FL STUDIO BASICS

Keyboard & Mouse Shortcuts

This page lists some of the keyboard shortcuts to useful commands in FL Studio. Also check the miscellaneous category at the bottom, which lists commands that work in multiple windows. Please examine the menus/context menus in FL Studio for more shortcuts.

NOTE: Typing keyboard to Piano keyboard (Ctrl+T) - Single key shortcuts will only work when 'Typing keyboard to piano' (Ctrl+T) is OFF.

Windows vs Mac Equivalent keys

The following tables assume you are using a Windows keyboard. To use these shortcuts on a Mac, substitute keys as follows:

WindowsMac Equivalent
Alt option
Backspace delete (< X)
Ctrl command
Delete fn+delete (< X)
Insert (Ins) fn+return
Windows command

Global Shortcuts

Keys/ActionFile Operations
Ctrl+Z Undo / Redo last edit
Ctrl+Alt+Z Undo step-by-step

Shortcuts by Window

Keys/ActionFile Operations
Ctrl+O Open file
Ctrl+S Save file
Ctrl+N Save new version
Ctrl+Shift+S Save As...
Ctrl+R Export wave file
Ctrl+Shift+R Export mp3 file
Ctrl+Shift+M Export MIDI file
Alt+0,1..9 Open recent files 0..9
Ctrl+Shift+H (Re)arrange windows


Keys/ActionPattern Selector (Numpad)
1..9 Select patterns 1..9
+ Next pattern
- Previous pattern
F2 Open name editor for selected pattern. Repeated presses randomly choose colors.
F4 Next empty pattern with naming dialog
Ctrl+F4 Next empty pattern


Keys/ActionChannel Rack & Step Sequencer
1...9, 0 Mute/Unmute first 10 Channels
Ctrl+1..9,0 Solo/UnSolo first 10 Channels
Up-Arrow Select Channel above
Down-Arrow Select Channel below
Page Up Select next Channel Group
Page Down Select previous Channel Group
Alt+Del Delete selected Channel/s
Alt+Down-Arrow Moves the selected Channel/s down
Alt+Up-Arrow Moves the selected Channel/s up
Alt+C Clone selected Channels
Alt+G Group selected Channels
Alt+M Toggle Mixer Track Selectors
Alt+U Unzip selected Channel/s
Alt+Z Zip selected Channel/s
Ctrl+Alt+R Force restretch of all Audio Clip Channels
Ctrl+Enter Focus Playlist
Ctrl+C Copy Channel Steps/Score
Ctrl+L Route selected Channel/s to free mixer track/s
Ctrl+V Paste Channel Steps/Score
Ctrl+X Cut Channel Steps/Score
Shift+Mouse-wheel Moves Selected Channel Up/Down
Shift+Up-Arrow Moves Channel selection Up
Shift+Down-Arrow Moves Channel selection Down
Shift+Ctrl+Left-Arrow Shift Steps Left
Shift+Ctrl+Right-Arrow Shift Steps Right


Keys/ActionRecord / Playback / Transport
Backspace Toggle Line/None Snap
Space Start/Stop Playback
Ctrl+Space Start/Pause Playback. macOS: First, disable 'Spotlight' from the 'System Preferences > Spotlight > Keyboard Shortcuts'
L Switch Pattern/Song mode
R Switch On/Off recording (This also works during playback)
0 (NumPad) Fast forward
/ (NumPad) Previous bar (Song mode)
* (NumPad) Next bar (Song mode)
Ctrl+E Toggle Step Edit mode
Ctrl+H Stop sound (panic)
Ctrl+T Toggle typing keypad to piano keypad
Ctrl+B Toggle blend notes
Ctrl+M Toggle metronome
Ctrl+P Toggle recording metronome precount
Ctrl+I Toggle wait for input to start recording


Keys/ActionWindow Navigation
Tab Cycle nested windows
F8 Open Plugin Picker
Enter Toggle Max/Min Playlist
Esc Closes a window
F1 This Help
F5 Toggle Playlist
F6 Toggle Step Sequencer
F7 Toggle Piano roll
Alt+F8 Show/hide Sample Browser
F9 Show/hide Mixer
F10 Show/hide MIDI settings
F11 Show/hide song info window
F12 Close all windows
Ctrl+Shift+H Arrange windows


Keys/ActionMixer
Alt+Left-Arrow / Right-Arrow Move selected mixer track/s Left/Right
Alt+L Select the Channels Linked to the selected mixer track
Alt+W Toggle Peak-meter 'Wave' view
Ctrl+A Select all mixer tracks
Ctrl+L Link selected Channels to selected mixer track
Shift+Ctrl+L Link selected Channels STARTING From selected mixer track
Shift + mouse-wheel Move selected mixer track/s Left/Right (mouse-over track)
Ctrl+Shift+Left-Click Select multiple mixer tracks
Ctrl+Shift+S Save Mixer track state
F2 Rename selected mixer track
S Solo Current track
Alt+S Alt Solo - Activate Current track and all tracks Routed TO/FROM It
Alt+R Render Armed tracks to .wav


