Copy and paste keyframes

Learn how to copy and paste keyframes in the Effect Controls and Timeline panels.

You can copy keyframes and paste them either to a new time in the clip’s property or to the same effect property in a different clip, using the Effect Controls panel. To quickly apply the same keyframe values at another point in time or in another clip or track, copy and paste the keyframes in a Timeline panel.

Copy and paste keyframes in the Effect Controls panel

When you paste keyframes into another clip, they appear in the corresponding property in the target clip’s effect in the Effect Controls panel. The earliest keyframe appears at the current time, and the other keyframes follow in relative order. If the target clip is shorter than the source clip, keyframes that occur after the target clip’s Out point are pasted to the clip but don’t appear unless you disable the Pin To Clip option. The keyframes remain selected after pasting, so you can immediately move them in the target clip.

You can also copy a keyframe by dragging. In the timeline of the Effect Controls panel, hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and drag a keyframe to a new location.

Copy and paste keyframes in a Timeline panel

When you paste keyframes into the Timeline panel, the earliest keyframe appears at the current time, and the other keyframes follow in relative order. The keyframes remain selected after pasting, so you can fine-tune their location.

You can paste keyframes only to a clip or track that displays the same property as the copied keyframes. Also, Premiere Pro can paste keyframes at the Current Time Indicator on only one clip or track at a time. Because the Current Time Indicator can span multiple video and audio tracks, Premiere Pro uses criteria in the following order to determine where to paste the keyframes:

• If the current-time indicator is positioned within a selected clip, keyframes are pasted in that clip.
• If audio keyframes are cut or copied, Premiere Pro pastes in the first track where it finds a corresponding effect property, looking first at a sequence’s audio tracks, then its submix tracks, and then the master track.

If none of the above conditions produces a target video or audio track that matches both the effects property and the scope (clip or track) of the cut or copied keyframes, the Paste command is unavailable. For example, if you copy audio track keyframes but the targeted audio track displays clip keyframes, the keyframes can’t be pasted.