CapCut’s “AI Clipper” hasn’t gone anywhere — CapCut now calls it “Long video to shorts”. On CapCut desktop it’s a Long video to shorts button on the home screen (not inside the editor), and on the web it’s at capcut.com/editor-tools/long-video-to-shorts. CapCut’s current product pages describe the same thing as an “AI clip maker”; none of them use the name “AI Clipper” any more, which is why searching the app for the old label finds nothing. Creators have been posting exactly this — one YouTube Short is titled “Can’t find CapCut’s AI Clipper anymore? It’s NOT gone!”.

Below: the exact steps, the reasons it may still not show up for you, and the alternatives if it doesn’t fit your workflow.

Where to find it now

CapCut desktop (Windows / Mac)

CapCut’s own walkthrough (How to make Shorts from YouTube videos) gives the current path:

  1. Open CapCut desktop and click Long video to shorts on the home screen. This is a separate workspace — if you’ve already opened a normal project, go back to the home screen.
  2. Upload your long video.
  3. Select caption template, then open Set duration for Shorts and choose a length.
  4. Click Convert.
  5. Preview the clips, open any of them to fix the cut, then Export.

CapCut’s product pages list the duration presets as under 60s, 60–90s, 90s–3 min, or custom, uploads of up to 3 hours or 10 GB, and subtitle templates in 20+ languages (CapCut: best long-video-to-shorts solutions; the 3-hour / 10 GB limit is repeated on this CapCut page). The desktop landing page for the feature is capcut.com/tools/long-video-to-shorts, which also describes auto-reframing 16:9 footage to 9:16 with subject tracking.

CapCut on the web

The browser version is at capcut.com/editor-tools/long-video-to-shorts (it returned HTTP 200 when we checked on 2026-09-28). CapCut’s web tool page describes the flow as: upload (from your computer, CapCut cloud, Google Drive or Dropbox) → choose clip durations → let the AI cut → Export. If the desktop button is missing, the web route is the fastest way to find out whether your account has the feature or only your app is missing it.

CapCut mobile

We couldn’t find a CapCut-published walkthrough for this feature on mobile, so treat any exact menu path with caution. Third-party guides disagree: Hollyland’s guide (June 2026) says it appears as “Smart Highlights” or “Long Video to Shorts” under AI tools, while CapCutGuide (August 2026) warns not to assume the mobile app has the same multi-clip workspace as desktop. If you need it reliably, use desktop or web.

Why it doesn’t show up or doesn’t work

CapCut hasn’t published a troubleshooting page for Long video to shorts specifically. Its help center does have one for a sibling AI feature, Why can’t I use Auto Cut? (July 2026), and the causes it lists are the ones worth checking first:

  • Phased or regional rollout. CapCut says AI features roll out in phases, by region, and through A/B tests — so the same app version can show the button on one account and not another.
  • App version. That page gives minimum versions for Auto Cut (desktop v5.0+, mobile v12.0+). Update before assuming the feature is gone.
  • Operating system. Desktop needs Windows 10 64-bit or later, or macOS 11 (Big Sur) or newer.
  • Platform differences. Not every AI feature ships on every surface — Auto Cut, for example, isn’t on CapCut Web at all. The reverse can happen too, which is why checking the web route is useful.
  • No internet connection. The Auto Cut page lists an active connection as a requirement.

Two more checks from independent testing:

  • Your conversion allowance. CapCutGuide reports that minutes are consumed by the length of video you convert, that this allowance is separate from CapCut’s general AI credits, and that on 2026-08-13 the public web route showed 0 free minutes while signed out. If conversion fails immediately, sign in and read the remaining-time figure before retrying.
  • Source outside the limits. Anything over 3 hours or 10 GB won’t go through (CapCut). Trim or re-encode first.

What we could not verify: that the feature requires CapCut Pro, or a fixed number of free minutes per month. CapCut’s pages advertise a free option without spelling out the limits, so your account screen is the only reliable answer.

If CapCut isn’t the right fit: honest alternatives

CapCut’s tool is convenient if you already edit in CapCut. People usually look elsewhere for one of three reasons: the button isn’t rolled out to them, the conversion allowance runs out, or they want more control over which moments get picked.

  • Opus Clip — the best-known dedicated clipper, web-based, with import from a local file (up to 10 GB) or YouTube. Per its pricing page, the free plan exports at up to 1080p with a watermark and keeps media for 3 days; paid plans are listed from $15/month (Starter) and $29/month (Pro). We compare it in detail on the Opus Clip alternative page.
  • Filmora — Wondershare’s desktop editor has a Smart Short Clips feature that, per Filmora’s own comparison, can take a YouTube URL directly. It’s a paid editor, so it makes most sense if you’d use the rest of it.
  • A free manual editor (DaVinci Resolve, Kdenlive, Shotcut) — no AI picking, but no allowance, no watermark and full control. Our free CapCut alternatives guide covers these.

ViralMint’s Clipper (our tool — here’s the trade-off)

ViralMint is an open-source (AGPL-3.0) desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux, and its Clipper works differently from a one-button converter: the AI proposes moments, and you see and change every cut before a single clip is produced.

  • Paste a URL or import a file. ViralMint downloads the source itself (YouTube and 1,800+ other sites via yt-dlp), for sources up to 2 hours.
  • Transcription runs locally. faster-whisper transcribes on your own CPU with word-level timestamps — nothing is uploaded, and a 90-minute podcast isn’t charged by the minute.
  • AI picks, you decide. An AI reads the transcript and proposes the strongest moments. They land on a timeline as editable ranges; you drag the in/out points (they snap to sentence boundaries), add your own, delete the weak ones — and nothing is cut until you press Cut.
  • Export yourself. Clips come out 9:16 with the speaker kept in frame, word-by-word captions, and no watermark. You download the mp4s and post them yourself — ViralMint doesn’t upload to your accounts.

Cost, stated plainly: there’s a small free daily allowance, then prepaid credits (no subscription). A download costs about 1¢, each extracted clip 0.5¢, and the AI picking step is billed per use — typically a few cents for a long video. The trade-off: it’s a desktop app you install, not a button inside your editor, and it’s a clipper, not a full timeline editor — you’d still finish heavy edits elsewhere.

For a wider comparison of clippers, see Best free video clipper for long videos.

Quick checklist

  1. Look for Long video to shorts on the CapCut desktop home screen, not inside a project.
  2. Not there? Update CapCut and restart.
  3. Still not there? Open the web route signed in — if it works there, it’s your app build; if it doesn’t, it hasn’t rolled out to your account or region.
  4. Conversion fails straight away? Check your remaining minutes and that the file is under 3 hours / 10 GB.
  5. Need more control over which moments get cut, or no allowance to wait on? Try a dedicated clipper such as Opus Clip or ViralMint’s Clipper.