How to Do the Edit Trend on TikTok

TikTok’s edit trend is one of the most powerful ways to grab attention, tell a compelling story in seconds, and make your content look incredibly professional. Far from being just one type of video, it's a dynamic style of editing that creators use for everything from showing off a transformation to recapping a travel adventure. This guide will walk you through exactly how to create these captivating edits, from finding the perfect audio to mastering the quick cuts that make them so addictive.

What Exactly Is the Edit Trend on TikTok?

You’ve definitely seen them. It’s a series of photos or video clips cut together perfectly in time with the beat of a popular song. An "edit trend" isn't a single challenge but rather a category of video that relies on tight editing, rhythmic pacing, and strong visual storytelling. These edits pop up in almost every niche and style.

Common examples include:

• Transformations & Glow-Ups: These are the classic "before and after" videos. Think makeup tutorials, fitness journeys, home renovations, or just showing off your confidence. The edit cuts from the "before" state to the stunning "after" on a powerful beat drop.
• Photo Dumps & Recaps: Instead of a static photo carousel, creators turn a collection of photos from a trip, an event, or a month into a fast-paced video montage. Each photo flashes on screen for a split second, synced to the music.
• Fan Edits ("Fanedits"): Content creators showcase clips of their favorite characters from movies, TV shows, or video games, editing them together to highlight a specific mood, relationship, or character arc.
• GRWM ("Get Ready With Me"): These edits show the behind-the-scenes process of getting ready, cutting quickly between different steps like skincare, makeup, and choosing an outfit, often ending with a dramatic reveal of the final look.

What they all have in common is a focus on rhythm. The visuals don't just accompany the music, they move with it. This beat-syncing technique is what makes the videos feel so polished and keeps viewers hooked until the end.

Your Toolkit: What You Need to Create Viral Edits

While you can do some basic editing within TikTok, the seamless, beat-synced edits require a little more power. The good news is that the tools you need are mostly free and easy to learn.

1. Trending Audio (The Heartbeat of Your Edit)

The audio is the foundation of every edit. Don't try to find a song first and then create your edit, instead, find the audio that’s already trending for this exact purpose. Viral edit sounds are specifically chosen for their distinct beats, dramatic drops, and builds, which make them perfect for timing your cuts.

How to find them:

• Scroll Your "For You" Page: This is the simplest way. As you scroll, pay attention to the types of edits appearing frequently. When you see one you like, tap the spinning sound icon in the bottom right corner. Add the sound to your favorites so you can easily find it later.
• Look for Cues in the Captions: Creators often use hashtags like #edit, #capcut, or #transition that can help you identify a trend.
• Watch for "Use this sound" patterns: If you see multiple videos from different creators using the same audio for a similar style of edit (like showing 3 photos before a beat drop), you’ve found a template you can follow.

2. A Capable Editing App

To line up dozens of tiny clips with split-second precision, you need an external app. TikTok’s official video editor, CapCut, is the undisputed champion here. It's built for these trends, connects seamlessly with TikTok, and most importantly, it's free.

• CapCut: This is the go-to app for almost all TikTok editors. Its "Match Cut" feature automatically detects beats in a song, making it incredibly easy to sync your clips. We’ll be using it for our step-by-step tutorial below.
• VN Video Editor: A powerful and free alternative that offers a bit more manual control than CapCut, with multi-track timelines similar to professional desktop software.
• InShot: Another popular choice that's very user-friendly for trimming clips, adding music, and applying filters. While it doesn't have CapCut’s auto beat detection, you can still manually sync your clips effectively.

Step-by-Step Guide: Making Your First TikTok Edit with CapCut

Ready to create your own? Let's walk through the entire process, step by step, using the most popular tool for the job: CapCut.

Step 1: Save the Audio and Collect Your Footage

First, find a TikTok video using the audio you want and tap the sound icon. Tap "Add to Favorites." Do not download the video itself - you only need to save the sound within the TikTok app.

Next, gather all the photos and video clips you want to use. Get more than you think you need. It's better to have too many options than to run out. Try to have a mix of angles, close-ups, and wider shots to keep things visually interesting.

Step 2: Start a New Project in CapCut

Open CapCut and tap "New Project." Select all the photos and video clips you just gathered and tap "Add." Don’t worry about the order for now, you'll rearrange everything later.

Now you need to add your audio. Tap the "+ Add audio" button below your media timeline. Then tap "Sounds." In the top navigation, navigate to the TikTok section (you'll need to link your TikTok account if you haven't already). In the "Saved" or "Favorite" tab, you should see the sound you saved earlier. Tap the "+" to add it to your timeline.

