Keyboard Shortcuts
The Live 12 shortcuts that actually matter for sound design and arrangement — Mac and Windows side by side, 12.x additions flagged.
Sound design in Live is a loop of audition → tweak → commit → repeat, and every trip to the mouse breaks the loop. This page lists only the shortcuts that pay off in that loop: device and rack handling, committing audio (freeze, flatten, consolidate, bounce), clip and MIDI editing, navigation and view switching. Mac uses Cmd/Opt; Windows uses Ctrl/Alt, and almost everything maps one-to-one. Shortcuts flagged 12.x only exist in that version or later. Since Live 12.1 you can also rebind nearly everything in Preferences → Shortcuts, so if something here does not fire, check there first — a custom binding or a keyboard layout (AZERTY, Swiss-German) may have moved it. For anything not listed, check Preferences → Shortcuts or the Live manual rather than guessing.
Convention: Cmd = ⌘, Opt = ⌥. On Windows Cmd → Ctrl and Opt → Alt unless the table says otherwise. Letters are shown uppercase but are typed unshifted. A few keys (Tab, A, B, F) are single-key shortcuts that only work when the focus is not in a text field.
Devices and racks
| Action | Mac | Windows | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group selected devices into a Rack | Cmd+G | Ctrl+G | Works on instruments, audio effects and MIDI effects. Select one device to wrap it, several to make a chain. See Racks & macros. |
| Ungroup Rack | Cmd+Shift+G | Ctrl+Shift+G | Flattens the selected rack back to its chain devices (only when it has a single chain). |
| Show / hide Device View | Cmd+Opt+L | Ctrl+Alt+L | Toggles the detail view to devices. Also Shift+Tab toggles clip/device detail view. |
| Hot-swap device / sample | Q | Q | With a device or Simpler sample selected: opens the browser in hot-swap mode. Arrow keys + Enter to audition and load. Essential for sample flipping in Simpler. |
| Activate / deactivate selected device | 0 | 0 | Zero key — bypass without reaching for the tiny power button. Also works on clips and tracks. |
| Fold / unfold all devices in chain | Opt+click title bar | Alt+click title bar | Collapse everything except the one you are working on. |
| Duplicate device | Cmd+D | Ctrl+D | Duplicates the selected device in place — fast way to stack two Saturators or EQs. |
| Rename device / track / clip | Cmd+R | Ctrl+R | Then Tab moves to the next item for serial renaming. |
| Map Mode (macro / key / MIDI) | Cmd+M (MIDI), Cmd+K (Key) | Ctrl+M, Ctrl+K | Macro mapping uses the rack's Map button, not a key. See Racks & macros. |
| Reset a knob to default | Delete on selected control | Delete | Click the control, press Delete. Faster than double-click on dense devices. |
| Fine adjust a control | Cmd+drag | Ctrl+drag | Essential for Operator fine tuning and FM ratios. |
A rack with one macro mapped is still a rack: Cmd+G a lone Auto Filter, map cutoff to Macro 1, and you now have a knob you can drive from the Macro Variations and randomize buttons on the rack header (Live 12).
Committing audio: freeze, flatten, consolidate, bounce, resample
| Action | Mac | Windows | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidate selection to new clip | Cmd+J | Ctrl+J | Arrangement: renders the time selection (audio or MIDI) to a single clip. For audio it writes a new file in the Set's Samples folder — the fastest "commit this" move. Does not include the device chain. |
| Freeze track | right-click track → Freeze | right-click → Freeze | No default key. Renders the track including devices to a temporary file; devices become locked. Assign a key in Preferences → Shortcuts if you freeze a lot. |
| Flatten track | right-click frozen track → Flatten | right-click → Flatten | Converts a frozen track to plain audio clips and removes the devices. The classic Live resample-in-place. |
| Bounce in Place (12.2) | right-click clip/track → Bounce in Place | same | Renders the selected clip(s) through the track's device chain to a new audio clip on a new track (or in place), leaving the original intact. Replaces most freeze → flatten dances. Default key binding varies: check Preferences → Shortcuts. |
| Bounce Group (12.3) | right-click group track → Bounce | same | Renders a whole group track (all children, through the group's devices) to one stem. |
| Resample (audio track input) | Track input chooser → Resampling | same | No key. Set an audio track's input to Resampling, arm, record. Captures the master output — everything, including sends. See Resampling workflow and Routing & resampling. |
| Arm selected track | click Arm, or map a key | same | No default key — bind one in Preferences → Shortcuts if you resample a lot. |
| Record (global) | F9 | F9 | Arrangement record toggle. Shift+F9 is Session record. |
| Capture MIDI | Cmd+Shift+C | Ctrl+Shift+C | Pulls the last played MIDI into a clip, even if you were not recording. Works when the track is armed or has monitoring In. |
| Export Audio/Video | Cmd+Shift+R | Ctrl+Shift+R | Render master, selected tracks, or all tracks as stems. |
| Crop sample to clip | Cmd+Shift+J | Ctrl+Shift+J | Writes a new audio file containing only the used region of the clip — handy before dragging a chop into Simpler. |
| Slice to new MIDI track / Convert to MIDI | right-click audio clip | right-click | No key. Convert Harmony / Melody / Drums to MIDI and Slice to New MIDI Track live in the clip context menu. |
Consolidate (Cmd+J) on MIDI produces a MIDI clip, not audio. On audio it renders the clip's own warping, gain and fades — but not the devices on the track. If you want devices baked in, use Bounce in Place (12.2+) or Freeze → Flatten.
