How to Save a Video from iMovie: A Beginner-friendly Guide

Liza Brown

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

If you have just started working with iMovie, then you might find it hard to navigate some of its important features. For instance, a lot of people can’t seem to save a video from iMovie on their Mac. Don’t worry – it is pretty easy to save an iMovie video to the desktop or any other location of your choice.

In this post, I will teach you how to save a video from iMovie in a stepwise manner.

• Part 1: How to Save a Video from iMovie on Mac?
• Part 2: Use Wondershare Filmora: The Best Alternative to iMovie

Part 1: How to Save a Video from iMovie on Mac: A Detailed Solution

Since iMovie is an inbuilt video editor in Mac, a lot of users take its assistance to do basic video edits. As of now, you can export videos from iMovie to popular social media platforms like YouTube or Facebook. Besides that, you can also save an iMovie video to the desktop directly.

Before we learn how to save a video clip in iMovie, let’s quickly know about the audio formats and resolutions that it supports:

Formats: While MOV is the default format in iMovie, you can also convert your videos to other formats like MPG, FLV, ASF, MP4, and more.

Video resolutions: As of now, iMovie supports the exporting of videos in different resolutions like 480p, 720p, 1080p, 2K, and 4K. Users can also select the degree of video quality (high or low) from the exporting options.

Now when you are familiar with all the basics, let’s learn how to save a video from iMovie on Mac in different ways.

Step 1: Import a Video to Edit on iMovie

Before you save a video from iMovie, you need to first launch the application and click on the “+” icon to work on a new project.

You can now launch a new iMovie project and click on the “Import Media” button to browse and load the files on the iMovie interface.

Step 2: Start Editing Your Clips on iMovie

Once you have loaded the video to iMovie, you can drag and drop it to the timeline at the bottom. This will let you explore the available features in the iMovie app so that you can edit your videos.

Step 3: Choose to Export Your Video from iMovie

There you go! Now, when you have edited your clip in iMovie, you can export it however you like. At first, you just right-click its thumbnail from the dedicated window on iMovie and click on the “Share Project” option.

This will let you save the video from iMovie to your Mac’s storage, or you can directly post it on social media.

Besides that, you can also go to the iMovie’s Menu bar from the top and navigate to File > Share to get various options. To save the iMovie video to the desktop, click on the “File” button or select any other social option (like YouTube or Facebook).

Step 4: Select the Preferred Video Settings to Export the File

As you would choose to export the video, you will get dedicated options on iMovie. Here, you can enter the description for the video, and even select a preferred video format and resolution for the file.

You can also select the respective quality and compression type for the video and click on the “Next” button. Here, you can just give the video a name and select where you wish to save the video on your Mac.

Besides that, you can further customize how you save the iMovie video to the desktop. For this, just go to the Settings option from the top of the interface and set up a preferred project size (like 4K or 2K). You can also select any clip size, theme, etc. from here for your project.

Part 2: Use Wondershare Filmora: The Best Alternative to iMovie

As you can see, learning even a simple task like how to save a video from iMovie on Mac can be tedious. Therefore, you can consider using Wondershare Filmora, which is often known as the best video editor for Mac and Windows.

The video editing app has a user-friendly interface and offers some of the best editing features that can be used by pros and beginners alike.

• All Basic Video Edits

You can find all the basic video editing options in Filmora to crop, trim, merge, flip, or rotate your videos instantly.

• Extensive Effects

There are hundreds of readily available templates, filters, transitions, captions, overlays, and other design elements that you can instantly import and customize.

• Inbuilt Filmstock Access

You can also explore an extensive stock of images, videos, soundtracks, etc. in Filmora. Besides that, you can also import all kinds of media files from any other source to your projects.

• Audio Ducking and Voice-over

Users can also directly record voice-overs for videos and even access a dedicated audio mixer in the tool. There is an advanced Audio Ducking option to enhance the voice quality.

• Action Cam Editing

Wondershare Filmora also features instant cam video editing options with a sophisticated video cutter and other tools.

• Advanced Video Editing Options

There are tons of other advanced editing options available in Filmora like pan and zoom, green screen edits, keyframing, split-screen, picture-in-picture, motion tracking, screen recording, reverse playback, video stabilizing, and more.

That’s a wrap, everyone! After following this guide, you can easily learn how to save a video from iMovie on your Mac. As you can see, I have provided a detailed solution to save any iMovie video on your system.

Besides that, you can also explore Wondershare Filmora, which is a more user-friendly and advanced video editing tool for Mac. You can give it a try or share this guide with others to teach them how to save a video clip in iMovie as well.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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