Google Workspace includes more than Drive, Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Slides. Its web-based tools also include Google Vids, an online video editor that Google originally launched for business and enterprise users in 2024 before making it available to individuals in 2026.
Google Vids is free to use and runs in a browser, although it is not intended to replace professional editing software. The application does not offer pro-level, high-resolution, multitrack editing, but its simpler workflow can suit personal projects and hobbyist use.
Users can open Vids through Google Drive by selecting New and then Google Vids, or access the dedicated Vids page and select the plus button to start a project. Existing videos are also listed in the app.
Projects can begin with a blank video, a template, an uploaded video, a slideshow or a storyboard outline. Google Vids also offers tools for generating videos with the Veo 3.1 model, creating AI music, recording through a camera and producing videos with an AI avatar. Users can choose the video orientation before starting.
The editor uses a timeline with video and audio tracks, a central preview area and a side panel for editing the selected content. Users can import footage from Google Drive and Google Photos, record webcam clips, add voiceovers, and insert text, images, music and shapes. Template-based projects can apply coordinated styling to some of these elements.
Basic editing tasks include adding scenes, dragging media into the timeline, splitting or duplicating scenes and muting audio. Depending on the selected element, the side panel provides options such as audio fades, video transitions and adjustments to how objects appear within a scene.
Text can be added by selecting a scene, choosing Text and then selecting Add a title. Once inserted, a title can be edited and styled, moved, resized or rotated. Additional controls allow users to animate text, fit its box to the entered content and adjust formatting such as size, padding and rotation.
The editor also supports standard actions including cut, copy, paste and delete. A Stock section provides additional media, supplementing users’ own files and content generated with AI. Like other Google Drive applications, Google Vids saves edits automatically. A Play button previews a project, while the Share button can be used when it is ready to show to others.
Sources: WIRED.