Timeline

The timeline is the central component of Recorded’s editor, where you arrange, trim, and manage the segments of your recording.

Click anywhere on the timeline to move the playhead to that position. The preview updates in real time to show the frame at the playhead’s location.

You can zoom in and out on the timeline to see more or less detail. Zooming in is useful for precise editing of short segments, while zooming out gives you an overview of the entire recording.

Playback Controls

  • Play / Pause — Press Space to toggle playback. The preview plays from the current playhead position.
  • Scrubbing — Click and drag on the timeline to scrub through the recording quickly.

Segments

Your recording is divided into video segments on the timeline. Each video segment can have its own settings for speed, audio volume, and webcam layout. Zoom effects and text live on their own separate lanes, so you can move them independently of the video segments.

Splitting Segments

Position the playhead where you want to split, then press C. The segment under the playhead is divided into two independent segments at that exact point.

Deleting Segments

Select one or more segments and press Delete or Backspace. Recorded performs a ripple delete — the gap is closed automatically by shifting later segments forward.

Selecting Segments

  • Click a segment to select it.
  • Cmd/Ctrl + A to select all segments.
  • Escape to clear the selection.

Visual Indicators

The timeline displays several types of information:

  • Video segments — The main track showing your screen recording divided into editable sections.
  • Audio waveforms — Visual representations of your system audio and microphone tracks, drawn inside each video segment.
  • Zoom lane — Zoom segments showing where zoom effects are applied. Click an empty spot on the lane to add a zoom.
  • Text lane — Text overlays and captions. Click an empty spot on the lane to add a text segment.

Snap-to-Grid

When dragging segments or trim handles, they automatically snap to nearby boundaries for precise alignment. Hold Alt while dragging to temporarily disable snapping for free-form positioning.

Undo / Redo

All timeline operations support undo (Cmd/Ctrl + Z) and redo (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Z, or Ctrl + Y on Windows). Your complete edit history is preserved throughout the session.