Instagram’s ‘First Draft’ trims your Reels clips for you
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Instagram has launched "First Draft", a new Reels-editing feature that automatically trims raw clips down to their most interesting moments, giving users a ready-made starting point they can then refine before posting. The tool rolled out to Instagram's iPhone app, and the company subsequently confirmed it does not use artificial intelligence, distinguishing it from similar tools such as Adobe's AI-powered Quick Cut, which builds montages from prompts. The distinction matters because it frames First Draft as a straightforward automated editing shortcut rather than a generative AI product, at a time when rival platforms are leaning heavily on AI branding for similar features.
The feature works on clips longer than a minute: Instagram analyses the footage, cuts out pauses and less engaging sections, and stitches the highlights into a single reel ready for further editing and sharing. Instagram says it is intended for formats including multi-clip montages, talking-head videos and day-in-the-life content, and it can be accessed either by filming directly in the app's camera and tapping the First Draft button, or by selecting multiple clips from the Reels gallery.
- Instagram's First Draft auto-trims Reels clips into a ready-to-edit highlight reel.
- Works on iPhone; clips must be over a minute long.
- Instagram confirmed the tool does not use AI, unlike Adobe's Quick Cut.
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Instagram is a major photo and video-sharing app owned by Meta, and Reels are its short-form videos, similar to TikTok clips. Editing several separate video clips into one polished reel normally takes time, since users have to manually cut out slow or boring parts before stitching everything together.
"First Draft" is a new feature Instagram is adding to make that process easier. It automatically shortens longer clips to their most interesting moments and joins them into a single reel, which users can then tweak before posting, rather than starting from scratch.
The tool matters because it lowers the effort needed to make good-looking content, which could change how everyday users approach short-form video. It also sits within a wider trend of apps using automated editing tools, similar to features already offered by companies like Adobe, though Instagram has not said whether artificial intelligence is behind how First Draft works.
Full account
Instagram has begun rolling out a new editing tool for Reels called First Draft, which automatically tidies up raw video clips so that creators can get straight to the fun part of editing. Announced on Tuesday, the feature is being introduced first on the iPhone version of the app, with Instagram describing it as a way of giving users a workable starting point rather than a finished product.
To use it, someone filming or uploading footage for a reel selects several clips from their Reels Gallery, or shoots fresh footage using the in-app camera, and then taps the First Draft button. Instagram's system reviews the material, cuts out dead air, silences and lingering pauses, and strings the more interesting portions together into a rough timeline that can be played back, refined further or posted straight away to a feed or Story. The company says the tool is designed with formats such as multi-clip montages, talking-head videos and day-in-the-life diaries in mind.
A natural comparison has been drawn with Adobe's Quick Cut, a generative-AI tool that assembles clips based on a written prompt. Instagram, however, has been keen to stress that First Draft works differently: a company spokesperson confirmed that the feature does not rely on artificial intelligence, with the underlying trimming process instead described internally as machine learning. That distinction is notable given how heavily Meta has otherwise leaned on AI branding across Instagram recently, from inserting its Meta AI assistant into direct messages to offering prompt-based AI editing for Stories, additions that have drawn a mixed reception. Meta's standalone editing app, Edits, launched in April 2025 with a raft of AI-driven tools aimed at easing reel production.
For now, First Draft is limited to iOS, and Meta has not said when, or whether, an Android version will follow. Coverage of the launch has largely welcomed it as a practical, unglamorous improvement to the everyday chore of trimming footage, rather than another flashy AI add-on.
Where outlets differ
The Verge's report centres on the mechanics of the feature itself, noting that in Instagram's own example each source clip ran to more than a minute, and treats the confirmation that First Draft avoids AI as a follow-up update to its original story, obtained directly from an Instagram spokesperson.
The second outlet places more weight on the wider context, framing First Draft against Meta's recent string of AI features on Instagram (Meta AI in chats, AI-assisted Story editing) which it suggests have felt unnecessary, and credits The Verge as the source for the detail that the feature is machine learning rather than AI, also noting Meta's likely internal classification distinction between the two terms.
Only the second outlet mentions the April 2025 launch of Meta's separate Edits app as background, and it describes the output as a timeline you can play back and edit, whereas the first frames the result more simply as a reel ready to edit and share.
More coverage
- TechCrunch — Instagram’s ‘First Draft’ feature aims to make editing Reels less tedious
- Engadget — Instagram adds feature that automatically trims clips for Reels
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