Zella Keyboard Shortcuts: The Complete List (Mac)

Animated Zella keyboard shortcut keycaps lighting up

Quick answer: This page is the Mac reference. The shortcuts you’ll reach for most - ⌘⇧R start recording · Space play/pause · B cut at the playhead · Delete ripple-delete the selected segment · ⌘Z undo · ⇧Z add a zoom · ⌘E export. The full, grouped list is below, with a printable cheat sheet at the end. On iPhone the editor is driven by touch instead of keys - the gesture for each of these is mapped out below.

On this page: learn these first · recording · playback · editing · motion · export · menu & panels · cheat sheet · why a shortcut isn’t working · on iPhone · FAQ

Keyboard shortcuts are the fastest way to edit in Zella on the Mac. Every shortcut below has been checked against the current version of the app. Keyboard shortcuts are a Mac feature by nature - the iOS editor is built for fingers, so see On iPhone for the touch equivalent of each move.

The six shortcuts to learn first

If you learn nothing else, learn these - they’ll get you through most of an edit:

Shortcut	What it does
`⌘` `⇧` `R`	Open the recording panel
`Space`	Play / pause
`B`	Cut at the playhead
`Delete`	Ripple-delete the selected segment
`⌘` `Z`	Undo
`⌘` `E`	Export

Recording shortcuts (work from any app)

These are global, which means they work even when another app is in front. So you can start and stop a recording without clicking back to Zella first.

Shortcut	Action
`⌘` `⇧` `R`	Open the Setup panel to configure and start a recording
`⌘` `⇧` `S`	Stop the active recording (also works while paused)

While you’re recording, use the floating toolbar: the ‖ button pauses and resumes, and the red ■ button stops.

Shortcut	Action
`Space`	Play / pause the preview
`←` / `→`	Nudge one frame (when paused) or skip 1 s (while playing)
`⇧` `←` / `⇧` `→`	Skip 5 s back / forward
`L`	Speed up playback, one step per press: 0.5x, 1x, 1.5x, 1.9x (it stops below 2x because the audio would mute)
`J`	Slow down through the same steps, and start playing if paused
`K`	Pause and reset the rate to 1x
`Home` / `End`	Jump to the start / end. `⌘` `←` and `⌘` `→` do the same, for keyboards with no Home and End

Editing (editor)

Shortcut	Action
`B`	Cut the clip at the playhead (drops a yellow cut marker)
`Delete` / `Fn` `Delete`	Ripple-delete the selected segment or overlay (later content slides up)
`A`	Switch to the Select tool
`⌘` `Z`	Undo the last edit
`⌘` `⇧` `Z`	Redo
`⌘` `A`	Select every clip on the timeline
`H`	Switch to the hand tool, for panning the timeline

Redo is also on the playback bar as the ↷ button, if you would rather click it.

Motion & zoom (editor)

Shortcut	Action
`⇧` `Z`	Add a zoom block at the playhead
`⌘` `⇧` `A`	Center the anchor point (for zoom / transform)
`⌘` `T`	Toggle the free transform handles on the canvas, and open the Transform tab with them
`⌘` `+` / `⌘` `-`	Zoom the timeline in / out
`⌘` `0`	Reset the timeline zoom to fit

Export

Shortcut	Action
`⌘` `E`	Open the Export & Share dialog

Shortcut	Action
`⌘` `N`	New Project
`⌘` `R`	New Recording
`⌘` `I`	Import Media
`⌘` `S`	Save Project
`⌘` `L`	Open Library (from the menu-bar menu)
`⌘` `,`	Open Settings
`⌘` `/`	Open this shortcut list inside the app
`⌘` `Q`	Quit Zella
`Esc`	Close the Setup panel / cancel a region selection

The menu-bar items (the Z icon at the top of your screen) show their shortcuts; ⌘L is run from that dropdown.

