What are ChatCut’s keyboard shortcuts?
ChatCut’s editor registers 54 keyboard-shortcut actions, grouped in the Keyboard shortcuts dialog into 6 categories: Playback, Edit, Navigation, Markers, View, and Timeline tools. Every action except Mark selection ships with a default binding, and every binding can be changed.
Throughout this page, “Mod” stands for the platform’s primary modifier: it displays as Cmd (⌘) on Mac and Ctrl on Windows/Linux. Other modifiers follow the same platform convention — on Mac, Meta shows as ⌘, Alt as ⌥, Ctrl as ⌃, and Shift as ⇧; on Windows/Linux, Meta shows as Win and Alt/Ctrl/Shift appear as plain words. There’s one underlying binding table — Mac and Windows/Linux only differ through this Mod mapping.
Playback shortcuts
These control play, pause, and frame-by-frame scrubbing:
| Action | Default shortcut |
|---|---|
| Play / Pause | Space |
| Shuttle backward | J |
| Shuttle pause | K |
| Shuttle forward | L |
| Jog back one frame | Hold K, tap J |
| Jog forward one frame | Hold K, tap L |
| Previous frame | ← |
| Next frame | → |
| Step back 1 second | Shift + ← |
| Step forward 1 second | Shift + → |
Edit shortcuts
These cover trimming, nudging, and clipboard actions on the timeline:
| Action | Default shortcut |
|---|---|
| Undo | Mod + Z |
| Redo | Mod + Shift + Z or Mod + Y |
| Split | C or Enter |
| Trim start | Q |
| Trim end | W |
| Nudge left (1 frame / 5 frames) | E / Shift + E |
| Nudge right (1 frame / 5 frames) | R / Shift + R |
| Move left to boundary | Ctrl + E |
| Move right to boundary | Ctrl + R |
| Delete | Backspace or Delete |
| Select all | Mod + A |
| Select clips forward | Y |
| Duplicate | Mod + D |
| Copy | Mod + C |
| Cut | Mod + X |
| Paste | Mod + V |
| Paste Effects | Mod + Alt + V or Mod + Shift + B |
| Save version | Mod + S |
Navigation shortcuts
These move you between edit points, marks, and clip positions:
| Action | Default shortcut |
|---|---|
| Previous edit | ↑ |
| Next edit | ↓ |
| Move clip up | Alt + ↑ |
| Move clip down | Alt + ↓ |
| Mark in | I |
| Mark out | O |
| Mark clip at playhead | / |
| Mark selection | Not bound by default |
| Clear marks | X |
“Mark selection” ships with no default binding — it’s registered for you to assign yourself.
Marker shortcuts
These add, edit, and jump between markers on the timeline:
| Action | Default shortcut |
|---|---|
| Add marker | M |
| Add marker and open dialog | Mod + M |
| Modify marker at playhead | Shift + M |
| Delete marker at playhead | Alt + M |
| Previous marker | Shift + ↑ |
| Next marker | Shift + ↓ |
View shortcuts
These control fullscreen, zoom, snapping, and the AI chat:
| Action | Default shortcut |
|---|---|
| Fullscreen preview | ` (backtick) |
| Keyboard shortcuts | Mod + Alt + K |
| Timeline zoom in | Mod + = or Mod + + |
| Timeline zoom out | Mod + - |
| Zoom timeline to fit | Shift + Z |
| Snapping | S |
| Selection mode (View toggle) | Alt + S |
| Add to AI chat | Tab |
“Selection mode” here (Alt+S) is a View toggle, separate from the Selection Mode timeline tool (V) below.
Timeline tool shortcuts
These switch which tool is active on the timeline:
| Action | Default shortcut |
|---|---|
| Selection Mode | V |
| Trim Edit Mode | N |
| Blade Edit Mode | B |
Trim Edit Mode’s default is N, not the industry-standard T you may know from other editors — ChatCut’s own default preset (called “ChatCut”) deliberately reassigns it, and that preset is what every account starts on.
