Navigate sequences in the timeline

When you launch Premiere Pro, a single Timeline panel appears in a frame in the lower central portion of the screen.

You can remove all sequences from a Timeline or add multiple sequences. Each sequence appears as a tab within that Timeline. You can also open multiple timelines, each within its own frame, with each containing any number of sequences.

You can show or hide items by selecting or deselecting them in the Timeline panel menu. These items include time ruler numbers and the work area bar.

Open a sequence in the Timeline panel 

To open a new sequence in a Timeline panel, double-click the sequence in the Project panel. The sequence opens in a new tab.

Open multiple Timeline panels

You can open more than one Timeline if you have more than one sequence in a project. When you open a sequence, it opens in a new tab. Drag the tab into another docking area. The sequence appears in a new Timeline.

Navigation controls in the Timeline panel

A Timeline panel contains several controls for moving through the frames of a sequence.

A. Time ruler B. Work area bar C. Playhead D. Playhead position E. Zoom scroll bar 

Time ruler

Time ruler measures sequences of time horizontally. Numbers indicate that the sequence time is displayed along the ruler from left to right. They change according to the level of detail at which you view the sequence.

By default, these numbers are based on the timecode display style specified in the Display Format field of the Sequence Settings dialog box.

Work Area Bar

The Work Area Bar specifies the area of the sequence that you want to render previews or to define a region you plan to export. The work area bar is located in the lower portion of the time ruler. The work area bar isn't available by default. To activate it, select the three stacked lines next to the sequence name and choose Work Area Bar from the drop-down list.

You can drag the edges of the Work Area Bar or use keyboard shortcuts to set the work area in a sequence.

Playhead

Playhead indicates the current frame displayed in the Program Monitor. The playhead is a blue triangle on the ruler. A vertical line extends from the playhead to the bottom of the time ruler. You can change the current time by dragging the playhead.

Playhead position

Playhead position shows the timecode for the current frame in a Timeline panel. To move to a different time, select the Playhead position and enter a new time. You can also place the pointer over the display and drag left or right.

You can change the display between the timecode and the simple frame count. Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (macOS) the current time in either the monitor or the Timeline panel.

Zoom scroll bar

The zoom scroll bar is at the bottom of the Timeline panel. This bar corresponds with the visible area of the time ruler in the Timeline. The Source Monitor and Program Monitor also have zoom scroll bars. You can drag the handles to change the width of the bar and change the scale of the time ruler.

Navigate in a sequence

Position the playhead in the Timeline panel

To position the playhead in the Timeline panel, drag the playhead to the required position.

Move the playhead using timecode

To move to playhead using timecode, select the timecode value in the playhead position. Type a new time, and press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS).

Snap to clip edges and markers

To snap to clip edges and markers, shift-drag the playhead in the Timeline panel.

Zoom into or out of a sequence in the Timeline panel

To zoom into or out of a sequence in the timeline, press + to zoom in. To zoom out, press -.

Scroll horizontally in a sequence in the Timeline panel

When you have a long sequence of clips, many of them are out of view. If a clip is out of view, scroll horizontally in your sequence in the Timeline panel. You can also scroll the mouse wheel or use the Page Up key to move left and the Page Down key to move right.

Scroll vertically in a sequence in the Timeline panel

When video or audio clips are stacked up in tracks on the timeline, they can sometimes be hidden from view. If a clip is out of view, scroll vertically in your sequence in the Timeline. To scroll vertically, drag up or down in the scroll bar on the right of the Timeline panel or move two fingers vertically on the multi-touch trackpad to navigate the sequence vertically on MacBook Pro computers.