How to cut, split and trim clips in After Effects

How do I cut a clip at the playhead in After Effects?

Select the layer, move the current-time indicator to the cut frame and press Ctrl+Shift+D on Windows or Command+Shift+D on macOS. Adobe's list calls it "Split selected layers". We call it Split Layer here, and it is the closest thing to a blade shortcut in that list.

1. Press V for the Selection tool, then click the clip's layer in the Timeline panel so only that layer is selected.
2. Find the frame. Page Down or Ctrl+Right Arrow (Command+Right Arrow on a Mac) steps forward one frame. I and O jump to the layer's In and Out points. Home and End go to the beginning and end of the composition, layer or footage item.
3. Press Spacebar to play, and press it again to stop near the moment you want. Fine-tune with Page Down.
4. Press Ctrl+Shift+D. The layer is now in two pieces.
5. Repeat for every cut, then select the pieces you don't want and remove them.

Watch the selection before you press it. Adobe's reference describes the command as "Split selected layers. (If no layers are selected, split all layers.)" An empty selection cuts every layer in the comp at once. If you do want a cut through the whole stack, that is the quick way to get it; Ctrl+A (Command+A) selects all layers if you prefer to be explicit.

Splitting is for when you need both halves, for example to grade or move one side. If you only want to lose the head or tail of a clip, trimming is one keypress fewer.

How do I trim a layer's In and Out points in After Effects?

Press Alt+[ to trim the In point of the selected layers to the current time, and Alt+] to trim the Out point. On a Mac it is Option+[ and Option+].

1. Select the layer, or several layers to trim them all to the same frame.
2. Move the current-time indicator to the first frame you want to keep.
3. Press Alt+[. Everything before the current time is trimmed off the layer.
4. Move to the last frame you want and press Alt+].
5. Press I and O to jump to the new In and Out points and check them.

The modifier matters. Plain [ and ] move the selected layers so their In or Out point sits at the current time, keeping the layer's length. Alt+[ and Alt+] change the length. Mixing them up is the usual reason a trim seems to slide the clip instead.

A third pair changes speed rather than the length of footage used: Ctrl+Shift+, or Ctrl+Alt+, (Command+Shift+, or Command+Option+,) sets the In or Out point by time-stretching. Our guide to speeding up, slowing down or reversing video in After Effects covers that, and the guide to extending a layer or the last frame covers going the other way.

How do I close the gap after a cut in After Effects?

Move the next piece so it starts where the previous one ends: select the earlier piece, press O to go to its Out point, then select the later piece and press [. That is a manual ripple, two keys per join.

1. Click the piece that comes first in time.
2. Press O. The current-time indicator jumps to that layer's Out point.
3. Click the piece that should follow.
4. Press [. Its In point moves to the current time.
5. Step over the join with Page Down and check for a black or doubled frame before moving on.
6. Work left to right through the cuts, so each piece lands against one that is already in place.

Two shortcuts help with the ends. Alt+Home (Option+Home) moves the selected layers so their In point is at the beginning of the composition, which is handy after you trim the front off the first clip. Alt+End (Option+End) moves them so their Out point is at the end.

With five or six cuts this is quick. With forty, the clicking adds up, and an editor-style timeline earns its place (see where mouzeclick fits below).

How do I trim the whole composition to the part I want?

Set the work area around the section you want, then press Ctrl+Shift+X (Command+Shift+X) to Trim Composition to work area.

1. Move to the first frame you want and press B to set the beginning of the work area to the current time.
2. Move to the last frame and press N to set the end.
3. Or select layers and press Ctrl+Alt+B (Command+Option+B) to set the work area to their duration. With nothing selected, it sets it to the composition's duration.
4. Press Spacebar to preview, then Ctrl+Shift+X.
5. Press Ctrl+K (Command+K) if you want the Composition Settings dialog for the selected comp.

This is the right tool when a comp runs long after a client cuts the script, or when you need a short version for a cutdown. When you are done, Adobe lists two ways out: the Render Queue inside After Effects, or Adobe Media Encoder. Our After Effects export settings guide picks up from there.

Which After Effects shortcuts cut, split and trim video?

Split Layer, the two trim pairs and the work-area keys do most of the job. The tables below are copied from Adobe's keyboard shortcut reference, checked on 3 November 2026. The full list is on our After Effects keyboard shortcuts page.

Cutting and trimming

Moving layers in time

Work area and composition

Getting to the frame

If you also cut in Premiere Pro, see the Premiere Pro cut, razor and ripple delete shortcuts.

Why is Split Layer or trimming not working in After Effects?

Most failures come from the selection or panel focus. Check these in order.

