If you’ve ever had a client or producer sitting over your shoulder, you know it’s important to edit fast. Below are instructions to install your new set of shortcuts for the major NLE’s. Open up Premiere, go to Edit and select Keyboard Shortcuts from the dropdown menu. Open up Premiere, go to Edit and select Keyboard Shortcuts from the dropdown menu. Navigate to where you’ve stored your shortcut .txt file, select the file and click Open. In the Settings window, navigate to the User tab and click on the User Profile drop down menu. Your new user profile will now be installed.
Premiere Pro keyboard shortcuts for efficient editing
Insert (V) - Insert edit adds clips to the timeline at the play head location and shifts media following the insert forward. Overwrite (B) - Overwrite edit adds clips to the timeline by covering blank space or other clips already in the timeline. It does not shift or push clips down the timeline. Add Edit (G) - My favorite key, hands down. Think of the add edit like the razor blade mouse tool, but so much faster. It adds an edit or a cut wherever the play head is marked. It can affect selected clips or just those on targeted tracks in the timeline. Nudge (< and >) - Nudge is also a favorite shortcut. With a clip or clips selected, pressing the nudge key will move clips forwards or backwards down the timeline one frame at a time. Really these keys are the (,) for nudge left and (.) for nudge right. The arrows above the comma and period are what help me remember the nudge direction. I also like to map (shift+,) and (shift+.) for nudging 5 frames left and right, respectively.
Selection Tool (A) - Slightly more uncommon is making the (A) key my selection tool. Still hunting through menus with your mouse? Want your video edits to be faster and smoother? Want keyboard shortcuts that match how you work?
In DaVinci Resolve, you can set custom keyboard shortcuts for any function to match your workflow. You can even import your shortcut presets with one click when you switch to a new computer, so you don't have to spend time setting them up again. Click the ▼ menu at the top-right of the Keyboard Customization window. Shortcuts can only be remapped to commands that actually exist in DaVinci Resolve. If a specific feature in another NLE has no equivalent in DaVinci Resolve, that shortcut may not map the same way. To see which command a key (or key combo) is mapped to, click keys on the on-screen keyboard in the window. Since DaVinci Resolve 15.2, you can assign multiple keys or key combos to the same command. Whether you want to see which shortcuts are available or you want to find a command to customize, there's a search box above the command list. If you want to find a specific shortcut, like the Blade tool, type the tool name (e.g., “blade”) into the search box. If you're not sure whether a command already has a key assigned, check the status dropdown next to the search box. You can customize any shortcut you want. The command list at the bottom of the window shows each command's menu location. You can remap each command there.
Examples to test and customize: 1. In the Keystroke box, press the letter H. Test it: go to the Edit page, open a timeline, and press H. The "Create Subtitles from Audio" window will open. 2. Search for "Detect Scene Cuts" and enter a key for it. However, if you click Assign despite the warning, a warning icon will appear next to the key in the list. You can ignore it, but using the same key for multiple commands can cause issues. For example, "0" is dark gray, so it's not assigned. Say you choose 0. You won't get an error. With a full clip on the timeline, press 0. Resolve will run Detect Scene Cuts and split the clip at shot changes.
In the Keyboard Customization window of DaVinci Resolve, the three-dot menu (...) lets you import, export, save, and delete presets. Save as New Preset: Choose a preset from the ▼ menu as your starting point. Make your changes. Then open the three-dot menu and pick Save as New Preset. Type a name for the preset and click OK. Export Preset: To use a preset on another computer, open the three-dot menu and choose Export Preset. Pick the preset you want to export. Import Preset: To load a preset from another computer, open the three-dot menu and choose Import Preset. Select the DaVinci Resolve preset file and click Open.
In this tutorial, we shared several tips for using keyboard shortcuts in DaVinci Resolve, including how to view, set, and manage them. Still, with so many shortcuts, remembering them all is hard. You may forget a shortcut from time to time and waste time trying to recall the right key combo. That breaks your flow. And if a shortcut is something like Ctrl/Command + Shift + L (just an example), you might not be able to press it with one hand - you'd need both hands. That's awkward. If you have a TourBox, you don't have to memorize dozens of shortcuts. You can map your most-used Resolve shortcuts to TourBox's physical buttons and dials. TourBox also includes built-in features like HoverAdjust that simplify color work and make parameter tweaks more precise.
Top DaVinci Resolve Keyboard Shortcuts You Need to Know!
Practical tips for cross-NLE shortcut adoption
- Importing and exporting presets keeps your workflow portable across machines.
- Test new mappings on a sample project to avoid disrupting active edits.
- Use a combination of both insert/overwrite and add edit for speed, depending on the footage and timeline density.
- Leverage a hardware controller like TourBox to reduce reliance on keyboard memorization.
- Back up custom presets regularly to prevent loss when changing computers.
Whether you’re transitioning from Premiere Pro to DaVinci Resolve or optimizing for both, aligning your keyboard shortcuts with your editing habits can dramatically speed up your workflow. The key is to tailor mappings to how you work while keeping a consistent logical pattern across tools so muscle memory builds quickly.