Select one or more video clips, or specific project elements

You can select a single clip or multiple clips at a time in a project or an Event, and you can also select just the transitions, photos, maps, backgrounds, or animatics (animated gray-tone imagery used to create storyboards) in a project.

Selecting multiple clips allows you to move them as a group within your project, or from one Event to another. It’s also useful if you’ve made adjustments to a clip and you want to paste the same adjustments onto several other clips. Refer to the “See also” topics below for information about how to use the same clip adjustments multiple times.

To select a single clip:

The methods for selecting an entire clip in an Event or a project differ.

  • To select a clip in the Project browser, click the clip once so that a yellow border appears around it.

  • To select a clip in the Event browser, hold down the Shift key and click the clip.

    When you click a video clip in an Event without holding down the Shift key, by default iMovie selects a four-second clip of video. However, in iMovie preferences, you can set iMovie to select an entire clip in the Event browser whenever you click in an Event.

To select multiple clips:

In the Project browser or Event browser, do the following:

  • To select a contiguous range of clips, hold down the Shift key as you click the first and last clips in the range.

  • To select a number of individual clips, hold down the Command key as you click the clips you want to select.

  • To select all clips, select one of the project or Event clips and then choose Edit > Select All.

    The Edit menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

To deselect clips:

In the Project browser or Event browser, do the following:

  • If you have only one clip selected, to deselect it, select a different clip or click outside of the clip. Clicking in the horizontal gray area that separates the Project browser from the Event browser ensures that you don’t accidentally select another project element.

  • If you have many clips selected, hold down the Command key and click the clips you don’t want selected.

  • To deselect all clips, choose Edit > Select > None.

    The Edit menu appears in a light gray bar across the top of your computer screen.

To select just transitions, photos, maps, backgrounds, or animatics:

  • To select just the transitions, photos, maps, backgrounds, or animatics in an open project, choose Edit > Select, and then choose Transitions, Photos, Maps, Backgrounds, or Animatics.