Keyboard shortcuts are essential to working efficiently in After Effects.

Here’s a collection of some of the

most important shortcuts you should learn. Click here to see Adobe’s master keyboard shortcut list.

ACTION MAC OS WINDOWS

ESSENTIALS Save CMD+S CTRL+S
Undo CMD+Z CTRL+Z
Redo CMD+SHIFT+Z CTRL+SHIFT+Z
Copy CMD+C CTRL+C
Paste CMD+V CTRL+V
Rename RETURN ENTER
Duplicate CMD+D CTRL+D
Select All CMD+A CTRL+A
Deselect All CMD+SHIFT+A CTRL+SHIFT+A

TOOLS Selection Tool V V

Hold SHIFT while clicking to
Hand Tool H H
select multiple consecutive
layers, or CMD/CTRL to select Zoom Tool Z Z
individual layers.
Rotation Tool W W
Hold OPT/ALT while zooming
Anchor Point Tool Y Y
to zoom out.
Pen Tool G G
Hold CMD/CTRL to temporarily
enable snapping. Type Tool CMD+T CTRL+T

LAYER PROPERTIES Anchor Point A A

Hold SHIFT to reveal multiple
Position P P
properties at once.
Scale S S
Hold OPT to add a keyframe on
any property shortcut. Rotation R R
Opacity T T

COMP VIEWER Temporary Hand Tool Hold SPACEBAR Hold SPACEBAR

Zoom In/Out of Comp <> <>
Fit Comp to Viewer SHIFT+? SHIFT+?
 ACTION MAC OS WINDOWS
TIMELINE Zoom In/Out of Timeline +- +-
Shift Keyframe(s) 1 Frame OPT+L/R Arrow ALT+L/R Arrow
Shift Keyframe(s) 10 Frames OPT+SHIFT+L/R Arrow ALT+SHIFT+L/R Arrow
Shift Playhead 1 Frame Page Down Page Down
Shift Playhead 10 Frames SHIFT+Page Down SHIFT+Page Down
Shift Layer(s) In to Playhead [
Shift Layer(s) Out to Playhead ]
Trim Layer(s) In to Playhead OPT+[
Trim Layer(s) Out to Playhead OPT+]