How to Reverse a Video on iPhone and Mac

Have you ever recorded a video and imagined how it would change things to be played backward? Maybe you filmed someone tripping over the cat or captured a child’s playful antics. Reversing a video can add a touch of magic, humor, and even suspense to your footage. This tutorial shows how to reverse a video on iPhone and Mac using a built-in app and a third-party option.

How to Reverse Videos on iPhone

There are two methods that will reverse a video on your iPhone. Note that you cannot reverse a video directly inside your Photos app or Camera app.

Online Tool Using Safari

If you would rather not install an app to your iPhone just to reverse a video, you can use a free online platform instead. Because it’s an online tool, you can use it on Safari or any other browser, on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Visit Clideo on your browser, and click the blue Choose file button. Upload the video from your device.

In the menu on the bottom left of the window, decide which video format you would like to use. I would suggest MP4 if it isn’t already in that format.

Choose your Reverse speed on the right. 1x is normal speed, while 0.5x is half the normal speed, and 2x is twice the normal speed. If there are people talking in the video, it would be advisable to click Mute video. Otherwise, the speech will come out as garbled.

Click the blue Export button.

Once the video has been converted, you can download it to your iPhone or iPad camera roll or your Mac hard drive. You can also send it to Google Drive or Dropbox. Edit will bring you back to the previous screen. If you want to remove the Clideo watermark, you will need to upgrade to a paid plan.

Third-Party iPhone App

While you can no longer use iMovie to reverse a video clip on your iPhone, you can use a third-party app. The App Store offers numerous video-editing apps with reverse video functionality. Some popular options include CapCut and ReverseVid.

These apps often provide additional editing features, like trimming, adding music, and applying filters, allowing you to create more elaborate reversed videos. For the purposes of this article, we are using CapCut.

Download the app, open it, and tap New project.

Select your video from your Photos app, wait for it to be uploaded, then tap Edit in the bottom left.

Scroll right and tap Reverse.

Tap the Play button to make sure the result is what you were looking for. If so, tap the download button in the top-right corner to export it to your Photos app.

How to Reverse Videos on Mac

There are slightly different options if you are looking to reverse a video on your Mac. As mentioned above, you can use an online tool or third-party apps, but unlike on iPhone, you can still use iMovie for this.

iMovie

iMovie offers a similar, but slightly more robust, way to reverse videos.

Open the iMovie app on your Mac, and click Create New -> Movie.

Click Import Media to select the video you want to reverse.

Drag and drop the video clip from the library onto the timeline, then click on the video clip in the timeline to select it.

Locate the speedometer icon in the top menu bar above the viewer window, then tick the Reverse checkbox.

You can adjust the playback speed of the reversed video using the drop-down menu next to Speed.

To preview the reversed video, click the Play button in the viewer window. If you are happy with the results, navigate to the Share menu in the top-right corner. Choose your preferred export method (Export File, Email, YouTube & Facebook).

Third-Party Mac App

As with iPhone, there are also third-party Mac apps that allow you to reverse a video. Note that the options in the Mac App Store are not free.

Download Reverse Video ($4.99). Open it, click Select a Video, then upload your video.

Set a start point and end point for your reversed video. If you want the entire video reversed, go to the beginning of the video, and click Set Start Point. Then, go to the end of the video, and click Set End Point.

However, if you want to reverse only a part of the video, go to the beginning and end of that clip, and click Set Start Point and Set End Point.

Click Reverse and Save Selection. Once the video has been converted, you will see a message alerting you that it’s complete.

Clicking OK will keep you in the app. If you want to preview the video, click Preview Reversed Video. If you want to see it in Finder, click Highlight Reversed Video in Finder.

Additional Tips For Reversing a Video on iPhone and Mac

• Experiment with reversing only a portion of your video for a more subtle effect. You can achieve this by using the trimming tools in iMovie or a third-party app.
• Pay attention to the audio quality when reversing a video. Speech played backward can sound unnatural or even nonsensical. Consider muting the original audio. If you want to save the audio in your video, consider using one of these tools that will extract the audio from a video.
• Consider adding music or sound effects to enhance your reversed video. This can help create a specific mood or atmosphere.

With these methods and a little creativity, you can reverse videos on your iPhone and Mac to add a unique twist to your projects.

All screenshots by Mark O’Neill.

Mark O'Neill

Mark O'Neill is a freelance tech journalist, editor, and bestselling spy fiction author. Originally from Scotland, he now lives in Germany with his wife and his dog.