How to use mouse buttons in Premiere Pro on a Mac
InputConfig is completely free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.
Premiere Pro does not let you assign a mouse button to a command, so on a Mac you put the job on a key and make the button press that key. The Adobe community threads I read on October 21, 2026 say the same, including a feature request for mouse button mapping that is still open. InputConfig, the free Mac app I make, scans any mouse button and sends a key or a whole shortcut, and it can follow Premiere Pro as the front app. This app is completely free, and you do not have to make an account.
The keys on this page come from Adobe's list of default Premiere Pro shortcuts, which I read on October 21, 2026. If you cut with a MIDI pad or a shuttle instead, see a MIDI controller for Premiere Pro and the video editing shuttle guide.
On this page: 10 sections
What Premiere Pro and macOS give a mouse
Premiere reads the left button, the right button and the wheel, and it already uses some wheel and modifier combinations on the timeline. Adobe's table says that on a Mac, Command with the scroll wheel scrolls the timeline, Option with the wheel changes the height of a single track, and Shift with the wheel changes the height of all video or audio tracks together. Those are worth knowing before you add any wheel row.
Premiere's own shortcut editor, Premiere Pro, Keyboard Shortcuts in the menu bar, binds keys, and the mouse buttons are not in it. A mouse maker's software can send keys per app on a Mac, and so can a mapper. Every Premiere job below is a keyboard shortcut that a mouse button presses for you.
Find out what each button sends
A mouse button reaches the Mac as Left click, Right click, Middle click or Button 4 and up. Press Scan, then click the button. If Scan names a key instead of a mouse button, the mouse is sending a key, and the fix is on F13 to F19 on a Mac.
| Button | How it usually reports | A good Premiere job |
|---|---|---|
| Left click and right click | Left click and Right click | Leave them. They cannot be blocked. |
| Wheel press | Middle click | Add Marker, or Snap in Timeline. |
| Side buttons | Button 4 and Button 5 | Add Edit and Undo. |
| Thumb grid or extra buttons | Button 6 and higher | Mark In, Mark Out, Lift, Extract. |
| Tilt wheel | Sideways scroll | Zoom the timeline in and out. |
| DPI or profile button | Often nothing the Mac can read | Nothing. If Scan hears no press, no app can read it. |
Put the timeline keys on the buttons
Adobe's table gives each of these for macOS. Add Edit is the cut: it splits the clips on the targeted tracks at the playhead.
Step 1: Scan and give it Add Edit
- You: Add a row, set the device to This Mac's mouse or trackpad, the input to Mouse and the kind to Button, then press Scan and click the thumb button. Set the output to Keyboard Key, pick Command under Modifier Keys, click the plus button and add K.
- InputConfig: Presses Command K each time you press the button.
- Check: Park the playhead on a clip in the timeline and press the button. The clip splits.
Step 2: Stop the old job
- You: For a side or middle button, open the row's Options and tick Block the button's own action in the Press box.
- InputConfig: While the preset runs, apps stop seeing that button.
- Check: Press the button once. Only the cut happens.
| Job | Premiere Pro key on a Mac | Good home |
|---|---|---|
| Add Edit at the playhead | Command K | Button 4 |
| Add Edit to All Tracks | Shift Command K | Hold on Button 4 |
| Undo and redo | Command Z and Shift Command Z | Button 5 and a hold on it |
| Zoom the timeline in and out | Equals sign and minus sign | Tilt left and right, or two thumb buttons |
| Snap in Timeline | S | Wheel press |
| Add marker | M | A thumb button |
| Mark In and Mark Out | I and O | Two thumb buttons |
| Lift and Extract | Semicolon and apostrophe | Two upper buttons |
| Ripple Delete | Shift Forward Delete | A hold on a thumb button |
| Play and stop toggle | Space | A thumb button |
| Shuttle left, stop and right | J, K and L | Three thumb buttons |
| Previous and next edit point | Up Arrow and Down Arrow | Two thumb buttons |
The Razor tool and the other tool keys are not in that table. Premiere shows a tool's key in its tooltip when you hover over it, so check there if you want the Razor on a button. Add Edit does the same cut without switching tools.
