Apply keywords to video

You can apply one or more keywords to any selection of video in an Event (source video). You can then sort the Event by keywords to see just the video you want. Sorting can be helpful when you’re creating a project. For example, you could mark all the video that includes a specific location with that location’s name as a keyword (“swimming pool,” for example). You could later sort for that name when you needed to choose footage of that location to include in a project.

There are two ways to apply keywords to video. You can first select video to apply keywords to and then apply keywords to it one by one. Or, you can use Advanced Tools to add keywords. With this method, you first select one or more keywords you want to apply to video, and then select the video to apply them to. This method lets you add the same set of keywords to many different video clips very quickly.

To apply keywords individually:

  1. In the Event browser, select video (a frame range or one or more clips) you want to add keywords to.

  2. Click the Keywords button in the iMovie toolbar to open the Keywords window.

    Image of the Keywords button

    If you don’t see the Keywords button, you need to turn on Advanced Tools.

  3. At the top of the Keywords window, click Inspector.

    iMovie comes with a number of keywords already set.

  4. To add keywords to video, select those you want to apply; deselect any you don’t want to apply.

    If a keyword has a number next to it, you can simply press the corresponding number key on your keyboard to add that keyword.

    A blue line appears at the top of the selected video, indicating that keywords have been applied to it.

  5. To add a new keyword to the list, type it in the Keyword field, and then click “Add to Clip.”

    This action applies the newly created keyword to the selected video, and it adds the keyword to the Keywords list so that you can use the new keyword in the future.

  6. The presence of a dash in the checkbox next to a keyword indicates that part of the selected video has already been tagged with this keyword. Click the dash to select the keyword and apply it to all the selected video; click it again to deselect it and remove it from all the selected video.

  7. Continue to apply keywords to other video: drag across the thumbnails of any clip to select a frame range, or Option-click to select an entire clip, and then select keywords to apply.

  8. When you’re finished adding keywords, close the Keywords window or click the Pointer button.

    Image of Pointer button

In the Keyword inspector, you can reorder keywords in the list by dragging them to the positions where you want them to appear.

To tag many video clips with the same keyword combination:

  1. Click the Keywords button in the iMovie toolbar to open the Keywords window.

    Image of the Keywords button

    If you don’t see the Keywords button, you need to turn on Advanced Tools.

  2. Click Auto-Apply at the top of the Keywords window.

  3. Select the keywords you want to apply, and deselect those you don’t want.

  4. If you want to add a keyword to the list, type it in the New Keyword field, and then click Add Keyword.

    To remove a keyword from the list, select it and then click Remove.

  5. In the Event browser, drag across the thumbnails of any clip to select a frame range, or Option-click to select an entire clip you want to add the keywords to.

    The keywords are applied to the video. You can continue to select video in this manner to apply the same combination of keywords to.

    A blue line appears at the top of the video, indicating that keywords have been applied to it.

  6. When you’re finished adding keywords, close the Keywords window or click the Pointer button.

    Image of Pointer button

To remove keywords from video:

You can remove some or all keywords from a video clip at any time after you’ve applied them.

  1. Click the Keywords button in the iMovie toolbar to open the Keywords window.

    Image of the Keywords button

    If you don’t see the Keywords button, you need to turn on Advanced Tools.

  2. Click Inspector at the top of the Keywords window.

  3. In the Event browser, drag across the thumbnails of any clip to select a frame range, or Option-click to select an entire clip that has keywords applied to it.

    In the Keywords window, checkmarks appear in the checkboxes next to the keywords already applied to the entire video. The presence of a dash in the checkbox next to a keyword indicates that part of the selected video has been tagged with the keyword.

  4. Do one of the following:

    • To remove some keywords, click the checkmark, or double-click the dash, next to any keyword you want to remove. The checkbox should be empty.

    • To remove all keywords, click Remove All at the bottom of the Keywords window.

  5. When you’re finished removing keywords, close the Keywords window or click the Pointer button.

    Image of Pointer button