To use Google Vids, open a new video on your computer (typing vids.new in your browser is the quickest way), pick Landscape, Portrait or Square, then choose how to start: from an AI prompt, a Google Slides deck, a recording, your own uploads, a template or a blank Vid. You edit scene by scene on a timeline and share the finished video as a Vids file, an MP4 or a YouTube upload.
Google Vids is Google's video editor inside Workspace, and it's built for the kind of video most businesses make: walkthroughs, explainers, training clips and short updates. If you can build a slide deck, you can build a Vid.
This guide follows Google's own help pages, including the two editing tools Google announced on 23 October 2026: separate audio tracks and per-clip playback speed.
Step 1: start a new video
- On your computer, open Google Vids, or type vids.new in your browser's address bar.
- In the start menu, choose Landscape, Portrait or Square.
- Pick how you want to begin (the options are in the table below).
- Add your first scene and start building.
| Start option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Create AI videos | Generate clips from a prompt, an image, avatars or another video |
| Edit videos | Transform existing video clips with Omni |
| AI avatar | Narrate your video with an avatar |
| Convert Slides | Each slide becomes a scene and speaker notes become the script |
| Record | Record yourself, your screen, or both |
| Upload | Use your own clips and images |
| Templates | Start from a designed template |
| Blank Vid | Start from scratch |
One thing that confuses people: Google says if your account doesn't have access to the AI features in Vids, those AI options simply won't appear in the start screen. If you can't see them, it's your account level, not a bug.
Step 2: the fastest route for a business video
If you already have a deck, Convert Slides is the shortcut I'd use first. Google turns each slide into a scene and brings your speaker notes in as the script, so a webinar deck becomes a narrated explainer without retyping anything. Tidy your speaker notes before you convert, because they become the words on the timeline.
Step 3: edit scenes, text and media
Every Vid is a set of scenes on a timeline. In each scene you can upload images, add audio, add stock media, add text, shapes and lines, control timing with object tracks and change the transitions between scenes.
Add your own audio
- Open your video and, on the right, click Uploads.
- In the timeline, select the scene you want the audio in.
- Find the file in the Upload side panel (you can search or filter by media type).
- Click the file to add it, or drag and drop an audio file from your computer into a scene.
New: extract the audio from a clip
Until this update, Google says the sound on a video clip could only be muted or unmuted as one thing, and it was stuck to its scene. Now you can split a clip's audio into its own standalone clip on the timeline with a single click.
- Trim, move or delete the detached audio without changing the video clip's timing
- Let the audio play under other video tracks
- Stretch it across several scenes, which is ideal for one continuous voiceover
- Remove a distracting bit of background noise without cutting the picture
Google is rolling this out gradually from 19 October 2026, with up to 15 days for the feature to appear, so don't panic if it's not in your account yet. There's no setting to switch on.
New: change the speed of a single clip
You can now speed an individual clip up to 2x or slow it down to 0.25x, right inside Vids. Speed up the boring part of a software demo, slow down the one click people always miss, and keep everything else at normal pace. This one started rolling out on 16 October 2026, again over up to 15 days.
Step 4: share or export
| Share as | Best for |
|---|---|
| A Google Vids file | Working on it with others: give people comment or edit access |
| An MP4 in Google Drive | Sending a finished file to your team |
| An MP4 downloaded to your device | Uploading to other platforms |
| A YouTube video | Publishing straight to your channel |
Anyone with a Google account can watch a Vid you share with them. On a phone, Google says you can watch processed videos in a compatible browser, but you can't edit or comment on mobile, so plan your editing time at a desk.
Prompts to try with the AI start option
Customer explainer
Create a 60-second explainer for new customers on how to book a call with us. Friendly tone, five scenes, one short sentence of on-screen text per scene.
Work with meWant AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Staff training
Turn this script into a training video for new staff. Add a title scene, a scene per step and a closing scene with the three things to remember.
Tools that work with it
Vids works with Google Drive, Google Slides and YouTube, and its AI editing option uses Google's Omni model. If you're comparing editors, Canva, Descript, CapCut and Clipchamp are the names most small teams weigh it against.
For video made by chatting, our guide to using Gemini Omni shows how.
My take
Google Vids won't replace a professional editor, and it isn't trying to. Where it shines is speed: a deck to a narrated video in minutes, inside the account your team already uses. The new audio and speed controls fix two of its most annoying gaps. If you're wondering what you can do on a personal account, I've covered that in is Google Vids free. And if you want help building video and AI into your marketing, that's what I do in my one-to-one AI sessions.
Frequently asked questions
How do I open Google Vids?
On your computer, open Google Vids or type vids.new in your browser's address bar, then choose Landscape, Portrait or Square.
Can I turn Google Slides into a video?
Yes. Choose Convert Slides and each slide becomes a scene, with your speaker notes imported as the script.
Can I separate audio from video in Google Vids?
Yes. Google added one-click audio extraction in October 2026, so a clip's audio becomes its own track you can trim, move or stretch across scenes.
Can I edit Google Vids on my phone?
No. Google says you can watch processed videos in a mobile browser, but you can't edit or comment on them there.
Why can't I see the AI options in Google Vids?
Google says the AI options don't appear in the start screen if your account doesn't have access to AI features in Vids.
