Cut 3GP

How to Cut 3GP Files Online

1. Upload Your 3GP File: Drag and drop your .3gp or .3g2 clip onto the page, or click "Add Files" to browse. Batch uploads are supported, and old feature-phone recordings (often 176x144 or 320x240) work the same as 720p H.264 3GP from newer Android devices.
2. Set Cut Points (Trim): Use the Time Range control to enter a Start time and Duration in HH:MM:SS.ms format (e.g., 00:00:08.500 start, 00:00:20.000 duration). For multi-segment edits, queue several cuts back-to-back instead of one large range.
3. Pick Output Codec, Quality, and Resolution (Optional): Default keeps the input container; if your original uses H.263 + AMR-NB, choose H.264 + AAC for broader playback. Use the Quality Preset dropdown (Highest to Lowest), or set a Target file size (%), Specific file size, or Constant Quality (CRF). Resolution can stay original, snap to a preset (176x144, 320x240, 480p, 640x480), or accept custom width/height values.
4. Cut and Download: Click "Cut". Your 3GP processes in your browser session — no sign-up, no watermark, no upload to a third-party server beyond the conversion job itself.

Why Cut 3GP Files?

3GP (.3gp) is the 3GPP container that shipped with virtually every 2G/3G/early-4G feature phone and Symbian/early-Android handset. It wraps H.263, MPEG-4 Part 2, or H.264 video alongside AMR-NB, AMR-WB, or AAC-LC audio inside an MPEG-4 Part 12 base structure, optimized in the early 2000s for cellular bandwidth and tiny storage cards. Most cuts on 3GP happen because the source clip is a long, unedited camcorder roll from an old Nokia, Samsung, or Sony Ericsson handset and the user wants one usable segment.

• Trim long feature-phone recordings — Devices like the Nokia N95, Samsung E250, and Sony Ericsson W810i recorded continuous 3GP until the memory card filled. Cutting lets you keep only the relevant 10 to 30 seconds instead of a 15-minute walking-shot file.
• Archive a specific moment from a legacy phone — Many family videos from 2005-2012 only exist as 3GP because that's all the phone shot. Pulling out the actual event (a birthday clip, a recital) and discarding bystander footage produces an archive-friendly clip you can re-encode once and never re-edit.
• Make a clip small enough for legacy MMS or carrier messaging — Some carriers still cap MMS attachments at 600 KB to 1 MB. A 10-second 3GP at 176x144 H.263 typically lands well under that, while a full 60-second clip won't.
• Strip the silent leader before AMR audio kicks in — AMR-NB encoded clips often have 100-300 ms of audio drift at the start because AMR sample frames are 20 ms blocks; cutting to the first meaningful video frame avoids that artifact.
• Prep for re-encoding to MP4 or MOV — Cutting first is faster than transcoding the whole file. After cutting, use Convert 3GP to MP4 or Convert 3GP to MOV on the smaller segment.
• Salvage usable seconds from a partially corrupted 3GP — Old SD cards develop bad sectors; cutting around the damaged byte offset can rescue an otherwise unplayable file.

3GP vs MP4 — Format Comparison

Property	3GP (.3gp)	MP4 (.mp4)
Standard body	3GPP (ETSI TS 26.244)	MPEG / ISO/IEC 14496-14
Base container	MPEG-4 Part 12 (ISO BMFF)	MPEG-4 Part 12 (ISO BMFF)
Typical video codecs	H.263, MPEG-4 Part 2, H.264	H.264, H.265, AV1, MPEG-4 Part 2
Typical audio codecs	AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AAC-LC, HE-AAC	AAC-LC, HE-AAC, MP3, AC-3, Opus
Designed for	3G cellular, feature phones	Web, desktop, modern mobile
MIME type	video/3gpp	video/mp4
iOS Photos / share sheet	Limited; iOS 9 deprecated native record	Native
Typical bitrate range	64-384 kbps	1-50 Mbps+
Common resolutions	176x144, 320x240, 352x288, 640x480	360p to 8K
When to use it	Compatibility with old handsets, legacy archives	Default modern playback target

Quality / Size Trade-off Guide

Goal	Preset	Codec choice	Approx. output
Smallest size, legacy phone playback	Lowest preset, 176x144	H.263 + AMR-NB	~50-100 KB / 10 sec
Balanced legacy compatibility	Medium, 320x240	MPEG-4 Part 2 + AAC	~200-400 KB / 10 sec
Best 3GP quality	Highest, 640x480	H.264 Baseline + AAC	~700 KB-1.5 MB / 10 sec
Lossless cut (no re-encode)	Original	Copy streams	Unchanged bitrate, exact source quality

Frequently Asked Questions

Will cutting a 3GP file lose quality compared to the original?

