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Keyboard Shortcuts

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Current shortcut bindings are routed through shortcutRegistry, so presets and per-action overrides update live from Settings.


MasterSelects ships with 6 presets:

  • MasterSelects
  • Premiere Pro
  • DaVinci Resolve
  • Final Cut Pro
  • After Effects
  • Beginner

Beginner currently matches MasterSelects.

ActionMasterSelects / BeginnerPremiere ProDaVinci ResolveFinal Cut ProAfter Effects
LoopShift+LCtrl+LCtrl+/Ctrl+Lnone
Cut toolCCBBnone
Split at playheadShift+CCtrl+KCtrl+BCtrl+BCtrl+Shift+D
Clear In/OutXCtrl+Shift+XAlt+XAlt+Xnone
Frame stepLeft/RightLeft/RightLeft/RightLeft/RightPageUp/PageDown or Ctrl+Left/Right
Add markerMMMMNumpad* or Shift+8
New projectCtrl+NCtrl+Alt+NnoneCtrl+NCtrl+Alt+N
Open projectCtrl+OCtrl+OnoneCtrl+OCtrl+O
SaveCtrl+SCtrl+SCtrl+SnoneCtrl+S
Save AsCtrl+Shift+SCtrl+Shift+SCtrl+Shift+SnoneCtrl+Shift+S
RedoCtrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+YCtrl+Shift+ZCtrl+Shift+ZCtrl+Shift+ZCtrl+Shift+Z

On Mac, Ctrl maps to Cmd and Alt maps to Option.


  • Space toggles play/pause.
  • J reverses playback.
  • K pauses playback.
  • L plays forward.
  • Shift+L toggles loop playback in the default preset.
  • I sets the in point at the playhead.
  • O sets the out point at the playhead.
  • X clears in/out in the default preset.
  • Shift+Scroll pans horizontally.
  • Ctrl+Scroll or Alt+Scroll zooms the timeline around the playhead.
  • Ctrl+Shift+Scroll or Cmd+Shift+Scroll toggles slot-grid view.
  • Left and Right arrows step one frame at a time.
  • C selects the Blade tool in the default preset.
  • Escape exits cut mode.
  • Shift+C splits the clip at the playhead in the default preset.
  • Ctrl+C copies selected keyframes when any are selected; otherwise it copies selected clips.
  • Ctrl+V pastes keyframes when the clipboard contains keyframes; otherwise it pastes clips.
  • Delete / Backspace removes selected keyframes first, then clips.
  • M adds a marker at the playhead.
  • Click selects a single clip.
  • Ctrl+Click / Cmd+Click adds or removes a clip from the selection.
  • Shift+Click toggles only the clicked clip.
  • Normal click on a linked video clip selects the linked audio clip too.
  • Alt+drag moves linked clips independently.
  • Click a diamond to select a keyframe.
  • Shift+Click adds or removes keyframes from the selection.
  • Shift+drag moves keyframes more slowly.
  • Right-click a keyframe to change easing.
  • Right-click a Bezier handle to reset it to its default position.
  • + or Numpad+ advances the blend mode on the selected clip(s).
  • - or Numpad- moves to the previous blend mode.
  • In After Effects preset mode, the blend-mode bindings follow the AE-style Shift+= / Shift+- layout.
  • Ctrl+N creates a new project in presets that expose it.
  • Ctrl+O opens a project in presets that expose it.
  • Ctrl+S saves the current project.
  • Ctrl+Shift+S saves as a new project name.
  • Ctrl+Z undoes the last action.
  • Ctrl+Shift+Z redoes the last action.
  • Ctrl+Y is available in the default preset only.
  • Tab toggles preview edit mode on the focused editable preview, or on the first editable preview when no preview has focus.
  • 1, 2, 3, and 4 highlight the matching slot in the multi-preview panel.
  • The German-layout umlaut key toggles fullscreen for the hovered dock tab.
  • G toggles the timeline between timeline and graph view.

When the Mask panel is active, the default preset provides P (pen), V (edit path), R (rectangle), E (ellipse), Enter (close path), Alt+I (invert), Alt+H (toggle outline), Ctrl+A (select all vertices), and B (toggle selected vertex handles).


  • Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V obey the keyframe clipboard first.
  • Paste uses the selected clip when exactly one clip is selected; otherwise it falls back to the original clip from the copied keyframes.
  • Tab only works when the preview source is editable.
  • The preview panel ignores the shortcut when showing a non-editable source monitor.
  • In camera edit mode, 1, 2, 3, and 4 animate only the focused/first edit preview between Front, Side, Top, and Camera view.
  • Escape closes an open Source Monitor when text entry does not own the key.
  • Escape also cancels panel drag operations in the dock container.
  • Text inputs, textareas, content-editable regions, and ARIA textboxes retain keyboard ownership.
  • A primary pointer press outside the currently focused control releases that old focus before editor surfaces handle the gesture. This prevents controls whose pointer handlers cancel the browser default from retaining stale focus.
  • Global shortcut actions claim each key event at most once. Space controls the hovered playable Source Monitor; everywhere else it controls timeline playback. Text entry and target handlers that already consumed the event still take precedence.
  • Timeline or Source Monitor transport claims release stale focused controls before handling Space, preventing native button activation from the same key press. Enter remains with deliberately focused controls.
  • Directional keys remain with deliberately focused native or ARIA controls such as sliders, selects, and tab lists, independent of user shortcut remapping.
  • Non-conflicting global shortcuts keep the current keyboard focus, preserving the user’s place in the Tab order.
  • Visible focus rings remain enabled for genuine keyboard navigation; the focus policy does not hide outlines with CSS.
  • Save / Save As still prevent the browser default save dialog even when focus is inside an input.

  • Shortcuts can be changed in Preferences -> Shortcuts.
  • Each action can be assigned one recorded combo; preset maps can provide multiple combos.
  • Conflicts are detected live in the UI.
  • Custom named presets are saved locally.
  • Resetting to a preset clears manual overrides.

Preferences -> General -> Input Display can show recent key presses, mouse clicks, mouse drags, and wheel gestures as a large overlay near the bottom-left of the app.

  • The overlay can be toggled on or off.
  • The size slider persists locally.
  • Moving the size slider shows a live mock overlay in the real screen position.
  • Mouse clicks show the mouse icon without a click text label.
  • Drag input is distinguished from a simple click after the pointer moves past a small threshold and remains visible until the drag ends.
  • Wheel input shows scroll up, down, left, or right and stays as one continuous overlay while scrolling continues.
  • Held keys are combined with pointer input, so combinations such as Shift + Left Drag or Ctrl + Scroll Up are visible.