| 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 |
| Cmd–T | Type Tool |
| Cmd–B | Toggle through the Brush, Clone Stamp, & Eraser Tools |
| Opt–W | Roto Brush Tools (press again to toggle between tools) |
| Cmd–P | Puppet Pin Tools (press again to toggle between tools) |
| Keyboard ShortCuts with Tools | |
| Center Anchor Point | Hold Cmd & 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 | Cmd–Opt–N |
| Create New Composition | Cmd–N |
| Edit Composition Settings | Cmd–K |
| Open Preferences (Settings) | Cmd–Opt–Semicolon(;) |
| Import | Cmd–I |
| Add to Media Encoder Queue | Cmd–Opt–M |
| Add to Render Queue | Cmd–Ctrl–M |
| Zoom | |
| Zoom In | Period(.) or Cmd–Plus(+) |
| Zoom Out | Comma(,) or Cmd–Minus(–) |
| Zoom to 100% | Slash(/) |
| Fit | Shift–/ |
| Fit Up To 100% (or 200%) | Opt–/ |
| 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 | Cmd–R |
| Show/Hide Document Grid | Cmd–Apostrophe(’) |
| Show/Hide Guides | Cmd–Semicolon(;) |
| Lock/Unlock All Guides | Cmd–Opt–Shift–Semicolon(;) |
| Type | |
| Select All | Cmd–A |
| Select From Cursor to End of Text | Cmd–Shift–End |
| Select From Cursor to Beginning of Text | Cmd–Shift–Home |
| Start Editing Selected Text | Double–click text layer |
| Stop Editing Selected Text | Cmd–Return |
| Increase Font Size | Cmd–Shift–> |
| Decrease Font Size | Cmd–Shift–< |
| Increase Leading | Opt–Down Arrow |
| Decrease Leading | Opt–Up Arrow |
| Increase Tracking/Kerning | Opt–Right Arrow |
| Decrease Tracking/Kerning | Opt–Left Arrow |
| Baseline Shift Up | Opt–Shift–Up Arrow |
| Baseline Shift Down | Opt–Shift–Down Arrow |
| Text Align Left | Cmd–Shift–L |
| Text Align Center | Cmd–Shift–C |
| Text Align Right | Cmd–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 | Cmd–] |
| Move Layer Down | Cmd–[ |
| Move Layer to Top | Cmd–Shift–] |
| Move Layer to Bottom | Cmd–Shift–[ |
| Move Layer In to Playhead | [ |
| Move Layer Out to Playhead | ] |
| Trim Layer In to Playhead | Opt–[ |
| Trim Layer Out to Playhead | Opt–] |
| Lock Layer | Cmd–L |
| Unlock All Layers | Cmd–Shift–L |
| Center Anchor Point | Cmd–Opt–Home |
| Center Layer in View | Cmd–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 | Cmd–Shift–F9 |
| Remove Easing | Cmd–Click the Keyframe |
| Add Expression | Opt–Click the Stopwatch |
| Move Selected Keyframe Forward 1 Frame | Opt–Right Arrow |
| Move Selected Keyframe Back 1 Frame | Opt–Left Arrow |
| Move Selected Keyframe Forward 10 Frame | Shift–Opt–Right Arrow |
| Move Selected Keyframe Back 10 Frame | Shift–Opt–Left Arrow |
| Create Position Keyframe | Opt–P |
| Create Anchor Point Keyframe | Opt–A |
| Create Rotation Keyframe | Opt–R |
| Create Opacity Keyframe | Opt–T |
| Create Scale Keyframe | Opt–S |
| Duplicating & Transforming Layers | |
| Duplicate | Cmd–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(;) |
After Effects Shortcuts: Mac
Keyboard Shortcuts
Here are many keyboard shortcuts for After Effects, including lesser known and hidden keystrokes!
