150 FL Studio Keyboard Shortcuts To Speed Up Workflow

Learn to master FL Studio Keyboard Shortcuts

For any music producer, efficiency and speed are essential factors in their creative process. FL Studio is a popular Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and my pick for the top DAW for making beats. One of the ways FL Studio helps producers streamline their workflow is by offering a wide range of keyboard shortcuts. In this article, we’ll dive into the world of FL Studio keyboard shortcuts and discover how they can help speed up a producer’s workflow.

The Importance of FL Studio Keyboard Shortcuts

FL Studio keyboard shortcuts are an integral part of any producer’s toolkit. They allow users to quickly access essential functions and tools, reducing the need for time-consuming mouse clicks and menu navigation. By mastering these shortcuts, you’ll find yourself spending less time on tedious tasks and more time focusing on the creative aspects of music production. In addition, a streamlined workflow can lead to increased productivity, ultimately allowing you to complete projects faster and more efficiently.

Basic FL Studio Keyboard Shortcuts to Know

There are numerous keyboard shortcuts available, catering to various aspects of the DAW. Here are some basic shortcuts every producer should know:

  1. Spacebar: Play or pause your project
  2. Ctrl + Z: Undo the last action
  3. Ctrl + S: Save your project
  4. F5: Show/hide the Playlist
  5. F6: Show/hide the Step Sequencer
  6. F9: Show/hide the Mixer
  7. Ctrl + C: Copy the selected pattern or playlist clip
  8. Ctrl + V: Paste the copied pattern or playlist clip
  9. Shift + Mouse Wheel: Scroll horizontally in the Playlist and Piano roll

Once you’ve established the baseline of knowledge for these shortcuts, you can move on to some more advanced ones to help speed up your workflow in FL Studio.

Here are 150 FL Studio keyboard shortcuts to speed up workflow.

