Insider Tips: Move Clips Using Premiere Pro’s Keyboard Shortcuts

Every week, Frame.io Insider asks one of our expert contributors to share a tip, tool, or technique that they use all the time and couldn’t live without. This week, Chris Salters shows you how to move clips using keyboard shortcuts in Premiere Pro.


Move clips using Premiere Pro’s keyboard shortcuts

It’s a fact that the more editing you can do with the keyboard, rather than the mouse, the faster you’ll become.  So mastering moving clips around the timeline using only the keyboard is a must. Moving clips left and right with only the keyboard will also help you to make more frame-accurate edits.

To move clips up or down tracks we only need to hold Opt/Alt and the up or down arrow keys. Note that this will overwrite any clips already on those tracks. This is also a good method to quickly add more video or audio tracks by simply tapping up or down for as many additional tracks as you want.

  • Opt/Alt+Up moves selected clip(s) up a track layer
  • Opt/Alt+Down moves selected clip(s) down a track layer
Slide Clip Selection keyboard commands moves clips to the right and/or left
The Slide Clip Selection keyboard shortcut moves clips to the right/left.

For moving left and right, we can use the “Slide Clip Selection” keyboard commands. These are activated by holding Opt/Alt and using the < and > keys. These moves are slides, so clips to the right and/or left of the clip(s) being moved will be extended or overwritten.

  • Opt/Alt+, moves selected clip(s) to the left 1 frame
  • Opt/Alt+. – moves selected clip(s) to the right 1 frame

Hold Shift while performing a slide clip selection to move the clip(s) left or right by five frames.

Holding shift moves the clips left or right by 5 frames.
Holding shift moves the clips left or right by 5 frames.

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Chris Salters

Chris Salters is a freelance video editor who cuts commercials and brand films. Based in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, he spends his free time cycling, woodworking, and being a Dad. Chris is fueled by coffee and rewarded by beer.

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