How to Combine Videos on Mac: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide

Merging videos is one of the most basic and widely used video-editing skills. Whether you're creating a family montage video or stitching together clips for content creation, you need video merging skills. And it's quite easy to merge videos, too. For Mac users, the options are endless. However, they all vary in terms of quality of output, ease of use, performance, and many other factors. So, you must find the right tool for combining videos on a Mac. We've created this guide to help everyone from casual users to enthusiasts merge videos on Mac effortlessly and produce outstanding-quality projects.

Part 1: The Best Way to Merge Videos on Mac

HitPaw Univd for Mac is one of the few video editing tools that does not automatically transcode imported videos during merging. This makes the merging process radically faster, allowing Mac users to merge several videos, including feature-length movies, in a matter of minutes. HitPaw Univd is built for speed. On Mac, it delivers the highest performance.

How to Merge Videos on Mac with HitPaw Univd

Step 1: Access Merge Tool

Install and launch HitPaw Univd for Mac on your desktop >> Go to 'Editor' >> Choose 'Merge' feature.

access univd merge feature on your macbook

Step 2: Prepare Videos for Combining

Drag and drop the videos into the tool or use the 'Add Files' button >> Use the 'Triangle' buttons on the left to rearrange the videos in the sequence of their merging.

Step 3: Choose Output Format for Video

Click on the 'Format' menu at the bottom left corner >> Go to the 'Video' tab in the popup window >> Choose a video format for the merged video.

Step 4: Combine Videos on MacBook

Click on 'Merge into one file' >> Hit 'Export all.'

Step 5: Access Merged Video

After the completion of merging, head over to the 'Edited' tab to access merged videos.

Pros

Enhance low-quality videos
Merge thousands of clips into a single video
Industry-leading output quality at 8K
Beginner-friendly user interface
Available for Mac and Windows

Cons

Premium tool

Part 2: How to Merge Video on Mac with iMovie

iMovie is probably the first tool to pop up in the minds of Mac users for working with videos. It's an excellent tool with all the basic features that users need. iMovie can perform video merging but not in the traditional sense that other video editing tools do, so you'll have to work around its limitations. Nevertheless, iMovie's strengths continue to be that it's intuitive, user-friendly, and optimized for Mac devices. So, follow our detailed tutorial and you should be just fine.

Guide on iMovie Combine Clips on Mac

Step 1: Start New Project

Launch iMovie >> Click 'File' in the toolbar >> Choose 'New Project'.

Step 2: Import Videos for Merging

Click 'File' >> Hover over the 'Import' button to reveal import options >> Click 'Movie' to select and add videos to the tool.

Step 3: Sequence the Clips in iMovie

Drag the imported videos to the timeline >> Arrange them in the order of their appearance in the merged video >> Use Preview to see the outcome before merging.

Step 4: Combine Clips on Mac via iMovie

Go to 'File' >> Navigate to 'Share' >> Choose 'File' to save the merged video onto your desktop.

Pros

Free and preinstalled on all Macs
User-friendly and intuitive
Basic editing tools

Cons

Lacks advanced features
Mac-only

Part 3: How to Merge Video with QuickTime Player on Mac

It's surprising that Apple has two different tools capable of merging videos on Mac. QuickTime Player, which is an excellent tool for playing audio and video on Mac, doubles up as a video editing tool for basic editing purposes. Video merging is one of the features in its toolkit. It can also trim, splice, cut, rearrange, and other basic editing functions. However, it's far from a full-fledged video editor, but that's not a problem for merging videos, at which it excels. QuickTime Player is even capable of converting videos to other formats after merging the videos, which is a huge plus.

Guide to Merge Videos with QuickTime Player on Mac

Step 1: Open Video File in QuickTime

Launch QuickTime Player >> Click on 'File' in the toolbar at the top >> Choose 'Open File' >> Select and start playing it in QuickTime Player.

Step 2: Add Videos and Organize Them

Drag other videos you'd like to merge with the first video directly onto the timeline in the QuickTime Player's playback screen >> Rearrange all videos in the sequence you would like them in the merged video.

Step 3: Merge Videos in QuickTime

Go to 'File' >> Hover over 'Export As' >> Choose the appropriate resolution as per your needs >> Enter output video name >> Click 'Save.'

Pros

Free and preloaded
Easy to use
Fast and intuitive
Beginner-friendly

Cons

Lacks advanced editing features
Supports limited video formats

FAQs on Combining Videos on Mac

Q1. Can I combine videos with different formats (MP4, MOV, etc.)?

A1. It's an intermediate-level feature that isn't available in most basic video editing tools. HitPaw Univd is one of the few tools with support for multi-format video merging. Univd also allows users to export the merged video to another format entirely or keep it in the format of one of the original videos used in the merge.

Q2. How do I merge videos without re-encoding or losing quality on Mac?

A2. Most professional video editors transcode videos the moment you import them, which affects their quality and size. So, you need a video editing tool that does not automatically transcode videos during import. HitPaw Univd is one of the best such tools. It edits and merges videos in their original format without transcoding, ensuring 100% quality retention.

Q3. How do I combine two videos into one on a Mac?

A3. You can apply the 3 methods we mentioned above. For combine two videos into one on a Mac using HitPaw Univd, you only need 3 steps:

Step 1: Find the Merge feature from Editor tab and import the two video clips that you want to combine into one.
Step 2: From the format list, you can choose an output format for the combined video.
Step 3: Press the "Merge into one file" button and click the Export All button to merge imported two videos into one on Mac.

Q4. How do I merge videos in VLC for Mac?

A4. To merge videos in VLC on a Mac, the process isn't super straightforward since VLC is more of a media player than a video editor-but there is a way to do it if the videos are of the same format and codec. Here's how you can do it:

Step 1. Open the Conversion Tool: Go to File → Convert / Stream... (or press ⌘+R).
Step 2. Add Videos in Order: Click the + (Add) button next to the file list. Select your videos in the order you want them merged. Ensure all files have the same codec, resolution, and format.
Step 3. Set Output Format: Click Choose Profile → Select Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4) for standard output.
Step 4. Start Merging Video in VLC on Mac: Click Browse to choose an output file name and location. Click Save → Start to combine the videos.

Conclusion

Putting videos together on a Mac is easy once you know how. You can take short clips and turn them into one full video to share with family, friends, or even online audiences. It doesn't matter if you're new to editing or have done it before; the easy methods we've discussed will have you creating your first video mergers in a matter of seconds. For best results, choose HitPaw Univd. It's fast, powerful, and offers advanced video editing tools with built-in AI. Check it out today.

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