Clip editing (Arrangement and clip view)
| Action | Mac | Windows | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duplicate clip / selection | Cmd+D | Ctrl+D | In Arrangement: duplicates the time selection and pushes later material right. In Session: duplicates the clip slot. |
| Duplicate time (shift everything) | Cmd+Shift+D | Ctrl+Shift+D | Duplicates the selected time range across all tracks — "repeat these 8 bars". |
| Loop selection (Arrangement loop brace) | Cmd+L | Ctrl+L | Sets the Arrangement loop brace to the time selection and enables loop. |
| Set clip loop to selection (clip view) | Cmd+L | Ctrl+L | Inside the clip editor, same key sets the clip loop brace. |
| Quantize | Cmd+U | Ctrl+U | Quantizes selected notes (MIDI) or warp markers/transients (audio) with the last-used settings. |
| Quantize settings dialog | Cmd+Shift+U | Ctrl+Shift+U | Set grid, amount %, and swing-via-groove here before pressing Cmd+U. |
| Reverse audio clip | R | R | With an audio clip selected. Also the "Rev" button in the clip view. Riser-maker number one. |
| Split clip at selection / insert marker | Cmd+E | Ctrl+E | Splits at the insert marker or at both ends of a time selection. |
| Cut time / paste time / delete time | Cmd+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+V / Cmd+Shift+Delete | Ctrl+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+V / Ctrl+Shift+Delete | Time edits move everything after the selection across all tracks. Copy Time has no key by default (Capture MIDI owns Cmd+Shift+C) — use the Edit menu or bind one. |
| Insert silence | Cmd+I | Ctrl+I | Inserts empty time equal to the selection — open a gap for a breakdown. |
| Warp from here / warp markers | right-click waveform | right-click | Warp From Here, Warp Straight From Here, Set 1.1.1 Here: context menu only. Double-click a transient to add a warp marker. |
| Clip gain / transpose nudge | Shift+↑/↓ (transpose semitone) | same | In the clip editor with notes selected: ↑/↓ move notes, Shift+↑/↓ move by octave. |
| Nudge clip/selection by grid | ←/→ with Cmd for finer | same with Ctrl | In Arrangement, arrow keys with a selected clip move it by grid; hold Opt to override the grid while dragging. |
| Toggle grid snap while dragging | Opt (hold) | Alt (hold) | Free-moves warp markers, clip edges and notes. |
| Grid: narrower / wider | Cmd+1 / Cmd+2 | Ctrl+1 / Ctrl+2 | Cmd+3 toggles triplet grid, Cmd+4 toggles snap on/off, Cmd+5 toggles fixed/adaptive grid. |
| Fade in/out at clip edges | drag fade handles; Cmd+Opt+F creates fades at selection edges | Ctrl+Alt+F | Also Create Fades / Crossfades in the context menu. |
MIDI note editor
| Action | Mac | Windows | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draw mode toggle | B | B | Pencil. Hold B instead to toggle temporarily. |
| Select all notes | Cmd+A | Ctrl+A | |
| Duplicate notes / loop content | Cmd+D | Ctrl+D | With nothing selected: duplicates the whole loop region and doubles the clip length. |
| Transpose ±1 semitone / ±1 octave | ↑/↓ / Shift+↑/↓ | same | |
| Move notes by grid / fine | ←/→ / Cmd+←/→ | ←/→ / Ctrl+←/→ | Fine moves ignore the grid — use for push/pull ghost notes. |
| Note length ±grid | Shift+←/→ | same | |
| Velocity ±1 / ±10 | Opt+↑/↓ | Alt+↑/↓ | Check build: some versions use Shift+Opt for the ×10 step. Confirm in Preferences → Shortcuts. |
| Mute / unmute notes | 0 | 0 | Deactivate selected notes without deleting — audition drum variations. |
| Legato (extend to next note) | Cmd+Shift+L (if bound) or clip editor Legato button | same | Use the Legato button in the Notes tools if no key fires. |
