Subtitle Edit

the subtitle editor :)


Keyboard Shortcuts

A reference for the default keyboard shortcuts in Subtitle Edit. Every shortcut can be customized in OptionsShortcuts — and many more actions are available there without a default binding. On macOS, Cmd (Win in the shortcut editor) is used wherever Ctrl is shown below.

See also: Shortcuts Settings

General

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+N New subtitle
Ctrl+O Open subtitle file
Ctrl+S Save subtitle
Ctrl+Shift+S Save subtitle as…
Ctrl+Z Undo
Ctrl+Y Redo
Ctrl+F Find
F3 Find next
Shift+F3 Find previous
Ctrl+H Replace
Ctrl+Shift+R Multiple replace
Ctrl+G Go to line number
Ctrl+L Focus selected line
Ctrl+Shift+B Add or edit bookmark
Ctrl+Shift+O Toggle translation mode
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+R Toggle right-to-left
Ctrl+4 Set up like Subtitle Edit 4 (classic theme, icons, waveform, replace rules and shortcuts)
Alt+Up Go to previous line
Alt+Down Go to next line
Ctrl+Home Go to first line
Ctrl+End Go to last line
F1 Show help
F2 Show source view

Editing Lines

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+Shift+M Merge selected lines
Alt+Insert Insert line after
Ctrl+Shift+Insert Insert line before
Ctrl+Alt+B Auto-break text
Ctrl+Alt+V Split line at text box cursor position
Ctrl+U Selected text to lowercase
Ctrl+Shift+U Selected text to uppercase
Ctrl+Shift+F3 Toggle casing
Ctrl+Shift+E Extend selected line to next
Alt+Shift+E Extend selected line to previous

Text Box

Active while the subtitle text box has focus.

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+X / Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V Cut / copy / paste
Ctrl+A Select all text
Shift+Delete Cut (Windows-standard gesture; Subtitle Edit binds it because Avalonia does not)
Shift+Backspace Delete selection or next character — forward delete. Default on macOS only, where the Delete key is a backspace; assign it yourself elsewhere

Note: “Text box: Cut / Copy / Paste (alternative)” exist as separate, unbound actions in OptionsShortcuts for anyone who wants a second gesture (e.g. Ctrl+Insert / Shift+Insert).

Subtitle Grid

Shortcut Action
Delete Delete selected line(s)
Ctrl+A Select all lines
Ctrl+Shift+I Inverse selection
Ctrl+I Toggle italic on selected lines or text
Ctrl+X / Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V Cut / copy / paste selected lines
Ctrl+Shift+V Fill selected lines with clipboard
Ctrl+F8 List errors
F8 / Shift+F8 Go to next / previous error
Alt+F7 Spell check

Source View

Inside the source view window (F2), which edits the raw subtitle text. These are fixed, not configurable in Options → Shortcuts.

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+F Find in the source
Ctrl+H Replace in the source (Cmd+Alt+F also works on macOS)
F3 / Shift+F3 Find next / previous
Ctrl+G Go to line number
Alt+Up / Alt+Down Move the current line or selected block up / down
Ctrl+D Duplicate the current line or selected block
Ctrl+Shift+K Delete the current line
Ctrl+Backspace Delete the word before the caret
Ctrl+Delete Delete the word after the caret
Escape Close the search bar, then the window

Note: On macOS the word deletes use Option+Backspace / Option+Delete, matching the platform. Alt+Up / Alt+Down are the same everywhere.

Video Playback

Shortcut Action
Space Toggle play/pause
Ctrl+Space Toggle play/pause (secondary)
Left One second back
Right One second forward
Alt+Left 500 milliseconds back
Alt+Right 500 milliseconds forward
F5 Play selected lines
Alt+Enter Video full screen
Ctrl+Alt+P Pause

Timing

Shortcut Action
F11 Set start time
F12 Set end time

“Set end time and go to next line” has no default shortcut: bare F10 activates the main menu bar (the Windows standard). Assign F10 to the action in Options → Shortcuts if you prefer the Subtitle Edit 4 behavior — a user-assigned shortcut wins over the menu activation.

Waveform

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+V Paste lines from clipboard at waveform position
Ctrl+C Copy the selected subtitle to the clipboard
Shift++ Vertical zoom in
Shift+- Vertical zoom out

Tools

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+Shift+F Fix common errors
Ctrl+Shift+C Change casing
Ctrl+Alt+R AI review
Ctrl+B Batch convert
Ctrl+Shift+H Remove text for hearing impaired
Ctrl+Shift+G Auto-translate
Ctrl+Shift+A Synchronization → Adjust all times
Ctrl+Shift+P Synchronization → Point sync
Ctrl+Shift+D Find double words
Ctrl+Shift+L Add to name list
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+D Open data folder
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L Save language file

Note: Several actions (Bold, Underline, shot-change snapping/extending, green-zone in/out cues, “Go to next empty line”, “Waveform paste clipboard text to new selection”, etc.) ship without a default key. Open OptionsShortcuts to assign them, or use Import from SE 4.x to bring over a familiar set.

Fix Lists in Dialogs

Dialogs that preview their changes in a list of checkboxes — Remove text for hearing impaired, Multiple replace — accept these in the list itself. They are fixed and not part of OptionsShortcuts.

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+A Select all (tick every row)
Ctrl+D Select none (untick every row)
Ctrl+Shift+I Invert selection
Space Toggle the checkbox of the highlighted rows

The same three actions sit in the list’s right-click menu. In Multiple replace they apply to the fixes preview on the right; the rules tree on the left keeps its own Ctrl+D (duplicate rule). Other tools with such a list (Fix common errors, Merge continuation lines, Remove unicode characters, Fix Netflix errors, AI review) put buttons below the list for the same job.