Keys/ActionPlaylist action
B Paint tool
C Slice tool
D Delete tool
E Select tool
P Draw tool (pencil)
S Slip edit tool
T Mute tool
Y Playback tool
Z Zoom tool
Alt Bypass snap (very useful when combined with other modifiers)
Alt+G Ungroup selection
Alt+M Mute selection
Alt+P Open the Picker Panel
Alt+T Add Time marker
Alt+/* and Ctrl+Alt+/* Jump to Next/Previous song marker (if present)
Alt+Left-Click Grouped Tracks Mute switches - Mute/Unmute all
Alt+Right-Click Audition the clip selected
Alt+Right-Shift Engage snap free 'Slice Mode', release Alt after clicking on the Clip to use snapping
Alt+Shift+M Unmute selection
Ctrl+A Select All
Backspace Toggle Global Snap (none, current setting)
Ctrl+B Duplicate selection (or all Clips in zoom range if nothing is selected) to the right
Ctrl+C Copy selection
Ctrl+D Deselect selection
Ctrl+P Toggle Performance Mode
Ctrl+T Add Time Marker
Ctrl+V Paste selection
Ctrl+X Cut selection
Ctrl+Alt+C Consolidate selected Pattern/Audio Clips to audio, starting from the first selected Clip
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C Consolidate selected Pattern/Audio Clips to audio, starting from the start of the Playlist
Ctrl+Alt+G Grid Color
Ctrl+Alt+Home Toggle Resizing from Left
Ctrl+F8 Open Project Picker
Ctrl+Ins Add space at the start of the timeline selection of equal length to the selection
Ctrl+Del Delete space according to the timeline selection
Ctrl+Enter Select time around selection
Ctrl+Left-Arrow/Right-Arrow Select time before/after selection equal to the selection length
Ctrl+Left-click Select
Ctrl+Shift+Left-click Add to selection
Ctrl+Shift+Right-Click Zoom to selected Clip
Ctrl+Right-Click Zoom on selection / Drag to make zoom selection (zoom on release)
Del Delete selected clip/pattern source data
Double Left-click on clip/pattern Open clip/pattern properties (e.g. Channel settings, Piano roll)
Home Move the playback marker to the start of the Playlist
Insert Key Slice Clip at mouse cursor position
Left-Shift+Left-click (when resizing clips) Change the resize mode to ripple editing
Left-Shift+Right-Click Pan view
Middle Mouse Click Pan view (hold & drag left/right)
Middle Mouse Click+Right-Click Open Playlist tool selector and options
PgUp / PgDown Zoom in / Zoom out
Draw/Paint tool + Shift Swap the action of the Draw/Paint tool
Right-Click Activates the Delete tool
Double Right-Click Activates the Mute tool
Right-Shift+Left-click Slice clip/pattern (click above/below clip/pattern & drag vertical)
Right-Alt+Right-Shift+Left-click Vertical Slice clip. Release alt to engage snap.
Right-Shift+Right-Click Slice clip/pattern & delete smallest part (click above/below clip/pattern & drag vertical)
Right-Alt+Right-Click Quantize selected
Right-Alt+Left-click Mute selected
Shift+C Select all Clips according to the currently selected Clip source
Shift+G Group selected Clips
Shift+I Invert selection
Shift+Q Quick quantize Clip start times
Shift+Left-Arrow/Right-Arrow Move selection Left/Right
Shift+Up-Arrow/Down-Arrow Move selection Up/Down
Shift+Left-click (on clip/pattern) Clone (drag while holding clip/pattern)
Shift + Mouse-wheel (on Clips) Nudge Clip position
Shift+Alt+T Set a Time Signature at the Play head or time selection
Shift+M Switch stretch mode
Shift + Mouse-wheel (on Track label area) Re-order Clip Tracks
Shift + 0 (zero) Center Playlist to play-head position (numbers above typing keys)
Shift + 1 to 3 Horizontal Zoom levels 1 (zoom out) to 3 (zoom in), (numbers above typing keys)
Shift + 4 Horizontal Zoom, show all (numbers above typing keys)
Shift + 5 Zoom to selection (numbers above typing keys)
Shift + 6 Fit Performance Zone to Playlist (numbers above typing keys)


