Keyboard Shortcuts

QLab and its manual are written in American English using a US-standard QWERTY keyboard layout. Apple sells Macs with a wide variety of keyboard layouts for many different languages, alphabets, and cultures. There is, unfortunately, no simple way to plan for keyboard shortcuts which transcend these boundaries. If you are using a keyboard layout other than US QWERTY, and/or a language other than US English on your Mac, you may find that some of the keyboard shortcuts do not work as listed. You may find that the key in the corresponding position as the listed key on a US keyboard will work, but will simply have the wrong label. We did not cause this problem, and we cannot solve it, but we are nevertheless sorry if it causes you trouble.

Key Symbols

SymbolMeaning
command
shift
control
option
delete

Default Keyboard Controls

Most of these keyboard shortcuts can be edited in the Controls → Keyboard section of Workspace Settings.

CommandKeyNote
GOspaceWhen the workspace is set to always audition, this keyboard shortcut invokes Audition GO instead of GO.
Preview SelectedVWhen the workspace is set to always audition, this keyboard shortcut invokes Audition Preview Selected instead of Preview Selected.
Audition GO⌥space
Audition Preview Selected⌥V
Load Last SelectedLIf multiple cues are selected, only the most recently selected cue will be loaded. The playhead will also jump to that cue.
Panic SelectedSDouble-tap this keyboard shortcut to hard stop the selected cues.
Pause/Resume SelectedP
Pause All[
Resume All]
Panic AllescapeDouble-tap this keyboard shortcut to hard stop all cues. This shortcut cannot be changed.
Edit cue numberN
Edit cue nameQ
Edit cue notesO
Edit cue targetT
Cycle cue target type⌥TOnly relevant to Fade cues and Reset cues.
Edit cue pre-wait durationE
Edit cue action durationD
Edit cue post-wait durationW
Cycle cue continue modeC
Flag/unflagF

QLab

CommandKey
Hide QLab⌘H
Hide Others⌥⌘H
Quit QLab⌘Q

File

CommandKeyNote
New Workspace⌘N*
New From Template...⇧⌘N*
Open Workspace...⌘O
Connect to Workspace...⇧⌘K
Close⌘W
Save⌘S
Save As...⇧⌘S
Workspace Settings Window⌘,

* These keyboard shortcuts can be co-opted by the Light Dashboard and by some sections of the Workspace Settings window. Co-opted shortcuts are always noted visibly on screen when this is the case.

Edit

CommandKeyNote
Undo⌘Z
Redo⇧⌘Z
Cut⌘X
Copy⌘C
Paste⌘V
Paste Cue Properties...⇧⌘V
Paste and Match Style⌥⇧⌘V
Delete⌘⌫*
Select All⌘A
Find...⌘F
Find Next⌘G*
Find Previous⇧⌘G
Show Fonts⌥⇧⌘T
Bigger⌘+
Smaller⌘-
Show Colors⌥⇧⌘C
Copy Style⌥⌘C
Paste Style⌥⌘V

* These keyboard shortcuts can be co-opted by the Workspace Settings window. Co-opted shortcuts are always noted visibly on screen when this is the case.

Cues

Note: You can reassign keyboard shortcuts for cues by re-arranging them in the toolbox.

CommandKey
Group⌘0
Audio⌘1
Mic⌘2
Video⌘3
Camera⌘4
Text⌘5
Light⌘6
Fade⌘7
Network⌘8
MIDI⌘9

Tools

CommandKeyNote
Load to time...⌘T
Renumber selected cues...⌘R*
Delete numbers of selected cues...⌘D
Jump to selected cues' targets⇧⌘J
Turn on/off always audition⇧⌘A
Turn on/off live fade preview⇧⌘P

* This keyboard shortcut can be co-opted by the Light Dashboard window. Co-opted shortcuts are always noted visibly on screen when this is the case.

When a Fade cue is selected, the following Tools are also available:

CommandKey
Set Audio Levels From Target⇧⌘T
Set Video Geometry From Target⌃⌥⌘V
Revert Fade Action⇧⌘R

When the Light Dashboard is the front-most window, the following Tools are available instead of the standard ones:

CommandKey
New Cue with Changes⌘N
New Cue with All⇧⌘N
Update Latest Cue⌘U
Update Selected Cue(s)⇧⌘U
Update Originating Cue(s)⌥⌘U
Revert Changes⌘R

View

CommandKeyNote
Enter/Exit Full Screen⇧⌘F
Inspector⌘I*
Inspector for selected cue⇧⌘I
Toolbox⌘K
Lists / Carts & Active Cues⌘L
Toggle Between Lists / Carts & Active Cues⇧⌘L
Warnings⌘B
Select cue...⌘JWithin the Select cue panel, ⌘P selects the cue currently at the playhead.
Select next⌘↓
Select previous⌘↑
Select next tab⌘→
Select previous tab⌘←
Move playhead to cue...⇧⌘J
Move playhead to next cue⇧⌘↓
Move playhead to previous cue⇧⌘↑
Move playhead to next sequence=
Move playhead to previous sequence-
Move selected cues down⌥⌘↓
Move selected cues up⌥⌘↑
Enter Edit Mode⇧⌘[
Enter Show Mode⇧⌘]

* This keyboard shortcut can be co-opted by the Workspace Status window. Co-opted shortcuts are always noted visibly on screen when this is the case.

Window

CommandKey
Minimize⌘M
Workspace Status⇧⌘W
Override Controls⇧⌘O
Light Dashboard⇧⌘D

While in the cue list...

CommandKey
Expand all Group cues>
Collapse all Group cues<

While focused on the waveform view of the Time & Loops tab...

CommandKey
Set start time to current time⇧I
Set end time to current time⇧O
Add slice at current timeM
Zoom in⌘+ / ⌘=
Zoom out⌘-

While editing the integrated fade curve in the Time & Loops tab...

CommandKey
Select previous control point
Select next control point
Move selected control point up⌥↑
Move selected control point down⌥↓
Move selected control point left⌥←
Move selected control point right⌥→
Move selected control point up a small amount⇧⌥↑
Move selected control point down a small amount⇧⌥↓
Move selected control point left a small amount⇧⌥←
Move selected control point right a small amount⇧⌥→

While focused on the Timeline tab of Timeline Group cues...

CommandKey
Zoom in horizontally⌘=
Zoom out horizontally⌘-
Zoom in vertically⇧⌘=
Zoom out vertically⇧⌘-
Nudge selected cues +0.1 second⌥→
Nudge selected cues -0.1 second⌥←
Nudge selected cues +0.01 second⇧⌥→
Nudge selected cues -0.01 second⇧⌥←

While working in a 2D canvas...

These keyboard shortcuts and modifiers are relevant when working with Network cues and Fade cues with 2D paths, editing audio object maps, and working in the Objects inspector tab.

CommandKey
Hold to toggle the active tool.
Hold to disable snapping.
Hold to reverse the direction of the rotate tool.
Zoom in and out.⌥ + scroll
Select adjacent point.← / →
Nudge single selected point.⌥ + ← / ↑ / ↓ / →
Nudge multiple selected points.← / ↑ / ↓ / →
Coarse adjustments.⇧ + nudge
Lock to single axis in 90 degree increments.⇧ + drag
Lock to aspect ratio.⇧ + resize
Scale from center.⌥ + resize
Select all points.⌘A
Insert a point on a path.⌥ + click
Draw a circle from the center.⌥ + circle tool

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