Macros and multi-step jobs
A macro is a row with Run a sequence of steps ticked, and each step is a key, a shortcut or a click with its own wait. Three that suit Premiere:
- Cut and mark. Command K, a short wait, then M. One press cuts at the playhead and leaves a marker there.
- Mark a clip and play it. X marks the clip under the playhead in Adobe's table, then Space plays. It is a quick preview of a selection.
- Cut on every track and move on. Shift Command K, then Down Arrow to jump to the next edit point.
I have not run these in Premiere myself. Try them on a copy of a sequence first. A macro that cuts is worth testing somewhere it cannot hurt.
Hold, repeat, tap twice and switch by app
- A tap and a hold. Put Command K on the tap and Shift Command K on the hold, so one thumb button cuts the targeted tracks or all of them.
- Repeat keys while held. For stepping with the arrow keys, this makes a held button keep sending the key. Leave it off for cuts and deletes.
- Block the button's own action. Available for the middle button and the side buttons, so an app stops seeing them while the preset runs.
To keep the layout inside Premiere, open the preset's Automation & Gaming Utilities section, add Premiere Pro under Activate when these apps are in front, and in Settings, Advanced, turn on Switch presets when the front app changes. Only one preset runs at a time, so each app gets its own preset. The emergency stop is Control Option Command period. A thumb button that cuts should only be live while the editor is in front.
Layouts for the mouse you have
- A thumb grid mouse. Cuts on the first row, Mark In and Out on the second, and the markers, lift and extract on the rest. The MMO mouse page covers the grid itself.
- A trackball. The ball is the pointer for the timeline, and the two small buttons are Add Edit and Undo.
- A vertical mouse. Two side buttons: Add Edit and Undo, with holds for Add Edit to All Tracks and redo.
- A mouse with a keypad. The mouse handles the cuts and the keypad handles the rest. See the USB macro keypad page.
Two buttons are enough to start.
If a button does nothing in Premiere Pro
Climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Check the preset is on. Click Activate, and make sure Premiere Pro is the app the preset follows.
- Check Accessibility. In System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility.
- Click the Timeline panel. Premiere's shortcuts act on the panel in focus, so click the Timeline once and press the button again.
- Check Premiere's own keys. If you changed a shortcut, use your key in the row. Premiere Pro, Keyboard Shortcuts shows what a command is set to.
- Check the Scan. If the button scans as a key, set it to F13 to F20 in the maker's software first.
- Quit the maker's software. Logi Options+ and similar apps can take a button over.
What it cannot do
- Reach into Premiere. InputConfig sends keys, clicks and scrolls. It cannot read the timeline or which clip is selected.
- Tell two mice apart. Every mouse connected counts as one device.
- Change pointer speed. Use the Mac's settings, the maker's app, or LinearMouse, Mac Mouse Fix or SteerMouse.
- Replace a jog wheel. A shuttle moves the playhead smoothly. A mouse button only sends discrete keys.
The short version
- Keys, not buttons. Premiere takes keys. Add Edit is Command K and undo is Command Z.
- Scan, then block. Scan the thumb button and block its old action.
- Follow the app. Add Premiere Pro under Activate when these apps are in front.
Add Edit on a thumb button, and the cut is one click away from where your pointer already is.
Questions
Can I assign a mouse button to a shortcut in Premiere Pro?
Not inside Premiere. Its shortcut editor binds keys, so assign the key to the button with InputConfig or the mouse maker's software, then use Premiere's own shortcut.
What is the Premiere Pro shortcut for cutting a clip on a Mac?
Add Edit is Command K, and Add Edit to All Tracks is Shift Command K, in Adobe's table. The Razor tool has its own key, shown in its tooltip.
How do I zoom the Premiere Pro timeline with a mouse button?
The zoom keys in Adobe's table are the equals sign and the minus sign. Put them on two buttons, or on the left and right of a tilt wheel.
Why does my mouse button do nothing in Premiere Pro?
Check that the preset is active, that Accessibility is allowed, and that the Timeline panel is in focus. If the button never scans, it only talks to the maker's software.
Can a mouse side button be play and pause in Premiere Pro?
Yes. Give the button the Space key, which is Play-Stop Toggle in Adobe's table.
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