Step 3: Master the Beat Syncing (The Most Important Part)

This is where the magic happens. Lining up your cuts with the audio beat is what makes an 'edit' an 'edit'.

1. Tap on your audio track in the timeline (it will be a green or blue bar).
2. From the menu at the bottom, swipe over and find the "Match cut" or "Beats" option (it has a flag icon).
3. Wait for CapCut to process the audio. You have two choices:
   • Auto-generate: You can select "Beat 1" or "Beat 2" and CapCut will automatically drop small yellow dots on the timeline to mark the song's primary and secondary beats. This is a great starting place.
   • Add manually: For more precision, play the audio loud and tap "Add beat" every time you hear a sound you want to cut to - a bass thump, a snare hit, a specific lyric. This gives you complete creative control.

Once you’re happy, tap the checkmark. You'll now see your audio track dotted with yellow markers. These are your guides. Every single cut or new clip should start exactly on one of these dots.

Step 4: Trim and Arrange Your Clips to the Beat

Now for the editing itself. Your goal is to make each clip last from one yellow dot to the next.

1. Go to the first clip in your timeline. Drag its endpoint so it ends perfectly on the first yellow dot.
2. Drag your next clip into position so it starts on that same dot. Trim its end to align with the next yellow dot.
3. Repeat this process for your entire video. Select a clip, pinch to zoom in on the timeline for precision, and drag the start and end points to align with the yellow dots. If a clip is too long, use the "Split" tool to cut it at a beat and delete the excess.

Rearrange the clips to tell your story. Put your "before" clips at the start (in the slower part of the song) and your "after" or highlight clips where the beat drops and the music builds.

Pro Tip: For photo dumps, you might have each photo appear for just a fraction of a second, flashing between two or three beat markers.

Step 5: Add Effects and Transitions

With your cuts perfectly synced, it's time to add some polish. Simple enhancements go a long way.

• Transitions: Tap the small white box between two clips to add a transition. Don't go crazy here. A simple "Fade black" or "White flash" can be more effective than a spinning cube. The best transition is often a well-timed "jump cut" with no effect at all.
• Effects: Select a clip, then tap "Effects" in the bottom menu. Go to "Video Effects." Here you can find popular looks like "Shake," "Black Flash," or vintage film grain filters. Apply these to a few key clips to add emphasis, especially at the beat drop.
• Animation: To give static photos life, select a photo on the timeline and tap "Animation." The "In" animations control how a photo appears, and "Out" controls how it leaves. Fun options like "Zoom In" or "Rock Vertically" can create a Ken Burns-style sliding effect.

Step 6: Export and Post to TikTok a Specific Way

When your edit is finished, tap the resolution settings at the top of the screen (e.g., "1080p"). Make sure it's set to 1080p resolution and 30fps for the best quality on TikTok. Tap the export arrow.

Once it's saved to your phone, close CapCut and open the TikTok app.

This part is really important for getting your video sorted algorithmically with the trend:

1. Tap the "+" to create a new video.
2. First, tap "Add sound" at the top of the screen. Go to your "Favorites" and select the original sound you saved in Step 1.
3. Next, tap "Upload" and select your finished video from your camera roll.
4. On the editing screen, tap the "Volume" button on the right-hand menu. Slide the "Original sound" volume all the way down to zero and make sure the "Added sound" is at 100%. This ensures that TikTok is using its own version of the audio, not the audio baked into your video file. It's a critical step for discoverability.
5. Add your caption, relevant hashtags (#edit is a good start), and post!

And that’s it! You've successfully created and uploaded your first TikTok edit.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to do the edit trend is less about technical perfection and more about storytelling and rhythm. By choosing a great audio track, gathering compelling visuals, and carefully syncing your cuts to the beat using an app like CapCut, you can create engaging content that stops the scroll. Don’t be afraid to experiment, and remember that with each video, you’ll get faster and more creative.

Once you’ve perfected an amazing edit, that’s just one piece of the puzzle. Growing on social media comes from consistently posting that great content over time, which can become exhausting. We built Postbase to solve this exact problem. As creators ourselves, we grew tired of wrestling with clunky tools, so we designed a simple visual calendar that lets you map out your TikToks, Reels, and Shorts weeks ahead. You can drag and drop to reschedule instantly, see gaps in your strategy, and spend far more of your time making awesome edits instead of constantly figuring out what to post next.