How to Select Multiple Clips in the Adobe Premiere Pro Timeline

When you are editing video in Adobe Premiere Pro, you may have to perform an action that affects a clip as a whole, part of a clip, or multiple clips at once. These may include applying effects, deleting clips, or moving clips around in the timeline. Here are several ways to select single or multiple clips.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Choose a selection tool from the toolbox.

2. When selecting a single clip, use the selection tool (it looks like an arrow) and click on a clip in the timeline panel.

3. To select only the audio or video portion of a clip that is has “linked” audio and video, use the selection tool and then hold the “Alt” key down while clicking that portion.

4. To select multiple clips at once, use the selection tool and then hold the “Shift” key down while clicking each clip you want to select. You may also “Shift-click” a clip that has been selected to deselect it.

5. To select a range of clips at once, click in an empty area of the sequence under the time ruler. Next use the marquee selection to drag a rectangle around any part of the other clips you want to select.

6. To add or subtract a range of clips from a current selection, click “Shift” and drag a marquee around clips. Clicking “Shift” and dragging a marquee that includes unselected clips adds them to the current selection, and clicking “Shift” and dragging a marquee that includes selected clips deselects them.

7. To select all of the clips that exist after a certain time, select the “Track Select” tool. It looks like an arrow pointing to the right, with a dotted rectangle around it. Click the clip that is at the beginning of the time span you want to select, then “Shift-click” with the tool to select all of the clips in all tracks.

8. To select clips in a track without including the linked video or audio, “Alt-click” while using the "Track Select" tool.