• Every layer got cut. Nothing was selected, so Split Layer split all layers. Press Ctrl+Z (Command+Z), select the one layer and try again.
• The layer slid instead of trimming. You pressed [ or ] without Alt (Option). Undo and add the modifier.
• The key does nothing. Click inside the Timeline panel first. Adobe notes that panel shortcuts only work when their panel is active, and when a panel shortcut uses the same keys as an application shortcut, the application one doesn't work while that panel has focus.
• The keys were changed. Open the shortcut editor (next section) and search the Command list for the command. Hover a key to see the full command name and whether it is an Application or Panel shortcut.
• Your keyboard isn't a U.S. layout. When After Effects doesn't support a keyboard, the editor shows a U.S. English keyboard. Check the bracket shortcuts there, and reassign the trims to keys you can reach if you need to.
• On a Mac, a function-key shortcut you added fails. Adobe warns that F9 to F12 may clash with macOS shortcuts.

How do I change the split layer shortcut in After Effects?

Open Edit › Keyboard Shortcuts, or press Ctrl+Alt+' on Windows or Option+Command+' on macOS, find the command and type the new keys.

1. Open the editor. It has three parts: the Keyboard layout, the Command list and the Key modifier list.
2. Read the keyboard colours: gray keys have no shortcut, purple keys hold application-wide shortcuts and green keys hold panel-specific ones. Switch to a panel's view from the Command drop-down list.
3. Search the Command list for "split" or "trim".
4. Select the command, click in its shortcut column and press the keys, modifiers included. You can also drag a command onto a key in the keyboard layout.
5. If a conflict warning appears at the bottom, use Undo or Clear in the lower right. The clashing command is highlighted in blue; click it to jump to it.
6. Press Save As to keep your set. The editor starts on the After Effects Default preset.

Some keys are fixed: After Effects doesn't let you reassign A, E, F, L, M, P, R, S, T or U, single or doubled. Our guide to changing keyboard shortcuts in After Effects goes through presets and conflicts in more detail.

How do I put cut and trim shortcuts on mouse buttons?

Map the keys to your mouse's side buttons in an app that works per program, so Mouse 4 splits only while After Effects is in front. This is what the mouzeclick mouse app does, on Windows and Mac, with any mouse your computer sees and no driver. We make mouzeclick.

1. Install mouzeclick and enter the key. Press each mouse button once when asked, so the settings match the buttons you really have.
2. Open the After Effects profile.
3. Record the shortcut for each button, or pick it from the built-in library.
4. Use the spare slots. Each button has eleven: tap, hold and move in four directions, a chord with another button, or hold and scroll.

On a Mac, send the Command and Option versions instead. The same buttons keep doing their normal jobs in Chrome or anywhere else.

For more than a handful of commands, the Options wheel holds 48 favourites per app on three rings. It opens on F8, Ctrl + right click or a side button. One clash to know: F9 is Easy Ease in After Effects and also the default for mouzeclick's Orbit switch, so give Orbit another key or button. On a MacBook keyboard the wheels use Fn+F8 and Fn+F9. The app needs an internet connection while it runs; if it drops, the shortcuts pause and the mouse acts normally. Mac setup is four steps on the Mac install page.

Where mouzeclick fits (we make it): an editor's timeline in After Effects

If you cut a lot inside After Effects, mousecut turns the open comp into an editor's timeline: layers become clips on tracks, with ten editing tools. G closes gaps, which replaces the O-then-[ routine above, and each edit is one undo step. It is an extension that runs on Windows and Mac and needs mouzeclick installed on the same computer.

Adobe describes After Effects as a motion design and visual effects software app. Its native tools above come with it and are fine for a few cuts. mousecut is for the days when the comp holds an interview or a long screen recording.

Other mouzeclick pieces that touch cutting:

• The After Effects Tool wheel (Windows and Mac): 114 tools in 13 groups on F10 or a held right button. See the After Effects radial menu page.
• mouzerun (Windows and Mac): your own one-click buttons, including a menu command. See mouzerun's features.
• The After Effects workspace (Windows only; the Mac app does not include it): its Toolbox has Comp cut and Split layer, Precomp sep for one precomp per layer and True dup for an unlinked copy. See the workspace atlas and our guide to precomposing each layer.

To install an extension, press Install After Effects bridge on the app's Tool wheel page, restart After Effects and open the panel from Window › Extensions. All 22 are on the extensions page. mouzeclick is one plan: $25 a month, $249 a year, or $499 once for one of the first 100 lifetime keys, with a 3-day trial and no card (pricing).

Questions people ask

Sources

Checked on 2026-11-03. Prices and features change: each link goes to the maker's own page.

1. Adobe: After Effects keyboard shortcuts reference (Split, trim, work area, shortcut editor)
2. Adobe: After Effects product page (what it is, Render Queue and Media Encoder)

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