How to Clip a Vector Layer in QGIS

Quick summary

This demo shows how to clip a vector layer in QGIS using the Extract by Location tool in the Processing Toolbox, allowing you to filter spatial features based on their geometric relationship to a boundary layer. In just a few steps, you can isolate features that fall within or intersecting a defined area and output them as a new layer.

Steps

1. Open the Processing Toolbox from the right-side menu in QGIS.
2. In the search bar, search for and select Extract by Location.
3. In the dialog box, use the Extract features from dropdown to select the layer you want to extract from.
4. Set a geometric predicate — such as within or intersects — to define how features are spatially selected.
5. Use the By comparing to the features from dropdown to select the boundary layer for comparison.
6. Click Run to execute the extraction.
7. Click Close to exit the dialog box — a new layer will appear in the Layers Panel.
8. Use the Move tool to reposition the clipped feature; connected features will adjust shared boundaries automatically thanks to snapping and topology rules.