| Chop / split note at cursor | Notes → Split, or Cmd+E on selected notes | Ctrl+E | Splits selected notes at the insert marker into equal chops — fast way to make a ratchet. |
| Fold (show only used pitches) | Fold button in the editor | same | No default key; often bound in Preferences → Shortcuts. Drum programming essential. |
| Scale mode / Scale awareness (12) | Scale button in clip view (no default key) | same | The clip's Scale toggle folds the editor to in-scale pitches and feeds the Scale-aware devices and MIDI tools. See Tuning, scales & MPE. |
| MIDI Tools panel (Generate / Transform) (12) | Tool tab at the left of the clip editor | same | Live 12 MIDI Tools have no default key; the "Apply" button can be hit with Enter when focused. See MIDI Tools. |
| Stacked detail view (12) | toggle via the clip editor view menu | same | Shows several selected clips stacked in one editor — no default shortcut. |
| Preview notes when clicking | headphone icon in the editor | same | Toggle note audition on click. |
Ratchet in four keystrokes: select a hat note, Cmd+E with the insert marker at the halfway point (repeat for quarters), then Opt+↓ a few times on the inner notes to make them ghost. Or use the Live 12 Ornament transformer and keep it non-destructive.
Browser and navigation
| Action | Mac | Windows | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search the browser | Cmd+F | Ctrl+F | Jumps focus to the browser search field. Live 12 search is tag-aware (Live 12 Sound Similarity and filter tags live here too). Esc clears. |
| Show / hide browser | Cmd+Opt+B | Ctrl+Alt+B | |
| Preview selected browser item | Shift+Enter or the headphone button | same | Auditions samples/presets at tempo if Raw is off. |
| Load selected browser item | Enter | Enter | Loads onto the selected track; replaces the selected device in hot-swap mode. |
| Sound Similarity search (12) | right-click sample → Show Similar Sounds | same | No key by default. |
| Session ↔ Arrangement | Tab | Tab | Single key; focus must not be in a text field. |
| Clip detail ↔ Device detail | Shift+Tab | Shift+Tab | |
| Show / hide Detail View | Cmd+Opt+L | Ctrl+Alt+L | |
| Show / hide Info View | Shift+? | Shift+? | Hover any parameter for its description — the fastest device manual. |
| Show / hide In/Out section | Cmd+Opt+I | Ctrl+Alt+I | Needed to set Resampling or sidechain routing. |
| Show / hide Sends | Cmd+Opt+S | Ctrl+Alt+S | |
| Show / hide Returns | Cmd+Opt+R | Ctrl+Alt+R | |
| Show / hide Mixer | Cmd+Opt+M | Ctrl+Alt+M | |
| Show / hide Overview | Cmd+Opt+O | Ctrl+Alt+O | |
| Second window | Cmd+Shift+W | Ctrl+Shift+W | Session on one screen, Arrangement on the other. |
| Full screen | Cmd+Ctrl+F | F11 | |
| Preferences | Cmd+, | Ctrl+, | Shortcuts tab is where you rebind (12.1+). |
Transport, automation, zoom
| Action | Mac | Windows | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Play / stop | Space | Space | Shift+Space continues from the stop point. |
| Play from selection | Shift+Space / click the scrub area | same | |
| Back to Arrangement | F10 | F10 | Clears the orange "arrangement overridden by session" state. |
| Metronome | Cmd+Shift+M | Ctrl+Shift+M | If it does not fire on your layout, check Preferences → Shortcuts. |
| Tap tempo | click Tap, or map a key | same | No default key. |
| Automation mode (show lanes) | A | A | Toggles automation lanes in Arrangement and automation view in clips. See Automation & modulation. |
| Automation arm (record) | button next to the transport, no key by default | same | Map one in Preferences → Shortcuts if you record automation live. |
