lossless-cut/docs/getting-started.md

Getting started

Download and install

Get LosslessCut from the Mac App Store, Microsoft Store or Snap Store, which install and update it automatically, or download it from GitHub. The GitHub version has no installer: see Installation and files. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, see Supported OS versions.

Your first cut

• Drag and drop a video file into player or use ⌘/CTRL + O.
• SPACE to play/pause or ← → , . or mouse/trackpad wheel to seek back/forth.
• Set the start/end times of the current segment by first moving the timeline cursor and then pressing I to set start time and O to set end time. You can also press hold SHIFT while dragging a segment with the mouse to move or resize it
• + to create another marker and repeat the previous step to convert it into a segment.
• B to split the segment at the timeline cursor.
• BACKSPACE to remove cutpoint/segment.
• If you create segments without an end time, it is a marker instead of a segment.
  • Note that when exporting, all segments you create will be preserved and exported as new files. You can change this behavior with the Yin Yang symbol ☯️, in which case the behaviour is inverted and LosslessCut will instead skip all selected segments and export the parts between segments as files.
  • Also note that start times will not be accurate, see Export starts a few seconds before my cut point.
• (optional) + to add another segment at the current cursor time. Then select the segment end time with O.
• (optional) If you want to merge all the selected segments into one file after cutting, change the Export mode from Separate files to Merge cuts.
• (optional) If you want to export to a certain output folder, press the Working dir unset button (defaults to same folder as source file).
• (optional) If you want to change orientation, press the rotation button.
• (optional) By default, most audio, video and subtitle tracks from the input file will be cut and exported. Press the Tracks button to customise and/or add new tracks from other files.
• (optional) Select a new output format (remux).
• (optional) In the right-hand segments panel, right click a segment for options, or drag-drop to reorder. Segments will appear in this order in the merged output.
• When done, press the Export button (or E) to show an overview with export options.
• (optional) Adjust any export options.
• (optional) Change the Output file name template.
• Then press Export again to confirm the export
• Press the Camera button (or C) if you want to take a JPEG/PNG snapshot from the current time.
• If you want to move the original file to trash, press the trash button.
• For best results you may need to trial and error with another output format (Matroska can hold nearly everything), change keyframe cut mode or disable some tracks (see known issues).
• Press SHIFT + / to view and edit all keyboard & mouse shortcuts.
  • Default shortcuts are based on the physical key positions of a US (QWERTY) keyboard, so on other layouts (e.g. QWERTZ/AZERTY) some shortcuts are on different keys. The shortcuts dialog shows the actual keys for your layout, and you can rebind them there.
• Note: The original video file will not be modified. Instead, a file is created file in the same directory as the original file with from/to timestamps in the file name.
• See Keyboard shortcuts dialog for more custom actions. (SHIFT + /)

Next steps

• ✨ Features and use cases
• ❓ FAQ
• 📝 Recipe cookbook
• 🤔 Troubleshooting