Shotcut supports standard clipboard operations for managing clips on the Timeline. These functions allow you to move media between tracks, duplicate clips, or transfer media from the Source player into your project.
Track Selection
Before performing any clipboard operation, you must ensure the correct track is selected.
- The current track is highlighted in the Track Header (gold colored background).
- Paste operations will always occur on the current track at the position of the Playhead.
Copying Media
Copy (Ctrl+C / Cmd+C) places a reference of the selected clip or transition onto the clipboard.
- You can copy a clip from the Timeline to duplicate it elsewhere.
- You can copy a clip from the Source Player to prepare it for insertion into the Timeline.
- Note: Copying a clip also copies any filters applied to that specific clip instance.
Cutting Media
Cut (Ctrl+X / Cmd+X) removes the selected clip from the Timeline and places it on the clipboard. Cut is a ripple action: it automatically shifts all following clips on that track to the left to close the gap.
Pasting Media
Paste (Ctrl+V / Cmd+V) places the contents of the clipboard onto the selected track at the playhead’s current position. This too is a ripple action: it inserts rather than overwrites.
Timeline Toolbar Icons
While keyboard shortcuts are recommended for speed, these actions are also available as icons on the Timeline toolbar:
- Cut: Represented by the “scissors” icon.
- Copy: Represented by the “two pages” icon.
- Paste: Represented by the “clipboard” icon.
Advanced Paste: Append, Overwrite, and Replace
While standard pasting (Ctrl+V) is useful for general movement, Shotcut provides three “Advanced Paste” operations that offer more surgical control when moving media from the Source player (or the clipboard) onto the Timeline.
- Append (A): the fastest way to build a rough cut. Instead of worrying about playhead placement, this command ignores the current playhead position and places the clip at the very end of the current track.
- Overwrite (B): places the clip at the current playhead position, covering any media already on that track for the duration of the new clip. It does not shift any other clips on the timeline (regardless of Ripple settings). It acts like laying a new piece of physical film directly on top of the old one, “eating” into the existing footage.
- Replace (R): is a specialized tool used to swap an existing clip on the Timeline with a new clip from the Source player while preserving the exact duration and position of the original clip.
Select a clip on the timeline, open a new clip in the Source player, adjust its IN (starting) point, and pressR. The timeline clip is swapped out. If the new clip is longer, it is automatically trimmed to the same duration. If the new clip is shorter, the replaced clip is shorter and either leaves or extends a gap.
Best used for swapping out a placeholder or temporary clip for a final version, or updating a clip while keeping all applied filters and transitions intact.
Summary of Shortcuts
| Action | Windows/Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Cut | Ctrl + X |
Cmd + X |
| Copy | Ctrl + C |
Cmd + C |
| Paste | Ctrl + V |
Cmd + V |
| Append | A |
A |
| Overwrite | B |
B |
| Insert | V |
V |
| Replace | R |
R |