VideoBuff Quick Start — Free Browser Video Editor, No Install, No Account

What is VideoBuff?

VideoBuff is a video editor that runs in your browser. Edit it yourself, or let Claude do it — Claude even makes the animations you have in mind.

• Edit by hand — a multi-track timeline, color grading, audio mixing, auto captions and export up to 4K. Nothing to install and no account: open your browser and start
• Hand it to Claude — ask in chat: "tighten the silent gaps," "match the colors" (see the "Let Claude edit" guide)
• Have Claude make animations — animated titles, diagrams and 3D logos built with GSAP and three.js from your description and placed on your timeline (see the "Animations by Claude" guide)

Your media and edits are processed only on your computer, so confidential or unreleased footage never has to be handed to anyone. We recommend Chrome or Edge on a computer (Firefox and Safari 26+ also work).

This guide walks through finishing your first video by hand.

Step 1: Import Your Media

To import video, audio, and image files into VideoBuff, drag and drop them onto the browser window or use the import button to open the file picker. Supported formats include video files such as MP4, MOV, and WebM; audio files like MP3, WAV, and AAC; and image files including JPG, PNG, WebP, and GIF.

The maximum file size per asset is 2GB. Imported files are stored in the browser's Origin Private File System (OPFS), so they persist even if you reload the page. You can drop multiple files at once for batch import.

Step 2: Arrange on the Timeline

Drag your imported assets from the media panel onto the timeline to place them. The timeline supports multiple tracks — you can freely add video tracks, audio tracks, text tracks, and image tracks.

When you drag a clip, it snaps to adjacent clips for precise placement. You can reorder tracks to control the layering order, with upper tracks appearing in front. This multi-track approach gives you full control over how your content is layered and sequenced.

Step 3: Preview and Edit

Press Space to play and pause; K pauses, L plays, and J steps back one frame. The left and right arrow keys let you step frame by frame, which is useful for precise timing adjustments.

Effects and color grading are previewed in real time during playback. The inspector panel allows you to adjust various parameters of the selected clip, including speed, color, and transitions.

Your edits are auto-saved approximately every second, so you never have to worry about losing your work.

Step 4: Export

When your edit is complete, open the export panel to select your resolution, codec, and bitrate. Resolutions range from 480p up to 4K, with aspect ratio options of 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, and 4:3.

You can choose between H.264 (broad compatibility) or H.265/HEVC (better compression). Bitrate presets include High, Standard, and Light to balance quality and file size.

Press the export button to start encoding in the browser, and download the finished file once it completes.

Technical Note: How Browser-Only Video Editing Works

All processing in VideoBuff uses the WebCodecs API within the browser. The WebCodecs API provides hardware-accelerated video decoding and encoding, achieving performance comparable to traditional server-side processing.

Files are stored in the Origin Private File System (OPFS), and project structure is auto-saved to the browser's localStorage. This ensures your files never leave your device, guaranteeing complete privacy.

Once a project is loaded, you can continue editing even without a network connection.