These 20 beginner tips will save you hours of editing time, prevent common mistakes, and help you build a clean, professional workflow from day one.

1. Close Timeline Gaps Instantly

When you cut a clip and a gap appears, don’t drag clips manually.

  • Click on the gap
  • Press Delete
  • The gap closes automatically

If you have already made multiple cuts, go to Sequence > Close Gap to remove all gaps at once.

2. Select Everything Forward Or Backward In One Click

Instead of selecting clips one by one:

  • Press A to activate the Track Select Forward Tool, then click a cut to select everything ahead.
  • Press Shift + A for the Track Select Backward Tool to select everything behind

Perfect for moving large sections of your edit.

3. Use The Right Workspace For The Job

Premiere Pro comes with built-in workspaces designed for specific tasks:

  • Editing – cutting and trimming
  • Color – color correction and grading
  • Vertical – YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels

Switching workspaces automatically rearranges panels to match your workflow.

4. Turn On Auto Save Before Anything Else

Just like any other software, Premiere Pro can crash sometimes, and if you haven’t saved your project, all your hard work can be lost. Before you start editing your first project, go to: Edit > Preferences >Auto Save.

  • Enable Automatically Save Projects
  • Set the interval to 5 minutes (or whatever feels right)

This one setting can save your entire project.

5. Memorize Just These 5 Shortcuts First

You don’t need to learn every shortcut immediately. Start with these:

  • V – Selection Tool
  • C – Razor Tool
  • Spacebar – Play / Pause
  • I / O – In & Out points
  • Ctrl / Cmd + Z – Undo

Master these, and you’re already faster than most beginners.

6. Zoom into The Timeline For Precise Cuts

Use the slider at the bottom of the timeline to zoom in and out. A zoomed-in timeline makes frame-accurate cuts much easier.

7. Increase Layer Height For Clarity

Drag the slider on the right side of the timeline to increase track height. This makes stacked video and audio layers far easier to see and manage.

8. Duplicate Clips Instantly

To duplicate any clip:

  1. Select the clip
  2. Hold Alt
  3. Drag it to a new position

You’ll get an instant duplicate without copy-paste.

9. Render Only What You Need

If playback starts lagging:

  1. Mark In (I) and Out (O) points
  2. Go to Sequence > Render In to Out

Premiere Pro will render only that section, giving you smooth, full-quality playback.

10. Use Adjustment Layers For Effects

Never apply heavy effects directly to clips.

  • Create an Adjustment Layer from the Project panel
  • Place it above your clips
  • Apply effects to the adjustment layer

This keeps your timeline clean and makes changes easier later.

11. Use Proxies For Smooth Editing

High-resolution footage can slow down your system.

  • Select clips in the Project panel
  • Right-click > Create Proxies

Premiere Pro uses lightweight proxy files while editing and automatically switches back to full resolution during export.

12. Save Time With Text Animation Templates

You don’t need motion graphics skills to create animated text.

Platforms like Envato offer ready-to-use text animation templates.
Just drag them into your timeline, add text, and the animation is done.

Huge time saver for beginners.

13. Let AI Speed Up Your Editing

People often say that AI will replace editors, but the truth is, editors who use AI will replace those who don’t. So, as a beginner, start adding AI tools to your workflow.

Tools like FireCut can automatically:

  • Remove pauses and silence
  • Cut filler words
  • Delete repeated takes

This alone can cut hours from long-form edits.

14. Automate Animated Captions

For YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, animated captions are essential.

Instead of animating text manually, use Captioneer. It automatically:

  • Transcribes audio
  • Translates captions
  • Animates text using Motion Graphic Templates

The entire process becomes a simple 3-step workflow.

15. Fix Audio Clipping Properly

If you see red peaks on the audio meter, your audio is too loud.

Go to: Window > Audio Track Mixer and lower the track’s mix volume until the peaks stay in the safe range.

16. Make Music Fit Your Video Automatically

Premiere Pro’s Audio Remix Tool adjusts music length automatically.

  • Shorten long tracks
  • Extend short tracks
  • Match music perfectly to your video duration

No manual cutting required.

17. Save Your Color Grade As A Preset

If you like your color correction:

  1. Select the layer with Lumetri Color
  2. Go to Effect Controls
  3. Right-click Lumetri Color > Save Preset

Your preset will appear in the Effects > Presets folder for future projects.

18. Clean Up Messy Timelines With Nesting

When your timeline gets cluttered:

  • Select multiple layers
  • Right-click > Nest

This groups everything into a single layer. Double-click the nested clip anytime to edit its contents.

19. Use Rulers And Guides For Perfect Alignment

Click the plus (+) icon in the Program Monitor button bar and add:

  • Show Ruler
  • Show Guides

These tools make aligning text and graphics far more precise.

20. Export The Right Way (Don’t Skip This)

Export settings matter more than most beginners realize. Make sure you learn:

  • The best Premiere Pro export settings for YouTube
  • How to avoid quality loss
  • How to export faster with presets

Once you get this right, you’ll save time on every single video.