The Edits app is Instagram's video editor. It has a Mac version that is free, runs only on Macs with Apple silicon and asks you to sign in with an Instagram account. It is built for the projects that get too big for a phone.

Meta's announcement of the Mac app, posted Nov. 5, says that in just over a year "50 million people have made Edits part of how they bring ideas to life." This story covers only the Mac app.

What the Edits app for Mac does

Meta's announcement lists these features:

  • Editing: a multi-track timeline, keyframes, and audio waveforms for cutting on the beat. Split, cut and trim are there too.
  • Color: color wheels, log conversions and curves. You can import your own LUTs and font files.
  • Captions: unlimited automatic captions in multiple languages.
  • Sound and effects: Instagram's licensed, royalty-free audio library and hundreds of sound and video effects.
  • Export: horizontal and vertical aspect ratios, up to 4K, without a watermark.
  • Publishing: post directly to Instagram, with tagging, location and trial reels.
  • Mobile link: audio and text styles you saved in the phone app show up on desktop.
  • Shortcuts: custom keyboard shortcuts, including ones carried over from other editors.
  • MCP support: AI agents can connect to the editor.

Updates will ship weekly. Meta is also working on editing one project across desktop and mobile, with no date given.

What you need to run it

Meta's download page answers the basics:

  • Mac only: the page says the desktop app is available only on macOS, so there is no Windows version.
  • Apple silicon: you need a Mac with an M1 chip or later. Older Intel Macs are not covered.
  • Free: downloading Edits on macOS costs nothing.
  • Instagram account: the page says signing in with Instagram keeps your projects with you and lets you share without leaving the app.

What Meta does not say

  • Countries: none are named, so availability in any given country is unknown.
  • macOS version: the pages give the chip requirement but no minimum macOS release.
  • Limits: neither page names a file size or length cap.

What this means for you

If you already make short videos in Edits on your phone, the Mac app carries over your saved styles and adds a bigger timeline, color tools and keyboard shortcuts. If you want a free video editor for Mac that exports without a watermark, it is worth a look, as long as you have an M-series Mac and an Instagram account. If you use Windows or an Intel Mac, it is not an option today.

We have not tried the app. Everything above comes from Meta's announcement and download page, the only sources we used.

For more on Instagram's video plans, see Instagram's test of long videos called Features. For another editor adding AI tools, see CapCut's ChatGPT plugin, announced but not live.