Keyboard Shortcuts
A full reference to AnalogDAW's key commands. Performance, transport, and timeline shortcuts work on macOS, iPadOS, and iOS whenever a keyboard is connected, including Bluetooth and USB keyboards on iPhone and iPad. On-screen controls remain available for touch. Commands tied to platform-specific features, such as bringing back a closed Mac window, are marked separately.
⌘= Command ·⇧= Shift · keys without a modifier work when the timeline has focus.
Session (global)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌘N | New Session |
⌘O | Open Session |
⌘S | Save immediately (autosave continues) |
⇧⌘S | Save As |
⌥⌘S | Save a Copy |
⌘I | Import Audio |
⇧⌘E | Export Mix |
⌥⌘N | Add Track |
⌥⇧⌘N | Add Bus |
⌥⌘A | Add Aux Return |
⌥⌘C | Add Cue Bus |
⌥⌘V | Add VCA Group |
⌘Delete | Delete selected channels (tracks, buses, aux returns, or VCA groups) in Edit and Mix |
⌘D | New Track with Duplicate Settings (duplicates the selected tracks in Edit and Mix) |
⌘, | Audio Settings |
⇧⌘, | Session Settings |
⇧⌘/ | AnalogDAW Help |
⌥⌘/ | Keyboard Shortcuts |
⌘K | Show / hide Performance Keyboard on iPhone, iPad, and Mac; Mac also has View ▸ Performance Keyboard |
⌘1 | Switch to Edit on iPhone, iPad, and Mac |
⌘2 | Switch to Mix on iPhone, iPad, and Mac |
⌘0 | Front the main window, or bring it back after closing it with a plug-in editor open — Window ▸ (session name) (macOS) |
⌥⌘D | Export Diagnostic Bundle |
The Performance Keyboard command works without selecting a track. It uses the selected destination, then the last-used or first available destination. On Mac, remap its shortcut using System Settings ▸ Keyboard ▸ Keyboard Shortcuts ▸ App Shortcuts and menu title Performance Keyboard.
The menu bar groups commands under File, Edit, Track, Transport, View, and Help on Mac and on iPadOS when the system menu bar is available. Menu items display their shortcuts, and unavailable actions are dimmed. The main menu (⋯) remains available for touch. Help ▸ AnalogDAW Help contains a short getting-started guide, and Help ▸ Keyboard Shortcuts lists the current bindings. Both Help pages are also available from ⋯ and work offline.
The Track menu includes creation commands for tracks, buses, aux returns, cue buses, and VCA groups. Delete Selected Channel follows the current selection and changes its label to match, such as Delete Bus or Delete Aux Return. Select a track, bus, aux return, or VCA group before using this command. Delete cue buses from the CUE menu in Mix; they do not have selectable mixer strips. Deleting several selected channels is one undoable action. While you are typing in a text field on Mac, such as renaming a track, ⌘Delete deletes text to the start of the line and ⌘Z / ⇧⌘Z undo and redo your typing; they never delete channels or undo session edits from inside the field. Choosing the menu item with the pointer still acts on the session. Channel changes are unavailable while recording or rendering; creation commands also respect the app's channel limits and cue creation needs a spare stereo output pair beyond the main output.
Transport (global — works in Edit and Mix)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Space | Play / Stop (the playhead stays where you stop — also after recording) |
R | Record (start / stop) |
Return | Go to Beginning |
⌥Return | Go to End of Last Clip |
, | Rewind one bar |
. | Forward one bar |
C | Toggle Cycle (loop) |
K | Toggle Metronome Click |
⌥' | Create Marker at the playhead |
M | Toggle Mute of the selected track |
S | Toggle Solo of the selected track |
` | Catch Playhead (turn Follow Playhead on) |
↑ / ↓ | Select Previous / Next Track (scrolls it into view) |
⌃⌥M | Set Nudge Value to Bar |
⌃⌥B | Set Nudge Value to Beat |
⌃⌥D | Set Nudge Value to Division (1/16 note — the default) |
⌃⌥T | Set Nudge Value to Tick (1/960 of a quarter note) |
⌃⌥S | Set Nudge Value to Sample |
⌃⌥1 | Set Nudge Value to 1 ms |
⌃⌥0 | Set Nudge Value to 10 ms |
On macOS, these global shortcuts continue to work while an Audio Unit editor is active, unless the plug-in handles that key itself. Keystrokes stay local while you are typing in a plug-in text field.
Undo & redo (global — works in Edit and Mix)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌘Z | Undo |
⇧⌘Z | Redo |
Undo and redo are also in the main menu (⋯).
