How to Create a Clip from a Facebook Live Video

Your Facebook Live broadcast is over, and your best content might be buried inside that hour-long stream. Instead of letting it disappear into the feed, you can pull out the highlights and turn them into compelling short-form videos. This guide will walk you through exactly how to create clips from your Facebook Live videos to magnify your reach and get more mileage out of every broadcast.

Why Clipping Your Facebook Live Videos is a Game-Changer

Repurposing content isn't just a trendy marketing term, it's a smart strategy for getting the most value out of the effort you've already invested. Live videos are goldmines of authentic, unscripted content. By clipping them, you can:

• Multiply Your Content Output: One long video can easily become five, ten, or even more short clips. This gives you a steady stream of content without having to constantly come up with new ideas.
• Reach Audiences on Other Platforms: The best moments from your horizontal Facebook Live can be reformatted into vertical videos perfect for Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, massively expanding your reach.
• Cater to Short Attention Spans: Most viewers won't sit through a 45-minute replay. A 60-second clip delivering a powerful insight, a funny moment, or a key takeaway is far more likely to be watched and shared.
• Boost Engagement on Facebook Itself: Sharing clips on your Facebook Page as separate video posts can generate new interest and drive viewers back to the full replay. It’s an effective way to promote your original broadcast after it's ended.

First, Hunt for the Highlights: How to Find Clip-Worthy Moments

Before you even open an editing tool, you need to know what you’re looking for. Scrap the idea of re-watching the entire video from start to finish. Instead, use data and a strategic eye to locate the best segments quickly. Look for patterns in your broadcast’s replay.

Check the Viewer and Engagement Metrics

Facebook provides analytics that can point you directly to the good stuff. During the replay, look for:

• Spikes in Live Reactions: Did viewers send a flood of likes, hearts, or laughing emojis at a specific moment? That's a sign that something you said or did resonated strongly.
• High Comment Volume: Scroll through the comments. Where are the discussions centered? A moment that sparked a lot of questions or conversation is a prime candidate for a clip.
• Peaks in Live Viewership: Find the point in your timeline where the most people were watching simultaneously. This is often where your most engaging content is.

Listen for Pure Gold Soundbites

Once you’ve identified a few promising sections, listen closely for these types of moments:

• Powerful One-Liners or Quotes: A single, memorable sentence that perfectly summarizes your message.
• Actionable Tips or Quick Wins: A short segment where you provide a step-by-step instruction or a piece of advice viewers can use immediately.
• Relatable Stories or Anecdotes: Personal stories connect with people. A short, impactful story can make a fantastic standalone clip.
• Frequently Asked Questions: Did you answer a question that your audience often asks? Turn that answer into a helpful clip that serves as an evergreen resource.
• Unexpected or Funny Moments: Authenticity shines on live video. A moment where you laughed, made a mistake, or something unexpected happened can show your human side and be incredibly engaging.

Pro-Tip: As you stream, try to keep a notepad and pen handy. If you say something you think might make a great clip, jot down the timestamp. This will save you a ton of time later.

Method 1: The Official Way Using Meta Business Suite

Facebook has built-in tools that make creating simple clips fairly straightforward. It's the quickest method if you just want to grab a segment and reshare it directly on Facebook without adding extra styling or reformatting it for vertical viewing. This is perfect for creating teasers or highlights to post on your Page.