Not if the cut is stream-copied. When you keep the codec and resolution at their original values, the underlying H.263, MPEG-4 Part 2, or H.264 frames are not decoded and re-encoded — they're sliced at the nearest valid boundary and re-packaged into a new 3GP container. If you change the codec, resolution, or quality preset, a transcode does happen and quality depends on the settings you pick.

Why do my cuts start a fraction of a second off from where I set them?

3GP video is typically GOP-coded (groups of pictures with one keyframe followed by predicted P-frames), and a clean cut can only land on a keyframe without re-encoding. For H.263 and MPEG-4 Part 2 sources, keyframes are often 1-3 seconds apart. If frame-exact cuts matter, allow the tool to re-encode (don't pick "Original" codec) — that produces a frame-accurate result at the cost of some quality.

Does this work for .3g2 files from CDMA phones too?

Yes. The accepted extensions are .3gp and .3g2. 3G2 is the 3GPP2 variant for CDMA2000 networks (older Verizon, Sprint, and KDDI handsets). It uses the same MPEG-4 Part 12 base but adds EVRC, QCELP, and SMV audio codecs. The cutter handles both; if you need to convert formats, see Convert 3GP to 3G2 or vice versa.

Will iOS play the cut 3GP file?

iOS deprecated native 3GP recording in iOS 9 (2015), and the Photos app may not preview 3GP cleanly on modern iPhones. For reliable iOS playback after cutting, transcode the result with Convert 3GP to MP4 — MP4 with H.264 + AAC plays everywhere from iOS 4 onward. Android and VLC on all platforms still play 3GP natively.

My 3GP audio is AMR — is that a problem for editing?

AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate) is a narrowband speech codec sampled at 8 kHz (AMR-NB) or 16 kHz (AMR-WB), designed for voice over 3G. It sounds noticeably worse than music-capable codecs like AAC, but it cuts fine. If you plan to keep cutting and remixing, transcode to AAC during the cut by switching audio output away from AMR; once AMR audio is decoded it can't be losslessly upgraded, but the cut itself doesn't add new degradation.

Can I cut a 3GP file that's larger than a typical phone clip — say 200 MB?

Yes. Cuts run in your browser session, so the practical ceiling is browser memory rather than a server upload limit. 3GP files larger than ~200 MB are unusual (the format was optimized for small cellular files), but H.264-in-3GP from newer handsets can reach that range for 10-20 minute recordings. If your file is unusually large, consider running Compress 3GP before or after cutting.

Why is my cut output bigger than I expected?

Two common reasons. First, if you re-encoded and picked a higher quality preset than the source, the new file genuinely has more data per frame. Second, when you change the video codec from H.263 to H.264 the bitrate floor for "watchable" rises — H.264 at 64 kbps looks worse than H.263 at 64 kbps in many phone-resolution scenarios. To match the original size, pick the same codec family and choose a Target file size (%) of 100 or lower.

Should I cut first or compress first?

Cut first. Cutting a 30-second segment out of a 10-minute file before compressing means the compression step only has to process 30 seconds of frames, so it's faster and the bitrate-vs-quality math is simpler. Cut, verify the segment plays, then run Compress 3GP if you still need the file smaller for MMS or a low-storage device.

Can I cut multiple separate segments from one 3GP and merge them?

Not in a single pass on this page — the cut tool produces one continuous output from one Start + Duration. For multi-segment work, run separate cuts to produce N clips, then use a merge tool to concatenate them. Multi-cut workflows are most reliable when all output segments share the same codec, resolution, and frame rate.