Video Editor

Timeline

The Timeline is where you arrange your project in time: tracks run top to bottom, clips run left to right, and the playhead marks the frame the Player shows. This page covers every part of it: the toolbar, tracks, clips, markers, and every mouse, keyboard and touch gesture.

Parts of the timeline

Part	Where	What it does
Toolbar	Top	Tools, edit buttons, toggles, zoom and the timecode.
Tabs	Above the tracks, when a compound is open	Main timeline and one tab per open compound. See Compound clips.
Ruler	Above the lanes	Seconds, markers and the playhead knob. Press anywhere on it to scrub.
Track headers	Left column	Each track's name and toggles. Drag the column's right edge to widen it.
Lanes	Right of the headers	The clips and the transitions on their cuts.
Playhead	Vertical line	The current frame. Others editing with you show their own playheads.

An empty project says Drop media or text here to start your project: drag a file from your computer, or drag an item from a side panel.

Tools

Tool	Key	Use
Selection	V	Select, move and trim clips.
Razor	C	Click a clip to cut it there.
Ripple Edit	B	Trim an edge and move everything after it.
Rolling Edit	N	Move a cut between two clips.
Slip	Y	Change which part of the source a clip shows.
Slide	U	Move a clip between its neighbours.
Hand	H	Drag the view.

Each tool is explained in .

Edit buttons

Button	Key	What it does
Split	Ctrl/⌘ K	Cut the selected clips at the playhead.
Trim Start	Q	Cut away the part of the selected clip before the playhead.
Trim End	W	Cut away the part after the playhead.
Duplicate	Ctrl/⌘ D	Copy the selected clips (and the clips linked to them) onto a new track.
Add Marker	M	Drop a marker at the playhead.
Previous keyframe / Add keyframe / Next keyframe	⌥ [ / ⌥ K / ⌥ ]	Work with the selected clip's keyframes. See .
Delete	Delete / Backspace	Remove the selected clips.

A disabled button explains why on hover: Select a clip first, Move the playhead inside the selected clip, Track is locked.

Toggles

Toggle	What it does
Main track magnet	The first video track never keeps gaps: removing or trimming a clip there closes the gap.
Auto snapping (S)	Edges and the playhead pull clips within a few pixels. Hold Alt while dragging to bypass it.
Linkage	Clips you add over the main track ride on the clip under them: move that clip and they move with it.
Audio waveforms	Show audio waveforms on clips.
Keyframe lane	A row per animated property under the selected clip. See .

Zoom

Zoom Out (−), the zoom slider, Zoom In (+) and Zoom to Fit (\). Zooming keeps the playhead where it is on screen. You can also pinch on a trackpad or hold Ctrl/⌘ and scroll.

Tracks

There are three kinds of track: Video (pictures, text, shapes, effects; they can carry sound), Audio and Captions. Higher tracks paint in front.

Track header

Control	What it does
Eye	Enable track / Disable track: a disabled track neither shows nor sounds.
Lock	Lock track / Unlock track: nothing on it can change.
Speaker	Mute track / Unmute track. Disabled with Track has no audio on a silent track.
S	Solo track: hear only soloed tracks.
Duck under voice	Lower this track while a voice-over plays.
Track volume	0–200%, on tall enough tracks.
Name	Double-click to rename.
Bottom edge	Drag to change the track's height.

Rename, Move Track Back, Move Track Forward, Add Track Above, Add Track Below, Add Video Track, Add Audio Track and Delete Track. In a template, the menu also sets Fit to the output length and Keep the ending. See .

Clips

A clip shows its name, a filmstrip of its picture and, with waveforms on, its sound shaped by its volume and fades. A disabled clip is dimmed. Badges show what packs added to it.

Mouse gestures on a clip

Gesture	What it does
Click	Select it (and nothing else).
Shift-click, Ctrl/⌘-click	Add it to, or take it out of, the selection.
Drag the body	Move it in time or onto another track. Drop it above the top track or below the bottom one to make a new track there.
Drag a left or right edge	Trim it. With the magnet on, the main track closes the gap. A trim that cuts away part of a clip takes the clips linked there with it; undo brings them back.
Alt while dragging	Bypass snapping.
Double-click a compound	Open it in its own tab.
Right-click	Open the clip menu. A right-click inside a selection keeps the selection, so the menu acts on all of it.
Razor tool, hover	A line shows where the cut would go; click to cut.

Mouse gestures on empty lane space

Gesture	What it does
Click	Clear the selection. With any tool but Selection and Hand, the playhead also jumps there (press the ruler to scrub with any tool).
Drag (Selection tool)	Draw a box: every clip it touches is selected. Hold Shift to add to the selection. Gaps are never selected.
Drag (Hand tool)	Pan the view.
Right-click	Paste here (each clip lands on its own free track).
Drop files	Upload them to the Drive and place them; several files land end to end.
Ctrl/⌘ + scroll, pinch	Zoom about the pointer.

Touch gestures

Gesture	What it does
Tap a clip	Select it. Only the selected clip gets trim handles, so a stray touch can't trim a neighbour.
Long press a clip	Open its actions sheet.
Tap empty space	Move the playhead there.
Long press empty space	Open the lane's actions.
Swipe	Scroll.
Pinch	Zoom.
Long press a track header	Open the track's actions.

Item	What it does
Copy / Paste	Ctrl/⌘ C / V.
Duplicate	Ctrl/⌘ D.
Split	Ctrl/⌘ K at the playhead.
Trim Start / Trim End	Q / W at the playhead.
Add Transition	T: a dissolve with a crossfade on the cut nearer the playhead. See .
Link to the clip below / Unlink	Make it ride on (or stop riding on) the clip under its start on the main track.
Enable / Disable	Show and sound it, or not.
Speed	Constant speed or a speed curve: Montage, Hero, Bullet or Flash.
Freeze Frame / Unfreeze	Hold one frame.
Make Compound Clip /

Markers

Add Marker (M) drops a marker at the playhead on the main timeline. Click a marker to jump to it; double-click it to remove it.

The playhead and playback

Key	What it does
Space	Play or pause.
L / K / J	Play / pause / pause and step back one second.
← / →	Step one frame. Shift steps one second.
Home / End	Go to the start / the end.

While playing, the timeline pages along with the playhead. Scroll away by hand and it stops following; press play again to follow.