Here’s the step-by-step process:

1. Navigate to Meta Business Suite: Log in to your Facebook account and go to the Meta Business Suite dashboard. You can typically find it at business.facebook.com.
2. Access Your Content Library: In the left-hand navigation menu, click on "Content." Here, you’ll see all the posts you’ve published across your connected Facebook and Instagram accounts.
3. Find Your Live Video: Scroll through your published content to locate the live video you want to clip. You can use the search bar or filter by post type to find it faster. Once you find it, click on the video's title to open its details.
4. Open the Video Clipping Tool: In the video details view, look for an option that says "Create Clip" or an icon of scissors. Clicking this will open the clipping interface.
5. Select Your Clip Duration: You’ll now see a timeline of your video. You can drag the handles on the timeline inspector to set the start and end points for your clip. The native tool usually lets you preview the segment you’ve selected to make sure it’s just right.
6. Title Your Clip and Publish: Once you've set the perfect start and end times, you’ll be prompted to give the clip a title. Some versions of the tool allow you to add a new description and choose distribution options, like sharing it immediately to your Page or scheduling it.
7. Save and Share: After finalizing the details, click "Create Clip" or "Share Clip." Facebook will process the clip and publish it as a new, separate video post on your Page.

This method is fast and efficient for creating Facebook-native highlight reels but lacks the advanced editing features needed to create vertical videos for other platforms.

Method 2: Download and Edit for Maximum Impact on All Platforms

If you want to create highly polished, vertical clips for Reels, Shorts, and TikTok, your best bet is to download the full video and use an external editing tool. This gives you complete creative control over branding, captions, aspect ratio, and more.

Step 1: Download Your Facebook Live Video

First, you need the video file on your computer. Find your live video in your Content library in Meta Business Suite, click the three-dots menu (...) on the post, and you should see an option to "Download video." The file will be downloaded in SD or HD quality, depending on your choices.

Step 2: Choose Your Editing Tool

You don't need to be a professional video editor to create great-looking clips. There are many user-friendly tools out there:

• Free Desktop Editors: Tools like iMovie (for Mac) or DaVinci Resolve (for Mac/Windows) are incredibly powerful and completely free. They give you full control but have a slightly steeper learning curve.
• Online Video Editors: Services like Kapwing or Canva's video editor are web-based, easy to learn, and designed for creating social media content. They often have templates, auto-captioning features, and elements you can drag and drop.
• Mobile Editing Apps: For quick edits on the go, apps like CapCut or InShot offer robust features right on your phone, making it simple to trim videos and add text or music.

Step 3: Edit and Reformat for a Vertical World

Once you’ve loaded your full video file into your chosen editor, it's time to create your masterpiece.

Slice Out Your Clip

Scrub through the video to the timestamp you identified earlier. Use your editor’s slicing or trimming tool to cut out the beginning and end, isolating just the golden moment you want to share.

Change the Aspect Ratio to 9:16

This is the most critical step for repurposing your content. Since your Facebook Live was likely shot horizontally (16:9), you'll need to change the project's aspect ratio to vertical (9:16). This will create black bars above and below your video, giving you prime real estate for branding and captions.

Add Captivating Elements

• Grab Attention with a Title: Use the space above your video to add a bold headline. It should act as a "hook" that tells the viewer exactly what they’ll learn or see. For example: "The #1 Mistake People Make With..." or "Wait For The Ending..."
• Generate Subtitles: The vast majority of social video is watched with the sound off. Adding subtitles is non-negotiable. Modern editing tools can auto-generate these for you, and you can customize the font and color to match your brand.
• Include a Progress Bar: A small animated progress bar at the bottom or top of the screen can help retain viewers by showing them how much is left of the short clip.
• Add Your Logo & Brand Colors: Consistently use your brand elements to build recognition across all platforms.

Step 4: Export and Share Everywhere

Export your finished clip as an MP4 file. Now you’re ready to upload it natively to Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Threads, and even back to Facebook as a new vertical video.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to create clips from your Facebook Live videos is one of the most effective ways to broaden your content strategy. It transforms a single live event into a wealth of short-form content that fuels your social media channels for days or even weeks, ensuring your best messages reach the widest possible audience.

Juggling all this new video content across various platforms can become a challenge. At Postbase, we designed our platform specifically for the modern content creator, with a special focus on short-form video. You can upload your newly created clips once and schedule them to publish across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook seamlessly, saving you countless hours and letting you focus on creating more great content.