DaVinci Resolve 20 tutorial

DaVinci Resolve Cutting and Trim Keyboard Shortcuts

A practical guide to the commands that speed up dialogue cleanup and timeline cutting in DaVinci Resolve: split at playhead, trim-to-playhead actions and safe ripple editing.

Ctrl+B / Cmd+B — split at the playhead

In the default DaVinci Resolve preset, Ctrl+B on Windows and Cmd+B on macOS splits the active material at the playhead. It is often faster than switching into Blade Edit Mode for a single cut.

Windows: Ctrl+B.
macOS: Cmd+B.
Use it when you need an explicit clip boundary.

Blade and split serve different workflows

Blade Edit Mode is useful for placing several cuts with the mouse. For dialogue editing, staying in the selection tool and splitting at the playhead often reduces tool switching.

Trim Start to Playhead and Trim End to Playhead

These commands remove material before or after the playhead and are excellent for pauses, false starts and dialogue cleanup. Exact keys depend on the active keyboard preset, so search the command names in Keyboard Customization.

If you prefer a Q/W-style layout from another NLE, build that mapping deliberately instead of assuming it is Resolve's universal default.

Important

Trim commands can ripple later material. Check track locks, linked selection and affected tracks on complex timelines.

Delete versus Ripple Delete

A normal delete can leave a gap; a ripple operation closes the space and moves later material. The distinction matters more than the key itself.

Practical tip

Practice on a duplicate timeline.
After a ripple operation, verify music, B-roll and linked audio sync.

A practical dialogue-editing shortcut set

Use J/K/L to locate the unwanted phrase.
Use Ctrl/Cmd+B when you need a separate clip boundary.
Use Trim Start/End to Playhead for edge cleanup.
Undo immediately when ripple behavior is not what you expected.
Repeat on 20–30 edits until the sequence becomes automatic.

Summary

Editing speed comes from combining navigation, split-at-playhead and trim commands, not from relying on Blade for every cut.

Keyboard shortcuts by topic

For a deeper explanation of a specific group of commands, open the corresponding shortcut guide below.

All DaVinci Resolve keyboard shortcuts — Core shortcuts and links to every section of the reference.
DaVinci Resolve Playback and Navigation Shortcuts: J, K, L and Frame Control — Drive the viewer and timeline without the mouse: Space, arrow keys, J/K/L, slow playback and In/Out marks.
DaVinci Resolve Timeline Shortcuts: Overwrite, Place on Top, Clips and Gaps — Structural timeline commands: F10, F12, Enable Clip, Insert versus Overwrite and gap cleanup.
How to Undo in DaVinci Resolve: Undo, Redo and History — Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z, Redo, History and why undo behavior can differ across Resolve pages.
How to Customize DaVinci Resolve Keyboard Shortcuts and Presets — Open Keyboard Customization, search commands, assign keys, resolve conflicts and move your preset between systems.