How to Download and Use Windows Movie Maker on any PC

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In 2017, Windows Movie Maker was officially discontinued and replaced with Video Editor (formerly known as Microsoft Story Remix). If you're using an older PC running Windows 8 or 7, you probably still have Movie Maker installed on your computer. If you're using Windows 10 and miss the features of Movie Maker, you can still download an older version using the Way Back Machine. This wikiHow article will teach you how to download Windows Movie Maker if it's not installed on your computer, and show you how to use the app to edit videos on your PC

Downloading Windows Movie Maker

• This page is largely blank, and may take several seconds to a minute before the file starts downloading.
• Alternatively, you can use Video Editor, which comes pre-loaded on Windows 10 and Windows 11. This is the replacement for Windows Movie Maker. To launch Video Editor, simply click the Windows Start menu and type "Video Editor." Then click Video Editor to launch it.

Open the setup file. Double-click the wlsetup-all.exe file in your computer's default download location to open it. By default, you can open the file in your web browser or your Downloads folder.

Click Yes when prompted. This allows the Windows Movie Maker setup file to make changes to your system.

• Alternatively, if you only want to install Windows Movie Maker, click Choose the programs you want to install and uncheck all applications, except for Photo Gallery and Movie Maker. Then click Install.
• If you receive an error messages saying the software couldn't be installed, continue on to check if it was installed anyway. If it was not, click the setup file again and repeat the installation process.

. It's the icon that has the Windows logo. It's in the lower-left corner on Windows 10, and the first icon in the middle of the taskbar at the bottom of Windows 11.

Type in windows movie maker . This will search your computer for the now-installed Windows Movie Maker app.

Click Movie Maker . It's has a film reel icon. It's at the top of the Start menu. This will prompt the Windows Essentials terms of use window to open.

• If clicking Accept doesn't open Movie Maker, re-open Start, type movie maker back in, and click the Movie Maker result again to open it.
• Don't close the installation window before opening Movie Maker.

Close the Windows Essentials installation. When the installation window pops up with an error message, just click Close and confirm the decision when prompted. You can now proceed with using Windows Movie Maker.

Adding Videos & Media

• At any point in the creation process, you can save your progress by pressing Ctrl + S.

• You can also right-click the large "Project" window and then click Add videos and photos in the drop-down menu.
• If you want to record a video using your webcam, click Webcam video and click Ok to start recording a video with your webcam.

Select photos or videos. To do so, navigate to the video or images files you want to add to your project. Click a file to select it. Hold Ctrl and click to select multiple files. Then click Open to add the video files to your Project window.

Click Music . It's the second icon in the menu bar at the top under the "Home" tab. It has an icon that resembles a music note. Click this icon to select music for your project.

• Alternatively, if you want to record a narration for your project, click Record narration to record narration with your microphone.

Organizing and Editing

Determine a file order. Review your project files and decide which one should go first, second, and so on. You should also figure out where you want the music to start.

• You should see a vertical line appear between the two files. This signifies that if you release the mouse button, the files will snap together.

• Keep in mind that the end of the music will lock to the end of the last video or image if the combined length of the files doesn't add up to the music's play time.

• Duration - Click the Duration text box, then type in the number of seconds you want an image to display for.
• End Point - Click and drag the black vertical bar in the Project window to a section in the photo or video where you want to cut off the photo or video and move on to the next one. Then click Set end point in the properties panel at the top.

• Volume - Click Video volume on the far left side of the Properties panel. Then click and drag the volume slider left or right to adjust the audio volume.
• Fade In/Fade Out - A fade-in is when the audio gradually raises from silence at the beginning or a clip. A fade-out is when the audio gradually lowers to silence at the end. To add a fade-in or fade-out, click the "Fade in" or "Fade out" box, then click Slow, Medium, or Fast to select the speed of the fade-in or fade-out.
• Speed - This allows you to speed up or slow down a video. Click the "Speed" drop-down box, then select a video speed. You can also type in a custom speed. 1x is normal speed. Anything below 1x will slow the video down. Anything above 1x will speed the video up.
• Trim - This allows you to select parts of a video you want to to use and cut out parts you don't want to use. Click Trim tool in the menu bar at the top. Then click and drag the slider bar on the left below the video preview to where you want the video to start. Then click and drag the slider bar on the right to where you want the video to end. Then click Save Trim.
• Split - This cuts a video clip into two separate clips. Drag the vertical line in the large Project window to where you want to split a clip. Then click Split in the menu bar at the top to split the clip.
• Stabilization - This allows you to correct for shaky or wobbly video. Click Video stabilization, then select Anti-shake, Anti-shake and wobble correction - low, or Anti-shake and wobble correction - high.