DescriptionTool/FeatureMac ShortcutWin Shortcut
Play / PauseTransportSpaceSpace
StopTransportCmd + SpaceCtrl + Space
RecordTransportRR
Toggle metronomeMetronomeMM
Toggle loop recordingRecordingCmd + LCtrl + L
Switch between Pattern and Song modeSequencerLL
Select next channelChannelsDown ArrowDown Arrow
Select previous channelChannelsUp ArrowUp Arrow
Select next patternPattern SelectorCmd + Down ArrowCtrl + Down Arrow
Select previous patternPattern SelectorCmd + Up ArrowCtrl + Up Arrow
Increase/decrease pattern lengthSequencer+/-+/-
Mute / Unmute selected channelChannelsCmd + MCtrl + M
Solo / Unsolo selected channelChannelsAlt + MAlt + M
Open / Close piano roll for selected channelPiano RollCmd + PCtrl + P
Open / Close playlistPlaylistCmd + ECtrl + E
Open / Close mixerMixerCmd + LCtrl + L
Zoom in / out horizontally in playlistPlaylistCmd + Mouse WheelCtrl + Mouse Wheel
Zoom in / out vertically in playlistPlaylistAlt + Mouse WheelAlt + Mouse Wheel
UndoGeneralCmd + ZCtrl + Z
RedoGeneralCmd + Shift + ZCtrl + Shift + Z
Cut selected areaGeneralCmd + XCtrl + X
Copy selected areaGeneralCmd + CCtrl + C
Paste from clipboardGeneralCmd + VCtrl + V
Save projectGeneralCmd + SCtrl + S
Open new projectGeneralCmd + NCtrl + N
Open existing projectGeneralCmd + OCtrl + O
Select allGeneralCmd + ACtrl + A
Deselect allGeneralCmd + Shift + ACtrl + Shift + A
DuplicateGeneralCmd + DCtrl + D
Delete selectedGeneralDeleteDelete
Toggle step editing modeSequencerTT
Add new patternPattern SelectorCmd + Alt + NCtrl + Alt + N
Rename / color selected channelChannelsCmd + RCtrl + R
Channel windowChannelsCmd + EnterCtrl + Enter
Select all channelsChannelsCmd + Shift + LCtrl + Shift + L
Deselect all channelsChannelsCmd + Shift + Alt + LCtrl + Shift + Alt + L
Mute / Unmute all channelsChannelsCmd + Alt + MCtrl + Alt + M
Solo / Unsolo all channelsChannelsCmd + Shift + Alt + MCtrl + Shift + Alt + M
Slice toolPlaylistCC
Draw toolPlaylistPP
Paint toolPlaylistBB
Delete toolPlaylistDD
Mute toolPlaylistTT
Select toolPlaylistEE
Zoom toolPlaylistZZ
Move toolPlaylistAA
Slip toolPlaylistSS
Show all mixer tracksMixerCmd + Shift + MCtrl + Shift + M
Show only selected mixer tracksMixerCmd + Alt + MCtrl + Alt + M
Insert new mixer trackMixerCmd + Alt + NCtrl + Alt + N
Rename / color selected mixer trackMixerCmd + RCtrl + R
Mute / Unmute selected mixer trackMixerCmd + MCtrl + M
Solo / Unsolo selected mixer trackMixerAlt + MAlt + M
Select all mixer tracksMixerCmd + Shift + LCtrl + Shift + L
Deselect all mixer tracksMixerCmd + Shift + Alt + LCtrl + Shift + Alt + L
Mute / Unmute all mixer tracksMixerCmd + Alt + MCtrl + Alt + M
Solo / Unsolo all mixer tracksMixerCmd + Shift + Alt + MCtrl + Shift + Alt + M
Zoom in horizontally in piano rollPiano RollCmd + Mouse WheelCtrl + Mouse Wheel
Zoom in vertically in piano rollPiano RollAlt + Mouse WheelAlt + Mouse Wheel
Draw tool in piano rollPiano RollPP
Paint tool in piano rollPiano RollBB
Delete tool in piano rollPiano RollDD
Slice tool in piano rollPiano RollCC
Select tool in piano rollPiano RollEE
Zoom tool in piano rollPiano RollZZ
Play pattern starting from cursorPiano RollCmd + SpaceCtrl + Space
Quantize selected notesPiano RollCmd + QCtrl + Q
Transpose selected notes upPiano RollUp ArrowUp Arrow
Transpose selected notes downPiano RollDown ArrowDown Arrow
Shift selected notes leftPiano RollLeft ArrowLeft Arrow
Shift selected notes rightPiano RollRight ArrowRight Arrow
Select all notesPiano RollCmd + ACtrl + A
Deselect all notesPiano RollCmd + Shift + ACtrl + Shift + A
Toggle ghost notesPiano RollAlt + VAlt + V
Toggle slide notesPiano RollSS
Toggle portamento notesPiano RollAlt + LAlt + L
Open channel settingsChannelsF2F2
Open plugin pickerPluginsF8F8
Open browserBrowserF3F3
Open playlistPlaylistF5F5
Open piano rollPiano RollF7F7
Open mixerMixerF9F9
Toggle full-screen modeGeneralCmd + EnterCtrl + Enter
Toggle grid snap in piano rollPiano RollCmd + SCtrl + S
Toggle step edit mode in piano rollPiano RollCmd + TCtrl + T
Toggle grid snap in playlistPlaylistCmd + SCtrl + S
Toggle step edit mode in playlistPlaylistCmd + TCtrl + T
Open channel rackChannelsF6F6
Switch to next pattern in channel rackChannelsTabTab
Switch to previous pattern in channel rackChannelsShift + TabShift + Tab
Nudge selected note left in piano rollPiano RollAlt + Left ArrowAlt + Left Arrow
Nudge selected note right in piano rollPiano RollAlt + Right ArrowAlt + Right Arrow
Resize selected note in piano rollPiano RollShift + Left/Right ArrowShift + Left/Right Arrow
Toggle step recording in piano rollPiano RollCmd + RCtrl + R
Toggle loop recording in piano rollPiano RollCmd + LCtrl + L
Increase/decrease piano roll grid sizePiano RollCmd + +/-Ctrl + +/-
Toggle step recording in playlistPlaylistCmd + RCtrl + R
Toggle loop recording in playlistPlaylistCmd + LCtrl + L
Increase/decrease playlist grid sizePlaylistCmd + +/-Ctrl + +/-
Open channel settings for selected channelChannelsCmd + ICtrl + I
Open plugin picker for selected channelChannelsCmd + F8Ctrl + F8
Open insert effect slot in mixerMixerCmd + FCtrl + F
Open send effect slot in mixerMixerCmd + GCtrl + G
Toggle extra volume/stereo separation panelMixerCmd + HCtrl + H
Toggle waveforms in mixerMixerCmd + WCtrl + W
Toggle input monitoring in mixerMixerCmd + ICtrl + I
Increase/decrease mixer track widthMixerCmd + +/-Ctrl + +/-
Reset mixer track volumeMixerCmd + Alt + Left ClickCtrl + Alt + Left Click
Reset mixer track panMixerCmd + Alt + Right ClickCtrl + Alt + Right Click
Add new automation clipPlaylistCmd + Alt + CCtrl + Alt + C
Add new audio clipPlaylistCmd + Alt + ACtrl + Alt + A
Add new MIDI outPlaylistCmd + Alt + MCtrl + Alt + M
Add new samplerPlaylistCmd + Alt + SCtrl + Alt + S
Copy value of controlGeneralCmd + CCtrl + C
Paste value of controlGeneralCmd + VCtrl + V
Reset control to defaultGeneralCmd + RCtrl + R
Toggle note properties in piano rollPiano RollNN
Toggle keyboard editor in piano rollPiano RollKK
Toggle note velocities in piano rollPiano RollVV
Toggle note pan in piano rollPiano RollAlt + PAlt + P
Toggle note pitch in piano rollPiano RollAlt + OAlt + O
Toggle note release in piano rollPiano RollAlt + RAlt + R
Toggle note fine pitch in piano rollPiano RollAlt + FAlt + F
Toggle automation clips in playlistPlaylistAA
Toggle audio clips in playlistPlaylistSS
Toggle pattern clips in playlistPlaylistPP
Toggle video clips in playlistPlaylistVV
Toggle layer channelsChannelsLL
Toggle grouped channelsChannelsGG
Toggle unsorted channelsChannelsUU
Toggle sampler channelsChannelsSS
Toggle audio clip channelsChannelsAA
Toggle automation clip channelsChannelsOO
Toggle MIDI channelsChannelsMM
Toggle all channelsChannelsTT
Toggle selected channelChannelsEnterEnter
Toggle visibility of all panelsGeneralF11F11
Toggle visibility of browserGeneralF8F8
Toggle visibility of channel rackGeneralF6F6
Toggle visibility of mixerGeneralF9F9
Toggle visibility of piano rollGeneralF7F7
Toggle visibility of playlistGeneralF5F5
Select mixer track 1-10MixerCmd + 1-0Ctrl + 1-0
Select mixer track 11-20MixerCmd + Shift + 1-0Ctrl + Shift + 1-0
Select mixer track 21-30MixerCmd + Alt + 1-0Ctrl + Alt + 1-0
Select mixer track 31-40MixerCmd + Alt + Shift + 1-0Ctrl + Alt + Shift + 1-0
Select mixer track 41-50MixerCmd + Ctrl + 1-0Ctrl + Ctrl + 1-0
Select mixer track 51-60MixerCmd + Ctrl + Shift + 1-0Ctrl + Ctrl + Shift + 1-0
Select mixer track 61-70MixerCmd + Ctrl + Alt + 1-0Ctrl + Ctrl + Alt + 1-0

