Being a successful professional audio editor or producer requires both precision and speed. The longer it takes to complete a project, the less projects you complete. 

Making mistakes costs time as well, so learning how to make precise, error-free edits and modifications is a skill that many sound editors will spend their entire career honing. Speed, however, is a much easier skill to master, and largely comes down to how well you know your tools.

If you’re an editor who works on Avid Pro Tools, shortcuts should become a key part of your workflow, allowing you to work faster and more efficiently. Shortcuts save time because they allow you to access tools and features right from your keyboard without having to click through lengthy menus or leave your workspace.

When used correctly, they become almost a sort of dance that your fingers do as you edit, allowing you to sink into that ever-elusive “flow state” during your editing and recording sessions. From creating new tracks to fine-tuning the tiniest waveform blip in a dialog track, there's a shortcut for nearly everything. Soon you'll see your entire session fly by and be hitting "export" in no time.

We’ve compiled this handy Pro Tools keyboard shortcuts guide so that you can speed up your editing and recording sessions so you can work smarter, not harder. Make sure to save this for future reference!

47 Handy Avid Pro Tools Shortcuts

There are lots of different shortcut combinations that work with Pro Tools, but first, let’s start with the basics:

*Note: These are all based on the standard qwerty keyboard

Basics:

• Play Edit Selection: ( [ ) Key
• Play Timeline Selection: ( ] ) Key
• Trim Selected Clip Start to Cursor: [A] Key
• Separate: [B] Key
• Copy: [C] Key
• Fade from Start: [D] Key
• Zoom Toggle: [E] Key
• Undo: [Z] Key
• Redo: Shift + Z

These single key commands are often called “hotkeys” and are typically assigned due to their frequency of use.

Now we’ll dive into more complex keyboard shortcuts that will allow you to access a wide range of features and tools.

Edit Window and Mix Window Shortcuts:

• Start/Stop Playback: [Spacebar]
• Half-Speed Playback: [Shift + Spacebar]
• Pause: [Ctrl/Cmd + Spacebar]
• Import Audio: [Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + I]

Recording Shortcuts:

• Start Recording: [Ctrl/Cmd + Spacebar]
• Stop Recording: [Spacebar]
• Half-Speed Record: [Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Spacebar]
• Loop Record Toggle: [Alt/Option + L]
• Enable or Disable Pre/Post-Roll Time: [Ctrl/Cmd + K]
• Set and Enable Pre/Post-Roll Time: [Alt/Option + mouse click before or after selected track]

Edit Modes and Edit Tools Shortcuts:

• Shuffle Mode: [F1] or [Option + 1]
• Slip Mode: [F2] or [Option + 2]
• Spot Mode: [F3] or [Option + 3]
• Enable Snap to Grid (while in another edit mode): [Shift + F4]
• Enable Snap to Grid AND Shuffle Mode: [F1 + F4]
• Enable Snap to Grid AND Slip Mode: [F2 + F4]
• Enable Snap to Grid AND Spot Mode: [F3 + F4]
• Zoomer Tool: [F5] or [Ctrl/Cmd + 1]
• Trimmer Tool: [F6] or [Ctrl/Cmd + 2]
• Selector Tool: [F7] or [Ctrl/Cmd + 3]
• Grabber Tool: [F8] or [Ctrl/Cmd + 4]
• Scrubber Tool: [F9] or [Ctrl/Cmd + 5]
• Pencil Tool: [F10] or [Ctrl/Cmd + 6]
• Smart Tool: [F6 + F7] or [Ctrl/Cmd + 7]
• Cycle Through Edit Modes: [`] Key (known as the "Single Open Quote" key, located directly above the Tab key)
• Cycle Through Edit Tools: [Esc]
• Lock or Unlock Shuffle Mode: Command-click "Shuffle" button (Mac) or Control-click "Shuffle" button (Windows)

Transport Mode (Numeric Keypad):

• Start/Stop: [0]
• Rewind: [1]
• Fast Forward: [2]
• Record Enable: [3]
• Loop Playback Mode (On/Off): [4]
• Loop Record Mode (On/Off): [5]
• QuickPunch Mode (On/Off): [6]
• Click (On/Off): [7]
• Countoff (On/Off): [8]

​MIDI Merge/Replace Mode (On/Off): [9]