Keys/ActionPiano roll action
NOTE: Some keyboard modifiers apply only to Draw mode ().
B Paint tool
C Slice tool
D Delete tool
E Select tool
F Show next property in the Piano roll event lane (lower section)
G Select the Channel above
H Select the Channel above with note data
J Select the Channel below with note data
K Select the Channel below
M Keyboard view mode (toggle)
O Portamento (toggle)
P Draw tool (pencil)
S Slide note (toggle)
T Mute tool
Y Playback tool
Z Zoom tool
Alt Bypass snap (very useful when combined with other modifiers)
Alt+A Arpeggiator
Alt+B View note helpers
Alt+C Change color of selected note/s (to selected color group)
Alt+E Riff machine
Alt+F Flam
Alt+G Ungroup selected notes
Alt+K Open Limit tool
Alt+L Open Articulate tool
Alt+M Mute selection
Alt+N Switch waveform helper view (when available).
Alt+O Open LFO tool when in lower Event Editor area
Alt+Q Quantize
Alt+R Open Randomize tool
Alt+S Open Strum tool
Alt+U Open Chop tool
Alt+V Ghost Channels ON/OFF (toggle)
Alt+W Open Claw Machine tool
Alt+X Open Scale Levels tool
Alt+Y Open Score Flipper tool
Alt+Shift+M Unmute selection
Alt+Mouse-wheel Change the selected note property of the note the mouse pointer is near or on.
Alt+Arrow keys Nudge the position of the selected note/s OR all notes if no selection is made.
Backspace Global Snap (none, current setting - toggle)
Ctrl+A Select All
Ctrl+B Duplicate selection, or all notes in zoom range if nothing is selected, to the right. Works also with time-line selections.
Ctrl+C Copy selection
Ctrl+D Deselect selection
Ctrl+G Glue selected and touching notes
Ctrl+I Insert current controller value
Ctrl+L Quick legato
Ctrl+M Import MIDI file
Ctrl+Q Quick Quantize
Ctrl+U Quick Chop
Ctrl+V Paste selection
Ctrl+X Cut selection
Ctrl+Alt+G Grid Color
Ctrl+Alt+Home Allow resizing from left (toggle)
Ctrl+Delete Delete space equal to selection
Ctrl+Enter Select time around selection
Ctrl+Insert Insert space equal to the current time-line selection
Ctrl+Up-Arrow/Down-Arrow Transpose selection UP/Down 1 Octave
Ctrl+Left-Arrow/Right-Arrow Select time before (left) or after (right) current selection
Ctrl+Left-click Select
Ctrl+Shift+Left-click Add to selection
Ctrl+Right-Click Zoom on selection/Drag to make zoom selection (zoom on release)
Del Delete selected
Double Left-click on note Open note properties
Double Right-Click or X1 Click on Ghost note Swap to Ghost Channel to edit the note.
Left-Shift+Left-click (on Piano roll) Add and resize notes (move mouse L/R after click and hold to resize)
Left-Shift+Right-Click Pan view
Left-Alt+Right-Click Audio preview
Middle Mouse Click Pan view (hold and drag left/right)
Middle Mouse Click+Right-Click Open Piano Roll tool selector and options
PgUp / PgDown Zoom in / Zoom out
Draw tool + Shift Extend note length
Right-Click Delete Selected Note/s
Right-Alt+Right-Click Quantize selected
Right-Shift+Left-click Slice notes (click above/below note and drag vertical)
Right-Shift+Right-Click Slice notes & delete smallest part (click above/below note and drag vertical)
Shift+Alt+T Set a Time Signature at the Play head or time selection
Shift+Ctrl+V Paste from MIDI clipboard
Shift+C Select by color
Shift+D Discard selected note lengths
Shift+G Group selected
Shift+H Select the next Channel, in the selected Pattern, with note data.
Shift+I Invert selection
Shift+K Select the next Channel
Alt+M Mute selection
Shift+N Turn off selected chord
Shift+Q Quick quantize
Shift+M Select groups of notes at random
Shift+R Select at random (multiple presses will select more notes)
Shift+Left-Arrow/Right-Arrow Move selection Left/Right
Shift+Up-Arrow/Down-Arrow Move selection Up/Down
Shift+Left-click Clone (drag while holding clip/pattern), release Shift after dragging to unlock vertical movement
Shift + Mouse-wheel (on Clips) Nudge Clip position
Shift + Mouse-wheel (on Track label area) Re-order Clip Tracks
Shift + 0 (zero) Center Playlist to play-head position (numbers above typing keys)
Shift + 1 to 3 Horizontal Zoom levels 1 (zoom out) to 3 (zoom in), (numbers above typing keys)
Shift + 4 Horizontal Zoom, show all (numbers above typing keys)
Shift + 5 Zoom to selection (numbers above typing keys)

Keys/ActionBrowser action
Enter Replace a selected channel in the Channel Rack with the selected item in Browser
Ctrl + Alt + Click Replace a selected channel in the Channel Rack with the selected item in Browser
Right-Click / Shift+Left-Click Start sample playback from mouse cursor position in Browser sample preview
Shift+Arrow Up/Down Same as above, but step through a list of items in a folder
Shift+Left-Click / Ctrl+Alt+Left-Click Select multiple items in Browser

Miscellaneous Commands

Keys/ActionOperation
Alt+Ctrl+Space Add a long space when entering text (naming items)
Alt+Shift+Space Add a short space when entering text (naming items)
Alt+Number-Pad 2-6 Change octave of typing keyboard
F3 Open tool selector and options of active window
Right-Click For certain menus, allows to multiselect (add checkmark to) options without closing the menu