After Effects Shortcuts: PC

Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are many keyboard shortcuts for After Effects, including lesser known and hidden keystrokes!

Tools
V Selection Tool
H Hand Tool
Z Zoom Tool
1 Orbit Camera Tool (Shift–1 toggles between them)
2 Pan Camera Tool (Shift–2 toggles between them)
3 Dolly Camera Tool (Shift–3 toggles between them)
W Rotate Tool
Y Pan Behind (Anchor Point) Tool
Q Rectangle Tool (press again to toggle to other shapes)
G Pen Tool
Ctrl–T Type Tool
Ctrl–B Toggle through the Brush, Clone Stamp, & Eraser Tools
Alt–W Roto Brush Tools (press again to toggle between tools)
Ctrl–P Puppet Pin Tools (press again to toggle between tools)
Keyboard ShortCuts with Tools
Center Anchor Point Hold Ctrl & Double Click on Pan Behind Tool
Create Shape/Mask at Comp Size Double Click the Shape Tool
Temporarily Toggle to a Tool Hold Keyboard Command for that Tool
General
Create New Project Ctrl–Alt–N
Create New Composition Ctrl–N
Edit Composition Settings Ctrl–K
Open Preferences Ctrl–Alt–Semicolon(;)
Import Ctrl–I
Add to Media Encoder Queue Ctrl–Alt–M
Add to Render Queue Ctrl–M
Zoom
Zoom In Period(.) or Ctrl–Plus(+)
Zoom Out Comma(,) or Ctrl–Minus(–)
Zoom to 100% Slash(/)
Fit Shift–/
Fit Up To 100% (or 200%) Alt–/
Temporarily Toggle to Zoom Tool Hold Z
Interface & Viewing Options
Make the panel under your cursor fill the window Tilde (~)
Scroll Around Canvas (Hand tool) Hold H (or Spacebar) & Drag
Show/Hide Rulers Ctrl–R
Show/Hide Document Grid Ctrl–Apostrophe(’)
Show/Hide Guides Ctrl–Semicolon(;)
Lock/Unlock All Guides Ctrl–Alt–Shift–Semicolon(;)
Type
Select All Ctrl–A
Select From Cursor to End of Text Ctrl–Shift–End
Select From Cursor to Beginning of Text Ctrl–Shift–Home
Start Editing Selected Text Double–click text layer
Stop Editing Selected Text Ctrl–Return
Increase Font Size Ctrl–Shift–>
Decrease Font Size Ctrl–Shift–<
Increase Leading Alt–Down Arrow
Decrease Leading Alt–Up Arrow
Increase Tracking/Kerning Alt–Right Arrow
Decrease Tracking/Kerning Alt–Left Arrow
Baseline Shift Up Alt–Shift–Up Arrow
Baseline Shift Down Alt–Shift–Down Arrow
Text Align Left Ctrl–Shift–L
Text Align Center Ctrl–Shift–C
Text Align Right Ctrl–Shift–R
Revealing PRoperties in the Timeline
All Keyframes U
Changed Properties UU
Position P
Anchor Point A
Rotation R
Opacity T
Scale S
Effects E
Expressions EE
Mask Path M
All Mask Properties MM
Audio Levels L
Audio Waveform LL
Working with Layers the Timeline
Move Layer Up Ctrl–]
Move Layer Down Ctrl–[
Move Layer to Top Ctrl–Shift–]
Move Layer to Bottom Ctrl–Shift–[
Move Layer In to Playhead [
Move Layer Out to Playhead ]
Trim Layer In to Playhead Alt–[
Trim Layer Out to Playhead Alt–]
Lock Layer Ctrl–L
Unlock All Layers Ctrl–Shift–L
Center Anchor Point Ctrl–Alt–Home
Center Layer in View Ctrl–Home
Jump Playhead to Layer In Point I
Jump Playhead to Layer Out Point O
Working with Keyframes
Jump To Next Keyframe K
Jump To Previous Keyframe J
Add Easy Ease F9
Add Easy Ease In Shift–F9
Add Easy Ease Out Ctrl–Shift–F9
Remove Easing Ctrl–Click the Keyframe
Add Expression Alt–Click the Stopwatch
Move Selected Keyframe Forward 1 Frame Alt–Right Arrow
Move Selected Keyframe Back 1 Frame Alt–Left Arrow
Move Selected Keyframe Forward 10 Frame Shift–Alt–Right Arrow
Move Selected Keyframe Back 10 Frame Shift–Alt–Left Arrow
Create Position Keyframe Alt–P
Create Anchor Point Keyframe Alt–A
Create Rotation Keyframe Alt–R
Create Opacity Keyframe Alt–T
Create Scale Keyframe Alt–S
Duplicating & Transforming Layers
Duplicate Ctrl–D
Scale Proportionately Shift–Drag
Constrain Rotation to 45° Shift–Drag with Rotate Tool
Resize from Center Option–Drag
Timeline
Preview 1 (options are set in the Preview panel) Spacebar
Preview 2 (options are set in the Preview panel) Shift–Spacebar
Move playhead backward/forward 1 frame in Timeline Page Up/Down
Move playhead backward/forward 10 frames Shift–Page Up/Down
Set beginning or end of work area to playhead position B or N
Toggle Zoom to Fit Entire Timeline Shift–Semicolon(;)
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