Adobe After Effects keyboard shortcuts
The essential keyboard shortcuts for Adobe After Effects, from revealing layer properties to trimming layers and queuing renders. Updated July 2026.
Project & comps
Playback & timeline
Layer properties
Layers
Editing & view
They should tell you about this
Workflow tricks Adobe After Effects never mentions — curated from real use.
Press U twice to reveal everything you changedU
With layers selected, press U once to reveal only the properties that have keyframes or expressions — the fastest way to see what is animated. Press U twice quickly (UU) and After Effects reveals every property that differs from its default, including one-off tweaks like a changed anchor point or a filled-in effect setting. Perfect for auditing someone else's project or your own from last month.
Trim layers to the playhead with Alt+brackets⌥+[
Park the playhead where a layer should start and press Alt+[ (Option+[ on Mac) to trim the selected layers' in point to that frame; Alt+] trims the out point. Unlike dragging layer ends in the timeline, this is frame-accurate and works on many selected layers at once — the standard way editors clean up a stack of clips in seconds.
Smooth robotic motion instantly with Easy Easef9
Linear keyframes make motion start and stop abruptly. Select any keyframes and press F9 to apply Easy Ease, which converts them to bezier interpolation that accelerates in and decelerates out. Shift+F9 eases only the incoming side and Ctrl+Shift+F9 (Cmd+Shift+F9 on Mac) only the outgoing side. It is the single biggest one-keystroke upgrade to raw animation.
Hold Shift to reveal several properties together⇧
The property shortcuts P (Position), S (Scale), R (Rotation), and T (Opacity) normally replace whatever is shown in the timeline. Hold Shift while pressing the next letter and it adds to the display instead: press P, then Shift+S, then Shift+T to see Position, Scale, and Opacity side by side — exactly what you need when keyframing a fade-and-move without opening the whole layer.
Alt-click a stopwatch to add an expression⌥
Alt-click (Option-click on Mac) the stopwatch icon next to any property to open its expression field right in the timeline. Type wiggle(2, 30) on Position and the layer shakes organically with zero keyframes — two wiggles per second, up to 30 pixels. Alt-click the stopwatch again to remove the expression, or click the = sign to toggle it off temporarily.