What preset schemes are available?
ChatCut ships 6 built-in shortcut preset schemes, selectable from the Keyboard shortcuts dialog’s preset picker: “ChatCut” (the default, shown above), “Premiere Pro”, “DaVinci Resolve”, “Final Cut Pro”, “CapCut”, and “KWL”. Each preset only overrides a subset of actions — any action a preset doesn’t mention keeps its base default binding, which matches the tables above for everything except Trim Edit Mode (the base default is T; the “ChatCut” preset shown above moves it to N).
The timeline tool keys are the most visible difference between presets:
| Preset | Selection Mode | Trim Edit Mode | Blade Edit Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatCut (default) | V | N | B |
| Premiere Pro | V | B | C |
| DaVinci Resolve | A | T | B |
| Final Cut Pro | A | T | B |
| CapCut | V | T | B |
| KWL | V | N | B |
Beyond the tool keys, each preset changes these other bindings:
- Premiere Pro — Nudge left = Alt+← or Shift+Alt+←; Nudge right = Alt+→ or Shift+Alt+→; Snapping = S; Split = Mod+K; Trim start = Q; Trim end = W; Zoom to fit = \ (backslash); Zoom in = =; Zoom out = -.
- DaVinci Resolve — Fullscreen = ` or Shift+F; Nudge left = , or Shift+,; Nudge right = . or Shift+.; Snapping = N; Split = Mod+B; Trim start = [; Trim end = ]; Zoom to fit = Shift+Z; Zoom in = Mod+= or Mod++; Zoom out = Mod+-.
- Final Cut Pro — Nudge left = , or Shift+,; Nudge right = . or Shift+.; Snapping = N; Split = Mod+B; Trim start = Alt+[; Trim end = Alt+]; Zoom to fit = Shift+Z; Zoom in = Mod+= or Mod++; Zoom out = Mod+-.
- CapCut — Nudge left = Alt+← or Shift+Alt+←; Nudge right = Alt+→ or Shift+Alt+→; Snapping = S; Split = Mod+B; Zoom to fit = Shift+Z; Zoom in = Mod+= or Mod++; Zoom out = Mod+-.
- KWL — Add to AI chat = Alt+A; Delete = B, Backspace, or Delete; Fullscreen = ` or Shift+F; Snapping = Tab; Split = C only (no Enter alternative); Redo = Mod+Shift+Z only; Zoom to fit = Shift+Z or Mod+F; Zoom in = S, =, or numpad +; Zoom out = A, -, or numpad -.
Can I customize shortcuts?
Yes — every action is customizable individually, and you can also save your own combination as a named preset. Open the Keyboard shortcuts dialog with Mod+Alt+K; its own description reads: “Customize keyboard shortcuts. Click a shortcut to record a new key combination.” The dialog includes search, a group filter, a clickable on-screen keyboard, a per-action reset, and the preset picker described above. Rebinding one action doesn’t change any other action’s binding.
To save your customizations as a reusable preset, choose “Save as new preset…” in the preset picker. Saved presets appear under a “Your presets” section, where you can select or delete them. Reusing an existing name shows “Preset name already exists”; a successful save shows “Shortcut preset saved”.
When recording a new shortcut, these browser-reserved combinations can’t be assigned at all: Mod+L, Mod+R, Mod+T, Mod+W, Mod+N, Mod+Shift+I, Mod+Alt+I, F5, Mod+P, Mod+Shift+W, Alt+←/Alt+→ on non-Mac, and Cmd+Q on Mac are all blocked. These combinations are assignable but flagged with a warning instead: Mod+F, Mod+G, Mod+1 through Mod+9, and Mod+Shift+T.
Your preset choice and any per-action overrides are synced to your account when you’re signed in, so they follow you across devices. Signed-out use stores your settings in that browser only; the first time you sign in with no saved account preferences, your local settings are copied to your account once.
See also: How is the ChatCut editor laid out.