Mastering CapCut Pro: The Ultimate Keyboard Shortcuts Guide to Skyrocket Your Editing Speed

If you’re spending hours editing videos, clicking around, dragging your mouse, and manually trimming clips, you’re doing it wrong.

What if I told you that you could cut your editing time in half—maybe even down to 15 minutes—just by using the right keyboard shortcuts?

That’s exactly what I’m going to show you today:

🔥 The essential CapCut Pro (and free version) keyboard shortcuts
🔥 How to streamline your workflow and stop wasting time
🔥 How to edit like a pro without ever reaching for your mouse

Let’s go. 🚀

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Why Keyboard Shortcuts Are a Game-Changer

The difference between an amateur editor and a pro editor is efficiency.

📌 Amateurs rely on the mouse.
📌 Pros rely on keyboard shortcuts.

Every time you click, drag, scroll, and manually adjust clips, you’re losing valuable seconds.

Seconds turn into minutes.
Minutes turn into hours.
And hours turn into wasted time.

If you’re editing videos for social media, business, or clients, time is money.

Let’s fix that.

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How Most People Edit (The WRONG Way)

This is how most people edit their videos in CapCut:

1️⃣ Drag the playhead manually to a section
2️⃣ Click the split tool
3️⃣ Click the cut
4️⃣ Click the delete icon
5️⃣ Click the next section
6️⃣ Repeat… over and over again

That’s SIX separate motions. Completely unnecessary.

Instead, what if you could press ONE key and instantly perform that action?

Let’s go over the must-know CapCut shortcuts that will save you HOURS.

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CapCut Pro Keyboard Shortcuts You NEED to Know

Here’s my personal keyboard shortcut setup that I use to edit insanely fast.

1️⃣ Splitting Clips (The FASTEST Way to Cut)

Shortcut: C (Split) + Q (Delete Left) + W (Delete Right)

📌 Instead of:

• Clicking the cut tool
• Splitting manually
• Selecting the unwanted clip
• Pressing delete

🚀 Do this instead:
1️⃣ Place your playhead on the section you want to cut
2️⃣ Press C (to split)
3️⃣ Press Q (to delete everything to the left) OR W (to delete everything to the right)

🔥 Boom. You just cut and deleted in under a second.

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2️⃣ Jumping to Key Points (No More Scrubbing!)

Shortcut: 3 (Jump to Start) + 4 (Jump to End) + 1 (Previous Frame) + 2 (Next Frame)

📌 Instead of:

• Clicking and dragging the playhead to the beginning or end
• Scrubbing frame by frame with your mouse

🚀 Do this instead:
1️⃣ Press 3 to jump to the start of a clip
2️⃣ Press 4 to jump to the end of a clip
3️⃣ Press 1 to move one frame backward
4️⃣ Press 2 to move one frame forward

🔥 This saves so much time when refining cuts.

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3️⃣ Selecting & Moving Multiple Clips at Once

Shortcut: Z (Select Right) + ALT + Scroll (Zoom In/Out)

📌 Instead of:

• Dragging the selection box over clips
• Manually moving them

🚀 Do this instead:
1️⃣ Press Z to select everything to the right
2️⃣ Move everything in one motion
3️⃣ Use ALT + Scroll to zoom in and out effortlessly

🔥 No more manual clicking and dragging.

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4️⃣ Previewing & Cleaning Up Clips (No More Guesswork!)

Shortcut: S (Preview Cursor) + C (Cut) + D (Delete)

📌 Instead of:

• Manually dragging to check for dead space
• Clicking and deleting sections one by one

🚀 Do this instead:
1️⃣ Press S to activate preview cursor (so you can hover over clips)
2️⃣ Press C to split dead space
3️⃣ Press D to delete instantly

🔥 This makes cleaning up dialogue and dead space super fast.

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5️⃣ Speeding Through Footage (Watch Clips Faster)

Shortcut: L (Fast Forward Playback)

📌 Instead of:

• Watching a long video in real time

🚀 Do this instead:
1️⃣ Press L to double playback speed
2️⃣ Press L again to speed it up even more

🔥 This is a lifesaver when reviewing long clips.

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The Secret to Becoming a FAST Editor

If you want to edit at lightning speed, you need to eliminate unnecessary motions.

✅ Stop clicking.
✅ Stop dragging.
✅ Stop wasting time.

Instead, train your left hand to control everything using shortcuts.

After a few days, this becomes second nature. You’ll be flying through edits without even thinking.

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Final Recap: My Must-Have CapCut Shortcuts

Basic Editing

✔️ C – Split (Cut)
✔️ Q – Delete Left
✔️ W – Delete Right
✔️ D – Quick Delete

Navigation

✔️ 3 – Jump to Start of Clip
✔️ 4 – Jump to End of Clip
✔️ 1 – Previous Frame
✔️ 2 – Next Frame

Selection & Movement

✔️ Z – Select Everything to the Right
✔️ ALT + Scroll – Zoom In/Out

Previewing & Trimming

✔️ S – Activate Preview Cursor
✔️ C – Cut Selected Section
✔️ D – Quick Delete

Speed Up Editing

✔️ L – Fast Forward Playback

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Next Steps: Master These Shortcuts & Save HOURS

🔥 Memorize these shortcuts.
🔥 Practice them for one week.
🔥 Watch your editing time drop by 50-90%.

Now go edit like a pro and save yourself HOURS of work.

Which shortcut are you most excited to use? Drop a comment below! 🚀