Users have long been looking for a legitimate heir to the classic Movie Maker in Windows. Microsoft offers the Clipchamp editor, which, judging by its lack of popularity, isn't hitting the mark, but if you're still on Windows 10, there's a video editor hidden inside the Photos app. It's more intuitive than it seems, and it works very well for applying basic effects...
Microsoft not only has communication problems, but also fails in its priorities: the bad is promoted to exhaustion, while the good ends up being discovered almost accidentally by users. The worst part? This story is not new, and we don't see any attempt or desire for change in Redmond.
Here's an example: Did you know Windows 10 has a hidden video editor? Actually, the correct expression would be abandoned, because everything suggests it's a remnant of the Fall Creators Update (also known as Windows 10 1709). To access the hidden video editor of Windows 10, you need to open a video using the Photos app. That will start its automatic playback, but what we're interested in is stored in the menu with the three dots...
(Editor's note: In some installations, the Video Editor app might appear, but the first thing it will do is place a banner recommending Clipchamp.)
Windows 10 has a hidden video editor, give it a try!
When you click the three dots, you'll see an item in the menu called Edit more, and inside you'll find four options: Add slow motion, Add 3D effects, Add animated text, and Create a video with text. Previous versions of the Photos app had additional functions like Draw and Save photos based on the frames, but those shortcuts no longer exist in the latest build.
Personally, I think the most interesting tools are cropping, slow motion, and animated text injection. In the latter case, you'll find six different designs and a total of eighteen styles. The rest is a matter of defining the beginning and end for each effect on the timeline, and saving the changes at the appropriate resolution.
To conclude, the hidden video editor in Windows 10 is not necessarily exclusive to that version. If you try to open Photos on Windows 11, you'll see that the "Edit more" item has been replaced in the menu with a reference to Clipchamp. Still, the Video Editor hasn't gone anywhere, and Windows 11 will let you install the previous version of Photos (read "legacy") using the Store.
