Complete Video Editing Keyboard Shortcuts — Premiere Pro / Final Cut Compatible

Why the keyboard is faster

Editing speed ultimately comes down to "how quickly can I put the playhead where I want" and "how quickly can I cut and splice." Pressing J/K/L is an order of magnitude faster and more precise than dragging the playhead with a mouse.

VideoBuff's shortcuts intentionally follow the common subset of Premiere Pro and Final Cut, so veterans of either tool will find their fingers already know the moves. Newcomers who drill the combinations below for about ten minutes will feel the jump over mouse-driven editing.

The rest of this guide is grouped into four categories: playback, editing, navigation, and selection.

Playback and scrubbing

Space toggles play/pause. Clicking the preview area does the same thing, so use whichever fits your rhythm.

J/K/L are the most important three keys for any editor: K stops, L plays forward, J plays backward. Tapping L or J repeatedly multiplies playback speed (2x, 4x), which is invaluable for locating a cut in long footage. Holding K while tapping L or J gives you slow-motion playback.

The left and right arrow keys step one frame at a time — use them to verify and nudge cut points at single-frame precision.

Editing operations

C is the cut tool — use it to split clips at the playhead. It behaves like Premiere Pro's Razor Tool: hit the shortcut, then click once.

⌘Z (Ctrl+Z on Windows/Linux) is undo, and ⌘⇧Z (or Ctrl+Shift+Z) is redo. The undo history is generous, so feel free to try bold edits and roll them back.

Delete removes the selected clip. ⌘S (or Ctrl+S) forces a save, though projects auto-save roughly every second — you will rarely need to press it.

Command palette and cheatsheet

You don't need to memorise every shortcut. ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows/Linux) opens a command palette: type what you want — "cut", "split", "undo" — and run it straight from the keyboard without hunting through menus. Same feel as VS Code or Linear.

Press ? (Shift+/) to bring up the cheatsheet, a categorised list of every available keyboard shortcut. It works during playback too, so it's always one tap away while you're learning new bindings. Press the same key again to dismiss it.

A workflow worth building: before reaching for an unfamiliar shortcut, look the action up in the palette. It keeps you in editing flow instead of breaking off to consult docs.

Navigation

Home jumps the playhead to the start of the timeline, End to the finish. Handy on long projects when you want to restart from the top.

Zoom the timeline with + and -. Holding ⌘ / Ctrl while spinning the mouse wheel also zooms. The zoom range is 5% to 300%, which is wide enough to overview a five-minute video or precisely adjust a one-second transition in the same interface.

Shift + arrows moves the selected clip in larger increments (plain arrows move one frame, Shift moves a few frames at a time).

Selection and clipboard

Click a clip to select it; ⌘ (Ctrl) + click adds to the selection. Shift + click selects a range.

⌘C copies, ⌘X cuts, ⌘V pastes at the playhead. Select multiple clips before copying to replicate a block into a different part of the timeline.

⌘A selects the entire timeline — convenient for moving everything or wiping the project, but easy to trigger by accident. Remember that ⌘Z immediately after will undo it.

Cheat sheet

A compact summary of the shortcuts you will use most often. Consider printing it and sticking it next to your monitor.

Playback: Space (play/pause) / J K L (reverse, stop, forward) / ← → (one frame)

Editing: C (cut) / Delete (remove) / ⌘Z (undo) / ⌘⇧Z (redo) / ⌘S (save)

Navigation: Home (start) / End (end) / + - (zoom) / ⌘ + wheel (zoom)

Selection: click (single) / ⌘click (add) / Shift-click (range) / ⌘A (all) / ⌘C ⌘X ⌘V (copy/cut/paste)

Help: ⌘K (command palette) / ? (cheatsheet)