Main Window

OpenShot Video Editor has one main window which contains most of the information, buttons, and menus needed to edit your video project.

Overview

_images/main-window.jpg

#

Name

Description

1

Main Toolbar

Contains buttons to open, save, and export your video project.

2

Function Tabs

Switch between Project Files, Transitions, Effects, and Emojis.

3

Project Files

All audio, video, and image files that have been imported into your project.

4

Preview Window

This is the area that the video will playback on the screen.

5

Edit Toolbar

This toolbar contains buttons used for snapping, inserting markers, slicing razor, and jumping between markers.

6

Zoom Slider

This slider will adjust the time-scale of your timeline. Drag the left or right edge to zoom in or out. Drag the blue area to scroll the timeline left or right. Clips and transitions are displayed as simple rectangles, to give you context for adjusting the zoom to specific clips.

7

Play-head / Ruler

The ruler shows the time-scale, and the red line is the play-head. The play-head represents the current playback position. Hold Shift key while dragging the playhead to snap to nearby clips.

8

Timeline

The timeline visualizes your video project, and each clip and transition in your project. You can drag the mouse to select, move, or delete multiple items.

9

Filter

Filter the list of items shown (project files, transitions, effects, and emojis) by using these buttons and filter textbox. Enter a few letters of what you are looking for, and the results will be shown.

10

Playback

Left to Right: Jump to Start, Rewind, Play/Pause, Fast Forward, and Jump to End

For step-by-step instructions on the basic usage of OpenShot, be sure to read the Quick Tutorial.

Built-in Tutorial

When you first launch OpenShot, you will be presented with a friendly built-in tutorial. It will demonstrate and explain the basics. Clicking Next will jump to the next topic. You can always view this tutorial again from the Help→Tutorial menu.

_images/built-in-tutorial.jpg

Tracks & Layers

OpenShot uses tracks to layer videos and images. The top most track is the top layer, and the bottom track is the bottom layer. If you are familiar with layers in a photo editing application, then you should be quite familiar with this concept. OpenShot will stack the layers and mix each one together, just like a photo editing application. You can have an unlimited number of tracks, but typically a simple video project will not need more than 5 tracks.

For example, imagine a 3 track video project

_images/tracks.jpg

#

Name

Description

1

Top Track

Clips on this track will always be on top and visible. Often watermarks and titles are placed on higher tracks.

2

Middle Track

Clips in the middle (might or might not be visible, depending on what is above them)

3

Bottom Track

Clips on this track will always be on the bottom. Often audio clips are placed on lower tracks.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Here is a list of the default keyboard shortcuts supported by OpenShot. You can configure these shortcuts in the Preferences window, which is opened by selecting Edit→Preferences from the OpenShot menu bar. (On macOS, choose OpenShot Video Editor→Preferences.) Learning a few of these shortcuts can save you a bunch of time!

Shortcut

Action

Ctrl+H

About OpenShot

Ctrl+M

Add Marker

Ctrl+Shift+T

Add Track

Ctrl+W

Add to Timeline

Ctrl+B

Animated Title

Ctrl+Up

Center on Playhead

Ctrl+P

Choose Profile

Ctrl+Shift+ESC

Clear All Cache

Ctrl+C

Copy

Delete

Delete Item

Backspace

Delete Item (Alternate 1)

Ctrl+D

Details View

Ctrl+Shift+C

Duplicate Title

Not Set

Edit Title

Ctrl+E

Export Video

L

Fast Forward

F11

Fullscreen

Ctrl+F

Import Files…

Ctrl+Shift+E

Insert Keyframe

Ctrl+End

Jump To End

Ctrl+Home

Jump To Start

Ctrl+N

New Project

Right

Next Frame

Ctrl+Right

Next Marker

Shift+Left

Nudge left

Shift+Right

Nudge right

Ctrl+O

Open Project…

Ctrl+V

Paste

Space

Play/Pause Toggle

Up

Play/Pause Toggle (Alternate 1)

Down

Play/Pause Toggle (Alternate 2)

K

Play/Pause Toggle (Alternate 3)

Ctrl+Shift+P

Preferences

Left

Previous Frame

Ctrl+Left

Previous Marker

Ctrl+I

Properties

Ctrl+Q

Quit

Ctrl+Y

Redo

J

Rewind

Not Set

Save Current Frame

Ctrl+S

Save Project

Ctrl+Shift+S

Save Project As…

Ctrl+A

Select All

Ctrl+Shift+A

Select None

Ctrl+K

Slice All: Keep Both Sides

Ctrl+L

Slice All: Keep Left Side

Ctrl+J

Slice All: Keep Right Side

s

Slice Selected: Keep Both Sides

d

Slice Selected: Keep Left Side

a

Slice Selected: Keep Right Side

Ctrl+G

Snapping Enabled

Ctrl+X

Split Clip…

Ctrl+Shift+D

Thumbnail View

Ctrl+T

Title

R

Toggle Razor

Ctrl+R

Transform

Ctrl+Z

Undo

=

Zoom In

-

Zoom Out

Ctrl+Middle Button

Scroll Timeline

Views

The OpenShot main window is composed of multiple docks. These docks are arranged and snapped together into a grouping that we call a View. OpenShot comes with two primary views: Simple View and Advanced View.

Simple View

This is the default view, and is designed to be easy-to-use, especially for first-time users. It contains Project Files on the top left, Preview Window on the top right, and Timeline on the bottom. If you accidentally close or move a dock, you can quickly reset all the docks back to their default location using the View->Views->Simple View menu at the top of the screen.

Advanced View

This is an advanced view, which adds more docks to the screen at once, improving access to many features that are not visible in Simple View. Once you have mastered the Simple View, we recommend giving this view a try as well. NOTE: You can also drag and drop the docks anywhere you would like, for a fully custom view.

Docks

Each widget on the OpenShot main window is contained in a dock. These docks can be dragged and snapped around the main window, and even grouped together (into tabs). OpenShot will always save your main window dock layout when you exit the program. Re-launching OpenShot will restore your custom dock layout automatically.

If you have accidentally closed or moved a dock and can no longer find it, there are a couple easy solutions. First, you can use the View->Views->Simple View menu option at the top of the screen, to restore the view back to its default. Or you can use the View->Views->Docks->… menu to show or hide specific dock widgets on the main window.