Most frequently used functions in Lightworks have a keyboard shortcut.
Some functions are also available on the on-screen console shown below.
The option to show this console on the screen is in the preferences menu.
Although this on-screen console may be useful for new users, positioning the cursor and clicking on the correct icon is much slower to use than a keyboard shortcut, especially when playing a clip to find a particular frame, so it is worth learning to use the shortcuts.
The best option is to buy a dedicated keyboard from Lightworks with the keys marked to indicate the functions.
Below is an image of the keyboard copied from the user manual.
Alternatively, right click on the above image and select "Save picture/image as". Save the image and print it on a piece of paper using Windows Photo Viewer. The printed image can then be placed near the keyboard as a reference.
A list of keyboard shortcut can also be obtained by selecting Preferences in the toolbar, then Change/view key assignments, settings menu (Cogs icon),
View Assignments, Create HTML Report.
To help users who have previously used Final Cut Pro or Avid the keyboard shortcuts used in these systems can be imported.
Here is a list of some keyboard Shortcuts. The Function column shows the name of the function as it appears in the Lightworks Keyboard Mapping Tool. Below only default mappings are shown. If no default mapping is shown we should use the mapping from FCP/Avid but mark the keys in brackets.
| Function | Lightworks | FCP | Avid | Description |
| Play Forwards | L | L | L | Play Forwards, each time the key is tapped the speed increases |
| Stop | K | K | K | Stop playing |
| Play Backwards | J | J | J | Play backwards, each time the key is tapped the speed increases |
| Preview | (\) | Plays around the edit/Previews Edit (plays a few seconds before and after current edit) | ||
| Preview Fullscreen | Ctl+F12 | F12 | Display video full screen on 2nd computer monitor if there is one |