| Re-enable automation | click the Re-enable button (orange) | same | Fires after you touch an automated control manually. No key by default. |
| Draw mode (automation / notes) | B | B | |
| Follow (auto-scroll) | Cmd+Shift+F | Ctrl+Shift+F | Turns the playhead-chasing view on/off. Also toggles off automatically when you scroll. |
| Zoom in / out (time) | + / − | + / − | Centers on the selection or playhead. |
| Zoom to selection / back | Z / X | Z / X | Z zooms to the time selection, X returns to the previous zoom. Lifesaver for transient edits. |
| Zoom track height | Opt+scroll | Alt+scroll | "Optimise Arrangement Height" / "Optimise Arrangement Width" are in the View menu; their default keys differ between builds — check Preferences → Shortcuts. |
| Horizontal scroll | Shift+scroll | Shift+scroll | |
| Undo / redo | Cmd+Z / Cmd+Shift+Z | Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y | Windows uses Ctrl+Y for redo. Mixer and device moves are undoable; browser loads are too. |
| Save / Save As / Save a copy | Cmd+S / Cmd+Shift+S | Ctrl+S / Ctrl+Shift+S | Collect All and Save is in the File menu, not keyed — do it before archiving. |
| Insert MIDI / Audio / Return track | Cmd+Shift+T / Cmd+T / Cmd+Opt+T | Ctrl+Shift+T / Ctrl+T / Ctrl+Alt+T | |
| Insert scene | Cmd+I (Session) | Ctrl+I | Capture and Insert Scene: Cmd+Shift+I. |
| Solo / mute selected track | S / 0 | S / 0 | Zero deactivates; S solos (when track header is selected and focus allows). |
| Group tracks | Cmd+G | Ctrl+G | Same key as rack grouping; context decides. Group tracks are what Bounce Group (12.3) acts on. |
| Cycle tracks / scenes | ←/→ / ↑/↓ | same | In Session, arrows move the clip-slot selection; Enter launches the slot. |
| A/B compare (12.3) | A/B buttons in the Set, no default key | same | Switch between two states of a device/set for mix decisions. Pair with Listening checklist. |
Sound-design flow in keystrokes
A typical commit cycle on a bass patch, mapped to keys. Assumes a MIDI track with Operator and an audio track beside it.
- Shift+Tab to Device View, Cmd+Opt+L if it is hidden. Design the patch; Cmd+drag for fine FM ratios.
- Play the clip with Space; Cmd+Shift+C to capture a phrase you just jammed on Push into a clip.
- Cmd+G to wrap the instrument and its Roar/EQ in a rack; map two macros from the rack header; Cmd+R to name it.
- Select the clip in Arrangement, right-click → Bounce in Place (12.2) — or Freeze → Flatten on older builds. New audio clip appears.
- Z to zoom to the clip, Cmd+E to split off the best bar, Cmd+Shift+J to crop it to its own file.
- Drag it into a new Simpler (Cmd+Shift+T for the track), Q later to hot-swap the sample.
- A to open automation lanes, B to draw filter moves; Cmd+Shift+F if Follow has switched off.
- Cmd+J to consolidate the final 8-bar phrase; Cmd+Shift+D to duplicate the time.
Push 3 shortcuts worth knowing
Not keyboard, but the same muscle-memory logic. On Push 3 (standalone or controller): Shift + Session jumps between Session and Arrangement, Capture is a dedicated button, Shift + Add Track opens the browser with the device-type filter, and holding Device and tapping a pad in a Drum Rack selects that pad's chain. The Layout button cycles note layouts (64-pad, drum sequencer, melodic sequencer) which matter more for live performance than any desktop shortcut.
Related
- Resampling workflow — the commit cycle in detail.
- Routing & resampling — Resampling input, sidechain routing, external effect return.
- Racks & macros — macro mapping, variations, randomization.
- MIDI Tools — Live 12 generators and transformers.
- Device parameter map — where each parameter lives.
- Glossary — terms used throughout this page.