Customizing your shortcuts

One of the great features of FL Studio is its ability to allow users to customize their keyboard shortcuts. This customization ensures that you can tailor the DAW to suit your unique workflow and preferences. To customize your shortcuts, simply navigate to Options > General settings > File settings > Typing keyboard to piano keyboard. From here, you can assign specific functions to the keys of your choice.

Practice Makes Perfect

As with any music production skill, practice is crucial when it comes to mastering these keyboard shortcuts. It may take some time to commit these shortcuts to memory, but the benefits are well worth the effort. Make a habit of using shortcuts consistently, and soon enough, they’ll become second nature. Additionally, consider creating a cheat sheet of your most commonly used shortcuts, keeping it close by while you work.

The Benefits of Sample Packs and Additional Resources

In addition to mastering these 150 FL Studio keyboard shortcuts, there are other resources available to help speed up your workflow. Sample packs, for example, provide a vast array of pre-made loops and sounds, allowing you to focus on arranging and mixing your tracks. Many producers also find online tutorials and forums to be invaluable sources of information and inspiration.

Putting it all together

FL Studio keyboard shortcuts are an essential tool for any producer looking to streamline their workflow and enhance their creative process. By familiarizing yourself with these shortcuts and incorporating them into your daily routine, you’ll find that your productivity increases, and your projects come together more efficiently. Don’t hesitate to explore additional resources and tools, such as sample packs and online tutorials, to further refine your skills and elevate your music production game.

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