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

Oh man, Windows Movie Maker – that’s a blast from the past! If you're digging through the archives to find a simple, free tool to chop up your video, you might be wondering if this old classic works as an mp4 cropper on Windows 11.

Microsoft officially killed Windows Movie Maker years ago. You can't just download it from Microsoft anymore. To get it, you have to hunt down the old "Windows Essentials 2012" suite from an archive site (like Internet Archive), install it, and hope it doesn't throw a compatibility fit. It does run on Windows 11, but it's definitely not happy about it.

Alright, if you're dead set on using it, here’s how it works once you get a compatible file imported:

1. Import your video (after converting it to WMV).
2. Drag it to the timeline at the bottom.
3. To Cut (Trim): Click the video clip on the timeline, then drag the little black start/end sliders inward to cut off the parts you don't want.
4. To Crop (Resize the frame): Go to the Visual Effects tab, find the Crop effect, and drag it onto the video. A pop-up will let you drag the edges of a box to crop out the sides.
5. Click Save Movie → choose MP4 as the export format, and wait for it to render.

If you really want a classic, no-nonsense mp4 cropper that actually works on Windows 11 without converting files first, I’d strongly suggest Avidemux (which I mentioned earlier) or even just the built-in Photos app for cutting. They’re both free, way faster, and don't make you jump through hoops.

If you've already got Movie Maker installed and you're just playing around with an old WMV file, go for it. But if you're actually trying to crop an MP4 video in Windows 11 with minimal fuss, this ain't it. Save yourself the headache and grab Avidemux or the Photos app instead—they'll get the job done in 2 minutes flat without the nostalgia trip.