Printable cheat sheet

Everything in one place - screenshot it or print it out:

Context	Shortcut	Action
Global	`⌘⇧R`	Open recording panel
Global	`⌘⇧S`	Stop recording
Editor	`Space`	Play / pause
Editor	`←` / `→`	Nudge 1 frame / skip 1 s
Editor	`⇧←` / `⇧→`	Skip 5 s
Editor	`B`	Cut at playhead
Editor	`Delete`	Ripple-delete selection
Editor	`A`	Select tool
Editor	`J` / `K` / `L`	Slow down · pause · speed up
Editor	`Home` / `End`	Jump to start / end
Editor	`H`	Hand tool
Editor	`⌘A`	Select all clips
Editor	`⌘Z`	Undo
Editor	`⌘⇧Z`	Redo
Editor	`⇧Z`	Add zoom block
Editor	`⌘⇧A`	Center anchor
Editor	`⌘T`	Free transform handles
Editor	`⌘+` / `⌘-` / `⌘0`	Timeline zoom in / out / fit
Editor	`⌘E`	Export
App	`⌘N` / `⌘R` / `⌘I` / `⌘S`	New project · new recording · import · save
App	`⌘L`	Open Library
App	`⌘,` / `⌘/`	Settings · shortcut list
App	`⌘Q`	Quit
Panels	`Esc`	Close panel / cancel region

Why a shortcut isn’t working

Editor shortcuts only work when the editor window is active. Click the editor window once (its title bar or timeline), and then the keys will respond. Space, B, Delete, the arrows, ⌘Z, ⇧Z, and ⌘E only work when the editor is the window you’re using.
B won’t cut if the playhead is right at the very start. The playhead (the line that marks where you are on the timeline) needs to be about 0.1 seconds in, so nudge it a little into the clip first.
Delete needs something selected first. Make a cut and click the segment to select it (or select an overlay). Delete removes the segment you’ve selected and slides the rest up to fill the gap.
⌘⇧R and ⌘⇧S are global and work from anywhere. If they don’t, make sure Zella is running (look for the Z in your menu bar at the top of the screen).

On iPhone

There are no keyboard shortcuts on iPhone - and that’s the point. The iOS editor is the same editor logic rebuilt for touch, so every move on this page has a gesture or a button instead of a key:

On the Mac	On iPhone
`B` cut at the playhead	Cut splits the clip at the playhead
`Delete` ripple-delete	Ripple-delete removes a section and the gap closes automatically
`A` select tool	Tap a clip to select it
Drag a clip edge to trim	Drag a clip’s edges to shorten or lengthen it
Drag a clip to reorder	Drag clips to change their order
Zoom the timeline view	Pinch in and out on the timeline
Scrub the playhead	Drag to scrub
`⇧Z` add a zoom block	Add a zoom block (free on every tier)
Open the audio mixer	Tap Audio in the timeline toolbar
`⌘E` export	Tap Export and pick a platform preset

Pinch in for frame-accurate cuts, then pinch back out to see the whole video - that pair does most of the work B and the arrow keys do on a Mac.

Or skip the keys entirely and type

Both apps ship a free AI Assistant that edits by plain English, which is often faster than any shortcut for a multi-step job. Say “remove the dead air, add captions and make it vertical” and it runs the whole chain. It covers 71 editing actions on iPhone and 101 on the Mac, and it is free on every tier on both platforms. See the AI Assistant and on-device AI on iPhone.

Animated editor keyboard shortcut keycaps

Keyboard shortcuts FAQ

What’s the shortcut to start recording in Zella? ⌘⇧R opens the recording panel, and ⌘⇧S stops a recording that’s running. Both work from any app.

How do I cut a clip with the keyboard? Press B to cut at the playhead, then Delete to remove a selected segment and close the gap.

Is there a redo shortcut? Yes - ⌘ ⇧ Z. The ↷ button on the playback bar does the same thing. Undo is ⌘Z.

How do I add a zoom with the keyboard? ⇧Z adds a zoom block at the playhead. You can then change how far it zooms and its timing in the Transform tab.

Why do my editor keys do nothing? The editor window has to be active - click it once, then the shortcuts will respond.

Are there keyboard shortcuts on iPhone? No - the iOS editor is driven by touch. Every shortcut on this page has a gesture or a button instead; the mapping is in On iPhone.

What’s the fastest way to cut precisely on the phone? Pinch to zoom the timeline in, make the cut, then pinch back out. That’s the touch answer to nudging the playhead a frame at a time.

Pro tips & gotchas

The big four for editing: Space play/pause, B cut, A select, Delete remove-and-close-the-gap.
⌘⇧R records from anywhere, and ⌘L opens the Library.
⌘Z undoes. Shortcuts only work when the editor window is active, so click it first if a key seems dead.
Arrow keys nudge the playhead; hold ⇧ for a 5-second jump.
These keys are Mac-only. On iPhone, pinch to zoom the timeline and use the toolbar buttons - or type the whole edit into the free AI Assistant.