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Find a person in video on Windows

Search by face across local folders, external drives, and old archives. ClipCatalog groups recurring people locally so you can pull matching clips fast without relying on filenames or memory.

1 Open any useful result and use Find more videos with persons from this video to turn it into a reusable search.
2 Select one or more discovered people from the face panel and apply the filter across your indexed library.
3 Switch matching to All when you only want clips where both selected people appear together.
ClipCatalog face search dialog showing find more videos with persons from this video.

Choose people from detected faces

ClipCatalog groups recurring faces into selectable person filters. Pick one person to find every matching clip, or combine multiple people when you need clips where the same people appear together.

Face selection filter in ClipCatalog.
Pick one or more discovered people, then apply the face filter across your indexed archive.

* Some faces are pixelated for privacy.

Real-world face-search use cases

These are the situations where face search saves the most time: when the same people appear again and again across years of footage, recurring shoots, or large archives.

Build family compilations faster

Find every clip of one family member across holidays, birthdays, trips, and everyday footage when you want a montage or one specific memory.

Pull every guest appearance

Recurring guests and collaborators show up across episodes and shoots. Select their face once and pull every appearance across project folders and drives.

Search interview archives by person

Filter by one subject's face, then combine it with transcript search to find the exact moments they said what you remember.

Find important people in event footage

Weddings, events, and documentaries produce hours of material. Face search helps you find every clip of the couple, guest, speaker, or subject without scrubbing by hand.

How to find a person in video with ClipCatalog

1

Add the folders where your footage already lives

Point ClipCatalog at local folders, external SSDs, or archive drives. No reorganization required.

2

Enable face detection if you want person search

Face processing is optional. Once enabled, ClipCatalog detects faces and groups recurring people locally on your PC.

3

Filter by person and refine the result

Search by one person or require two together, then refine with transcript, dates, folders, and other filters.

Keep face search local and under your control

ClipCatalog settings view showing face detection before and after it is enabled.

If you are using face search for family archives, unreleased footage, client projects, or anything sensitive, local processing and explicit opt-in matter.

Face search stays opt-in. You can enable it, turn it off, or delete face data later.

Opt-in only

Face detection starts only if you enable it deliberately.

No cloud upload in the workflow

Videos and face data stay on your own hardware instead of being sent to a remote face API.

Delete face data later

If your situation changes, you can clear detections, groups, and the face index from Settings.

What to expect from face search

Good for grouping, not perfect identification

The goal is to get you to the right clips fast, not to guarantee perfect biometric identity in every difficult shot.

Works best with clear, visible faces

Distant, blurry, heavily shadowed, or partially hidden faces can reduce reliability.

Works across large archives

Once indexed, person search works across years of footage, multiple projects, and disconnected archive drives.

Best when combined with other filters

Face search gets even better when you add transcript words, dates, folders, resolution, or detected content.

Frequently asked questions

Can ClipCatalog find more videos with the same person from one clip?

Yes. Start from a clip that already contains the person you want, then use the face workflow to find more videos with the same discovered people across your indexed library.

Can I require two people to appear together?

Yes. After selecting multiple people, switch the matching mode to All so the results only show clips where both selected people appear together.

Does this upload my videos or face data?

No. Face detection, embeddings, grouping, and search all run locally on your Windows PC. Your footage and face data stay on your machine.

Who is this most useful for?

It is especially useful for family archives and content creators with recurring people on camera. It also helps with interviews, podcasts, documentaries, and event footage.

Is face search perfect identification?

No. ClipCatalog groups similar faces so you can get to the right set of clips quickly, but occasional mistakes can happen with blurry, partial, or difficult shots.

Can I delete the face data later?

Yes. You can remove face detections, person groups, and the face index from Settings at any time.

Try it on a small archive first

Start with a small archive, enable face detection only if you want person search, and test it on footage where the same people appear repeatedly.

Good first test: family trips, recurring guests, or interview archives
Best when you combine person filters with transcript, dates, folders, or other search filters
If you want the broader overview, the main face recognition page is one click away.

Try ClipCatalog free — up to 500 videos

No account required. Your footage stays on your computer.

500 videos free Refunds within 14 days One-time purchase