iMovie

Keyboard shortcuts in iMovie on Mac

Get information

Action	Shortcut
Open the iMovie Help menu	Shift–Command–Question Mark (?)

Import and export

Action	Shortcut
Import media	Command-I

Play video

Action	Shortcut
Play video beginning from the frame beneath the playhead or skimmer	Space bar
Play the selection	Slash (/)
Play the selected event, clip, or project from the beginning	Backslash (\)
Move the playhead one frame forward	Right Arrow key
Move the playhead one frame backward	Left Arrow key
When playing a clip in the browser, jump forward to the next clip	Down Arrow key
When playing a clip in the timeline, jump to the beginning of the current clip, or jump to the previous clip if the playhead is near the beginning of the current clip	Up Arrow key
Play the selected item full screen	Shift-Command-F
Exit full-screen view	Escape (Esc) key
Loop playback	Command-L
Show or hide clip information when skimming in the browser	Control-Y

Manage projects and events

Action	Shortcut
Create a new movie project	Command-N
Move to Trash Moves the selected clip, movie, trailer, or event to the Trash. If only part of a clip is selected, the entire clip is moved to the Trash.	Command-Delete
Open settings	Command-Comma (,)

Action

Shortcut

Create a new movie project

Command-N

Move to Trash

Moves the selected clip, movie, trailer, or event to the Trash. If only part of a clip is selected, the entire clip is moved to the Trash.

Command-Delete

Open settings

Command-Comma (,)

Select and edit video

Action	Shortcut
Select all clips To select all clips in the timeline, first click anywhere in the timeline. To select all clips in the browser, first click anywhere in the browser.	Command-A
Select an entire clip	X
Select part of a clip	Hold down the R key and drag
Deselect all clips	Shift-Command-A
Add the selection to the movie	E
Connect the selection to the clip at the playhead position	Q
Insert the selection in the movie at the playhead position	W
Automatically improve the video and audio quality of the selected clip	Shift-Command-E
Cut the selected frames	Command-X
Copy the selected frames	Command-C
Paste the selected frames	Command-Slash (/)
Trim a clip in the timeline to the selected range	Option-Slash (/)
Divide a clip at the playhead position	Command-B
Reset speed adjustments	Option-Shift-R
Paste all adjustments	Option-Command-V
Paste color correction adjustments	Option-Command-C
Paste crop adjustments	Option-Command-R
Paste volume adjustments	Option-Command-A
Paste the video effect	Option-Command-L
Paste the audio effect	Option-Command-O
Paste speed adjustments	Option-Command-S
Paste video overlay settings Pastes adjustments, depending on which type of video is selected.	Option-Command-U
Paste the map style	Option-Command-M
Rate the selection as favorite	F
Unmark selected frames	U
Rate the selection as rejected, or delete the selection from the timeline	Delete key
Open or close the clip trimmer when a clip is selected	Command-Backslash (\)
Open or close the precision editor	Command-Slash (/)
Show the Cinematic Editor	Option-Command-F

Work with audio

Action	Shortcut
Open voiceover controls in the viewer	V
Turn on or silence audio while skimming video	Shift-S
Mute audio in a clip	Shift-Command-M
Detach audio from a clip	Option-Command-B
Undo the last action	Command-Z
Redo the last action	Shift-Command-Z

Edit text

Action	Shortcut
Copy the selected text	Command-C
Cut the selected text	Command-X
Paste the copied text	Command-V

iMovie window

Action	Shortcut
Minimize the iMovie window	Command-M
Go to Library view (the default main window view)	1
Go to Projects view	2
Show or hide the Libraries list	Shift-Command-1
Show my media in the browser	Command-1
Show audio in the browser	Command-2
Show titles in the browser	Command-3
Show maps and backgrounds in the browser	Command-4
Show sound effects in the browser	Command-5
Show transitions in the browser	Command-6
Play the selected item full screen	Shift-Command-F

Helpful?

iMovie User Guide