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Adobe Premiere Pro Keyboard Shortcuts (CC 2024) — Complete Cheat Sheet
Adobe Premiere Pro keyboard shortcuts for editing, tools, playback, timeline navigation, and export. Speed up every cut.
57 shortcuts across 6 categories · Windows · macOS
Adobe Premiere Pro's keyboard shortcuts are essential for professional video editing — the J, K, and L keys alone (shuttle control) let you scrub through footage at variable speed without a mouse. Industry editors use these shortcuts to work at the speed of thought when cutting, trimming, and arranging footage on the timeline.
Tool Selection
| Action | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Selection Tool | V | Switch to the Selection tool for moving clips |
| Track Select Forward | A | Select all clips from a point forward on a track |
| Razor Tool | C | Split clips at the playhead or click position |
| Rolling Edit Tool | N | Trim two adjacent clips simultaneously |
| Rate Stretch Tool | R | Stretch or compress clip duration to fit a gap |
| Ripple Edit Tool | B | Trim a clip and ripple all downstream clips |
| Slip Tool | Y | Adjust which part of a clip plays without moving its position |
| Slide Tool | U | Move a clip without changing its in/out points |
| Pen Tool | P | Draw keyframe bezier curves on effect lines |
| Hand Tool | H | Pan the timeline by dragging |
| Zoom Tool | Z | Click to zoom into the timeline |
Playback & JKL
| Action | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Play / Stop | Space | Start or stop playback |
| Play Reverse | J | Play in reverse; press multiple times to increase speed |
| Pause | K | Pause playback at the current frame |
| Play Forward | L | Play forward; press multiple times to increase speed |
| Step Back One Frame | , | Move back one frame while paused |
| Step Forward One Frame | . | Advance one frame while paused |
| Go to In Point | Shift + I | Jump the playhead to the In point |
| Go to Out Point | Shift + O | Jump the playhead to the Out point |
| Go to Beginning | Home | Move playhead to the start of the sequence |
| Go to End | End | Move playhead to the end of the sequence |
| Loop Playback | Ctrl + L | Toggle looped playback of the work area |
Editing
| Action | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Set In Point | I | Mark the In point for the current clip or sequence |
| Set Out Point | O | Mark the Out point for the current clip or sequence |
| Add Edit (Razor at Playhead) | Ctrl + K | Cut all tracks at the playhead position |
| Ripple Trim Previous Edit | Q | Ripple-trim the previous clip's Out point to playhead |
| Ripple Trim Next Edit | W | Ripple-trim the next clip's In point to playhead |
| Extend Edit to Playhead | E | Extend the selected edit point to the playhead |
| Ripple Delete | Backspace | Delete selected clip and close the gap |
| Lift | ; | Remove selected area and leave a gap (no ripple) |
| Extract | ' | Remove selected area and ripple-close the gap |
| Undo | Ctrl + Z | Undo the last action |
| Redo | Ctrl + Shift + Z | Redo the last undone action |
| Copy | Ctrl + C | Copy selected clip or effect |
| Paste | Ctrl + V | Paste copied clip at playhead |
| Paste Attributes | Ctrl + Alt + V | Paste only the effects and settings from a copied clip |
Sequence & Project
| Action | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| New Sequence | Ctrl + N | Create a new sequence in the project |
| Import Media | Ctrl + I | Open the import file browser |
| Export Media | Ctrl + M | Open the Export Media dialog |
| Save | Ctrl + S | Save the current project |
| Save As | Ctrl + Shift + S | Save a copy of the project with a new name |
| Open Project | Ctrl + O | Open an existing Premiere Pro project |
| Close Project | Ctrl + Shift + W | Close the current project |
Timeline Navigation
| Action | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom In Timeline | = | Zoom into the timeline for more detail |
| Zoom Out Timeline | - | Zoom out to see more of the timeline |
| Fit Sequence in Window | Shift + \ | Zoom the timeline to show the full sequence |
| Previous Edit Point | ↑ | Move playhead to the previous cut point |
| Next Edit Point | ↓ | Move playhead to the next cut point |
| Expand / Collapse Video Track | Shift + = | Resize the video track height in the timeline |
| Expand / Collapse Audio Track | Alt + = | Resize the audio track height in the timeline |
| Snap Toggle | S | Enable or disable timeline snapping |
| Link / Unlink Clips | Ctrl + L | Toggle audio/video link on selected clips |
Effects & Color
| Action | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Apply Default Video Transition | Ctrl + D | Apply the default video transition at the edit point |
| Apply Default Audio Transition | Ctrl + Shift + D | Apply the default audio transition at the edit point |
| Export Frame | Ctrl + Shift + E | Export the current frame as a still image |
| Open Lumetri Color Panel | Shift + 7 | Open the color grading workspace |
| Enable / Disable Clip | Shift + E | Toggle the selected clip off without removing it |
Adobe Premiere Pro Tips & Tricks
- J-K-L is the fastest way to scrub: Hold J to rewind, K to pause, L to play forward. Press L twice or three times to play at 2x or 4x speed. Combine with K+J or K+L to move one frame at a time — this is how professional editors work.
- Q and W for ripple trimming: With the playhead positioned, Q ripple-trims the end of the previous clip, and W ripple-trims the start of the next clip. No selection needed — just position the playhead and press.
- Ctrl+K to cut all tracks at once: Place the playhead where you want a cut and press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on Mac). It slices every unlocked track simultaneously — much faster than using the Razor tool clip by clip.
Frequently Asked Questions — Adobe Premiere Pro
- What are the most important Premiere Pro shortcuts for beginners?
- Start with J/K/L for playback control (reverse, pause, forward), C for the Razor (cut) tool, V for the Selection tool, and Ctrl+Z for undo. These five shortcuts cover 80% of basic editing tasks.
- How do I cut a clip in Premiere Pro?
- Press C to switch to the Razor tool, then click on the clip at the point you want to cut. Alternatively, position the playhead where you want to cut and press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on Mac) to cut all unlocked tracks at once.
- How do I export a video from Premiere Pro?
- Press Ctrl+M (Cmd+M on Mac) to open the Export Media dialog. Choose your format, preset, and output destination, then click Export or Queue to send to Adobe Media Encoder for background rendering.
How to Learn Adobe Premiere Pro Keyboard Shortcuts
Adobe Premiere Pro's keyboard shortcuts are not optional for professional video editing — they are fundamental to working at broadcast speed. The J, K, and L keys for shuttle control (rewind, pause, and fast-forward at variable speeds) are the most important to master first, because efficient footage review and logging begins here. A professional editor who doesn't know J-K-L is working with one hand tied behind their back. Beyond shuttle control, the In and Out point keys (I and O) for marking edit points, and the A and V keys for toggling audio and video track locks, are used constantly in any editing session. Premiere's keyboard shortcut system rewards deep investment — the more you learn, the faster you work, with no diminishing returns at the level most editors reach.
Premiere Pro allows fully customizing its keyboard shortcuts via the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog (Ctrl+Alt+K on Windows, Cmd+Option+K on Mac), which is worth knowing even if you never change a shortcut — it gives you a searchable map of every available action and its assigned key. The timeline navigation shortcuts deserve special attention: ; and ' (semicolon and apostrophe) nudge the playhead backward and forward by one frame, while Shift+; and Shift+' move by five frames. The backslash key fits the entire timeline sequence into the panel view, a simple shortcut that's used dozens of times per editing session. For color work and audio mixing, Premiere's workspace-specific shortcuts mean the muscle memory you build in one phase of the workflow carries forward into others.