• Volume - Click Music volume, then click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the music volume.
• Fade In/Fade Out - A fade-in is when the audio gradually raises from silence at the beginning. A fade-out is when the audio gradually lowers to silence at the end. To add a fade-in or fade-out, click the "Fade in" or "Fade out" box, then click Slow, Medium, or Fast.
• Start Time - This adjust the time (in seconds) when the music starts playing relative to the length of your entire project. Type the time when you want the audio to start in your project. You can also adjust this by clicking and dragging the green audio bar in the Project window.
• Start Point - This adjusts the time (in seconds) for when the audio file starts playing relative to the music file. This trims time off the beginning of the audio file. Type the time for when the section of the audio you want to use starts.
• End Point - This adjusts the time (in seconds) for when the audio file ends. This trims time off the end of the audio file. Type the time for when the section of the audio you want to use stops.

Adding Titles and Text

Click the Home tab. It's in the upper-left side of the window. This will take you back to the editing toolbar.

Click Title . This option is in the "Add" section of the Home toolbar. This will add a new title at the beginning of the video. You can move the title around in your Project by clicking and dragging it.

• You can also edit the title slide's length in the "Adjust" section of the toolbar by clicking the text box next to "Duration" and enter the time (in seconds) you want the title to last.
• If you want to change the title size, font, or formatting, you can do so in the "Font" section of the toolbar.
• To change the background of the title, click Background color in the menu bar at the top, and click one of the colored swatches.

Add captions to your video project. To add a caption to your video, click and drag the vertical black line in the Project window to where you want to add a caption. Then click Caption under the "Home" tab. Then type what you want the caption to say.

• Font - Use the options in the box above "Font" to select the font you want to use, font size, and style (i.e, bold, italic, underline). Then use the options in the box above "Paragraph" to select the text alignment (i.e. right, center, left) and the text transparency.
• Edit Text - If you need to edit the text, click Edit text or double-click the text in the video preview. Then use the keyboard to edit the text.
• Start Time - This sets the time in your project that the caption starts displaying. Type the time (in seconds) for where you want the caption to start showing. You can also click and drag the pink caption box in the Project window to adjust when the caption starts.
• Text Duration - Use the box next to "Time duration" to to type the time (in seconds) you want the caption to remain on-screen.
• Effects - Use the options in the "Effects" section in the menu bar at the top to select a text animation for your caption. Mouse over one of the options to preview it. Click it to apply the effect.

Add credits. To add credits, click Credits under the Home tab to add a new video clip for credits at the end of the clip. Then type your credits.

• Edit the text - To edit the text in your credits, double-click the pink bar below the credits clip. Then use the keyboard to edit the text.
• Background color - To change the background color of your credits, click Background color in the menu bar at the top. Then click one of the colored swatches to pick a background color.
• Duration - To edit the time duration of the credits, use the box next to "Duration" to enter how long (in seconds) you want the credits to last.

Adding Effects and Transitions

Click the clip you want to add an effect or transition to. Click on any clip in the Project window to

• To adjust the time duration of the transition, enter the time (in seconds) next to "Duration" to the right of the Transitions box.
• You can also click Apply to all to the right of the "Transitions" section to apply the transition to all video clips in your project.

• Click Apply to all to the right of the "Pan and zoom" section to apply the effect to all videos and images in your project.

Click the video clip you want to apply a visual effect to. You can click any image or video clip in your Project window.

• Click Apply to All to the right of the box to apply the effect to all clips and images in your project.

Adjust the clip brightness. If you want to adjust the brightness of a clip, click Brightness next to "Effects" box. Then use the slider bar to adjust the brightness of the clip.

Saving the Movie

• If the movie needs finessing, make any adjustments that are necessary before you continue.
• During the editing process, your music may end up off-beat or too short; if so, make sure that your music is properly edited to compensate before proceeding.

Press Ctrl + S to save your project. Alternatively, you can click File followed by Save project to save your project.

Click Save movie . It's about halfway down the File menu. This displays a variety of formats you can save the movie in.

• You can select the best format for a variety of devices, including large, medium and small Android phones, iPhones, tablets, computers, email, and more.
• Alternatively, you can click Publish Movie and publish the movie directly to a social media application like YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter.

Select a save folder. On the left side of the window, click a folder in which you want to save the movie file.

Click Save . It's near the bottom-right corner of the window. This will save your movie file and begin exporting your project. Be patient—exporting can take a long time, especially for a detailed project.

Community Q&A

Try emptying the recycle bin or getting rid of files you don't need. Using an external drive works for emptying files out of your computer while preserving them at the same time.

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The Movie Maker can make a movie as long as you want it to be. Though beware, the longer and more complicated the film, the more likely the program is to crash or stop functioning. The longer you make your film, the more often you should back-up the project.

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Movie makers are slow. Fet all the videos, and put them together, and when you save it might take a few hours for it to complete and it will be larger size (for example a normal two hour movie might be 2GB, but a two hour movie maker movie might be 10GB).

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It's a good idea to hold onto your movie project files, which usually have the Windows Movie Maker logo as their file icons. This way, you can go back and edit the video at some point without having to start over.

The usage steps in this article also pertain to Windows 7, as Windows Movie Maker comes standard with Windows 7.

As Windows 10 continues to update and evolve, you may find that Windows Movie Maker begins to freeze or become unresponsive. Make sure to save regularly.

Windows Movie Maker is no longer supported by Microsoft, so security issues and bugs won't be fixed. You might want to consider using Video Editor instead.

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