You can use Gridshift with the mouse alone, with the keyboard alone, or mixed. Every task in these docs gives the key first and the click in the same sentence. Three ideas make the keyboard way work.
Every command has a name
⌘K opens the Command Palette. Type a few letters of what you want and press Return. You never need to know where a menu item lives, and you can give any command your own key with Custom Shortcuts.
The edit cursor is where things land
A short line on one track marks a time and a track. The arrow keys move it, and new clips, pastes and splits happen there. With the mouse you click the spot instead. See How Gridshift Thinks.
Focus Mode opens a clip in place
⌥↓ opens the selected clip’s editor right where it sits; Escape closes it. With the mouse, double-click the clip. The arrows then edit inside the clip instead of moving between clips. See Focus Mode.
The letter keys play
On an instrument or sample track, the letter keys play notes or slices, and the number row sets how hard. While a track can play, the letter keys without a modifier go to the instrument, not to commands. See Play with the Keyboard.
When the mouse is faster
To copy something, mark it and ⌘-click where the copy goes, or hold a note and press Return: see Stamping. Dragging a clip a long way, drawing an automation curve and sweeping a fader are quicker by hand. Use whichever is closer.
Next: Shortcuts lists every key by context. Last modified on October 23, 2026
