> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gridshift.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sends and Returns

> Shares one effect, such as a reverb, across many tracks: each track sends some of its signal into a return track. Press ⌥⇧⌘T for a return, then drag a track's send slider above 0.

## Add a return track

<video src="/videos/sends-return.mp4" poster="/videos/sends-return.jpg" aria-label="Option Shift Command T adds Return 1 to the output buses, above the Master" title="Option Shift Command T adds Return 1 to the output buses, above the Master" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Press `⌥⇧⌘T`, or right-click the Sidebar's empty area. The return appears just above **Master**. Load the shared effect on it through the [Plugin Strip](/sounds/plugin-strip.md).

## Send a track to a return

<video src="/videos/sends-send.mp4" poster="/videos/sends-send.jpg" aria-label="In the Reese bass's Sends section, the Reverb send is dragged up from 0" title="In the Reese bass's Sends section, the Reverb send is dragged up from 0" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Select a sample, instrument or group track and open the **Sends** section in the [Inspector](/get-started/the-window.md). Drag the return's slider above 0 to create the send.

## Switch between Pre-Mix and Post-Mix

Right-click a send row and choose **Send Pre-Mix** or **Send Post-Mix**.

## Balance everything feeding a return

Select the return. Its **Incoming Sends** section lists every track sending into it. Drag a row to change that source's level.

## Compare with and without a send

Click the glyph at the start of a send row, or right-click it and choose **Bypass Send**. The send goes silent and keeps its level; **Enable Send** brings it back.

## Automate a send

Right-click a send row and choose **Automate Send Amount**. A new [automation lane](/mix/automation.md) appears, bound to the send level.

## Good to know

* **A return is a shared bus.** Load an effect once on the return, then set how much each source pushes into it: a shared reverb, delay or parallel compression.
* **A send at 0 still exists.** Dragging an existing send back to 0 keeps it, with its automation lane and MIDI binding, so automation can open it in the chorus. Only a drag that created the send and ended at 0 leaves nothing behind.
* **Post-Mix rides with the fader.** Use it for "more reverb on this track". Use Pre-Mix to keep the wet path alive while the dry source fades down, or to drive a parallel processor at a fixed level.
* **Muting the source silences its sends**, at both tap points. Soloing a return still auditions just the wet signal: its sources keep feeding it while their dry output is silenced.
* **Routing cycles are refused.** Gridshift checks every send and refuses one that would close a cycle, which is why a return cannot send to a return.

> **Details**
>
> * Returns are full tracks: the same effects chain, [mix controls](/mix/track-mix.md), metering and signal history as any other track, including [sidechain](/mix/sidechain.md) sources on their plugins.
> * New returns are named `Return 1`, `Return 2`, … and inserted just above **Master**. There is no limit on the number of returns.
> * The Sends section appears once the project has a return. Its header's `⋯` menu adds another one; the first comes from `⌥⇧⌘T`, the Sidebar, the Inspector's empty-area right-click menu or the [Command Palette](/work-fast/command-palette.md).
> * Every return gets a row on every track that can send, dimmed until it carries signal. There is no Remove entry; a send goes away only with the track at either end.
> * A new send starts at Post-Mix.
> * For a group track, Pre-Mix taps before the group's volume and pan, Post-Mix after them.
> * A return's **Output** picker, under its name, routes it to Master, a group or another return.
> * Incoming Sends rows mirror the source side: the same 0–150 % range and 100 % snap, the same right-click menu, and **Go to Track** jumps to the source. The section is hidden when nothing feeds the return.
> * Both sides drive the same connection. An automation lane made from either binds to the same send, and the slider tracks the curve during playback.
> * To move an effect you already have onto a new return, use **Move Effect to Return Track** on the [Plugin Strip](/sounds/plugin-strip.md).

> **Send row**
>
> | Element | Behavior |
> | - | - |
> | Bypass glyph | Silences the send and keeps its level. Appears on hover |
> | Return name (label) | Click to jump to the return track |
> | Slider | 0–150 % (0 = silence, 100 % = unity, 150 % = +3.5 dB), snaps at 100 % |
> | Percentage readout | Live value, including automation playback |
>
> Right-click menu: **Send Pre-Mix** / **Send Post-Mix**, **Bypass Send** / **Enable Send**, **Automate Send Amount**, **Go to Track** (selects the return in the Sidebar and the Inspector).

> **Tap points and limits**
>
> | Tap point | Signal source |
> | - | - |
> | **Post-Mix** (default) | After the source's fader, pan, stereo width and clipper or limiter. The send level rides with the fader |
> | **Pre-Mix** | Before the source's mix stage. The send level is independent of the fader |
>
> | Source track | Can send to a return? |
> | - | - |
> | **Sample**, **Instrument**, **Group** | Yes |
> | **Return** | No (would form a routing cycle) |
> | **Master** | No |
>
> Sends per track and returns per project are unlimited. A return's clipper starts on **Limit**, since parallel sums run hot.

> **Keys**
>
> | Action | Shortcut |
> | - | - |
> | Add Return Track | `⌥⇧⌘T` |
> | Reset a send to 0 | `⌥`-click |


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