Editing (Edit view only)
These live with the timeline, so they are inactive while the Mix view is on screen. Switch back to Edit to reach them.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌘X | Cut selected clips |
⌘C | Copy selected clips |
⌘V | Paste at the playhead starting on the selected timeline track; multi-track clipboards keep separate lanes |
⌘R | Repeat selected clips (a copy right after the selection) |
⌘A | Select All clips |
⇧D | Deselect All |
← / → | Select Previous / Next Clip on the track |
⇧← / ⇧→ | Add Previous / Next Clip to the selection |
Delete | Delete selected clips (closes the gap when Ripple is on) |
⌘T | Split selected clips at the playhead |
⌘J | Join selected clips |
⌥← / ⌥→ | Nudge selected clips left / right by the nudge value |
; | Move selected clips to the playhead |
⌘[ | Set Clip Start to Playhead |
⌘] | Set Clip End to Playhead |
U | Set Loop by selected clips, rounded to bars, and enable Cycle |
⌘U | Set Loop by selected clips and enable Cycle |
View & zoom (Edit view only)
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌘→ | Zoom Horizontal In |
⌘← | Zoom Horizontal Out |
⌘+ / ⌘- | Zoom In / Zoom Out |
Z | Toggle Zoom to Fit Selection or All Contents |
Home / End | Page Left / Page Right (one screen) |
⌘G | Toggle Snap to Grid |
Tip: tap the zoom percentage in the timeline toolbar to reset zoom to 100%.
Where zoom centres. A pinch — on a trackpad, or with two fingers on iPad and iPhone — zooms around the point under your pointer or fingers, and snaps to the playhead when you pinch right at it. The zoom keys and buttons keep your selected clips in view; with nothing selected on screen they zoom around the playhead, and with the playhead off screen they keep the centre of the view.
Mouse & trackpad
These pointer gestures work on macOS and on iPad when a mouse or trackpad is connected — iPadOS has full pointer support, so clicking, secondary-clicking for context menus, hovering, and scroll-wheel / two-finger scrolling all behave the same. Modifier-key gestures require an attached hardware keyboard on iPhone and iPad. Shift-drag fine adjustment for faders works on iPhone and iPad when a hardware keyboard is attached, using either a touch or pointer drag.
| Gesture | Action |
|---|---|
| Click a clip | Select it |
| ⌘-click | Add/remove from multi-selection |
| Drag empty lane | Marquee-select across tracks |
| Right-click track lane > Paste | Paste from that lane, even if another track is selected |
| Shift-drag timeline | Marquee-select across tracks, including when starting over a clip |
| Drag clip body | Move the clip |
| Option-drag clip body | Duplicate the clip, move the copy, and select the copy on release |
| Command-drag over clips | Select a time range inside clips; click the range to split it |
| Range Select cursor tool | Drag over clips to select a time range without holding Command |
| Drag clip edge | Trim |
| Drag a clip's fade handle (no need to select it first) | Fade in / out |
| Right-click clip / track / marker / navigator | Select target and open context menu |
| Pinch | Zoom the timeline in / out |
| Drag an audio file in | Import it onto the timeline |
| ⇧-drag a fader | Fine (quarter-speed) level adjustment |
| Double-click a fader | Reset it to 0 dB (unity) |
| Double-click a channel-strip dB readout | Type an exact level |
| Double-click a track name in the timeline track header | Open the Rename Track dialog (on a channel strip, rename from its context menu) |
| Click a strip name plate | Select that strip (clicking the only selected strip clears it) |
| ⌘-click a strip name plate | Add / remove that strip from the selection |
| Two-finger tap a strip name plate | Same as ⌘-click — add / remove |
| ⇧-click a strip name plate | Extend the selection from the nearest selected strip |
Selecting two or more strips makes them edit together — knobs and faders move relatively, switches copy across. See Ganged editing.
The behavior of click-and-drag changes with the active cursor tool (Pointer, Marquee, Range Select, Slice, Slip, Gain, Eraser, Pencil, Move) — see Editing Clips.
macOS only: the Move tool pans the timeline by dragging anywhere, even directly over a clip. On iPad, pan by two-finger / trackpad scrolling instead — a single mouse-button drag over a clip does not pan there.
Touch (no pointer attached): on iPad & iPhone a one-finger drag on a track lane pans the timeline, so rubber-band selection moves to the Marquee tool, and you tap a clip to select it before dragging it to move. Pinch with two fingers to zoom.
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