not the GUI version).
Download the ZIP file, extract it somewhere easy to find, like C:\HandBrakeCLI.
Inside, you'll find HandBrakeCLI.exe. That's your weapon.

Step 2: Open Command Prompt
Press Windows + R, type cmd, and hit Enter.
Navigate to your HandBrakeCLI folder:

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cd C:\HandBrakeCLI

Step 3: The Command to Crop an MP4 Video in Windows 11
Here's the basic template:

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HandBrakeCLI -i input.mp4 -o output. mp4 --crop width: height:top:bottom

Wait, that looks weird. Let me explain with a real example.
Say your video is 1920x1080 and you want to crop it to 1280x720, removing 320 pixels from the left and right, and 180 pixels from top and bottom:

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HandBrakeCLI -i myvideo.mp4 -o cropped_video. mp4 --crop 720:1280:180:180

Step 4: If You Also Want to Trim (Cut) at the Same Time
You can combine cropping with cutting in one command—perfect if you also want to cut a specific part. To crop an MP4 video in Windows 11 and trim it, add start and stop times:

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HandBrakeCLI -i myvideo. mp4 -o final.mp4 --start-at duration:90 --stop-at duration:180 --crop 720:1280:180:180

Step 5: Wait, It's Re-encoding? Yes, But That's Not Always Bad
But the upside is, HandBrakeCLI gives you a clean, properly cropped video that works everywhere, and you can control quality with the --quality flag (lower number = better quality).

Example with quality control:

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HandBrakeCLI -i myvideo. mp4 -o cropped.mp4 --crop 720:1280:180:180 --quality 20

Step 6: Batch Crop Multiple Videos
If you have several videos, you can use a loop in Command Prompt:

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for %i in (*.mp4) do HandBrakeCLI -i "%i" -o "cropped_%i" --crop 720:1280:180:180

Boom. Every MP4 in the folder gets cropped automatically. Now that's what I call efficiency.

If you're comfortable with a little command-line action and don't mind re-encoding, HandBrakeCLI is a solid, free, and underrated choice. It's especially useful if you want to crop an MP4 video in Windows 11 while also adjusting quality, file size, or adding filters.