Steinberg Cubase Keyboard Shortcuts
Cubase's shortcut set carries a strong MIDI-composition bias that reflects its roots as one of the earliest sequencer-based DAWs, and that shows most clearly in how much attention its key commands give to the Key Editor and quantization rather than pure audio waveform editing. The numeric keypad plays an outsized role in Cubase compared to most other DAWs — keypad Enter, asterisk, and number keys handle transport and locator functions by default, a layout choice that goes back decades and still trips up laptop users without a physical keypad who have to remap those functions or rely on the on-screen transport bar instead. Cubase also has one of the more mature Key Commands editors of any DAW, letting you view and rebind essentially the entire command set through a searchable dialog, similar in spirit to REAPER's Actions List but organized around Cubase's own menu structure rather than a flat searchable list. VST Expression Maps, which allow one MIDI track to swap between articulations such as legato, staccato, and pizzicato inside a sample library via keyswitches or MIDI channel assignments, are further evidence of Cubase's especially deep orchestral and scoring feature set reaching well past ordinary MIDI sequencing, a capability that matters considerably to film and game composers working with large sample libraries but less to a songwriter working primarily with simpler synth patches. Because Cubase has been continuously developed since the early 1990s, its interface carries some genuinely old design conventions alongside newer additions, which is part of why its learning curve is sometimes described as steeper than a newer, more streamlined DAW like Ableton Live or Studio One.
Transport
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start playback | Numpad Enter or Space | Numpad Enter or Space | Starts playback from the current project cursor position; Cubase historically defaults to the numeric keypad Enter key, a holdover from its early sequencer-era key layout, though Space works as an alternate in modern versions. |
| Stop playback | 0 (numpad) or Space | 0 (numpad) or Space | Stops playback and, if pressed again while stopped, returns the cursor to the last playback start position. |
| Start recording | Numpad * (asterisk) | Numpad * | Begins recording on record-enabled tracks, another of Cubase's keypad-based transport defaults inherited from its long product history. |
| Solo selected track | S (with track selected) | S | Silences every other track during playback so only the selected one is audible, the go-to move for checking one part in isolation while working through a mix. |
Midi Editing
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantize selected MIDI notes | Q | Q | Snaps the selected MIDI notes to the current quantize grid setting, one of the most frequently used commands in any MIDI-heavy Cubase session and central to its composition-focused identity. |
| Open Key Editor | Ctrl+E (with MIDI part selected) | Cmd+E | Opens the piano-roll-style Key Editor for the selected MIDI part, Cubase's primary tool for note-level MIDI editing and one of its most mature and detailed editors relative to competing DAWs. |
| Transpose selected notes | Alt+Shift+Up/Down | Option+Shift+Up/Down | Bumps every selected MIDI note's pitch a semitone higher or lower with each press, handy for a quick key change or correcting one wrong note without deleting and redrawing it from scratch. |
| Open Expression Map editor | MIDI menu > Expression Maps | — | Brings up the Expression Map editor, where keyswitches or channel assignments get mapped to specific articulations — legato, staccato, pizzicato — so one MIDI track can switch a sample library between playing styles instead of you manually swapping instruments. |
Editing General
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Split events at cursor | Alt+X | Option+X | Splits all selected events (audio or MIDI) at the current project cursor position, Cubase's equivalent of a razor-cut tool bound to a keyboard shortcut instead of a mouse tool. |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z | Cmd+Z | Reverts the last action, following the standard convention shared across virtually all DAWs and general software. |
| Zoom to selection | Ctrl+Alt+S (varies) | Cmd+Option+S | Stretches the timeline horizontally so the current selection fills the view, handy for diving into detailed edit work on a section after scanning the wider arrangement. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do Cubase's default transport shortcuts use the numeric keypad instead of easier-to-reach keys?
This dates back to Cubase's earliest versions on hardware with dedicated numeric keypads and reflects a design convention that Steinberg has kept for backward compatibility with decades of existing muscle memory among long-time users, even though many modern laptops lack a physical keypad, requiring those users to either use an external keypad or remap transport controls.
Can I remap the numeric-keypad-dependent shortcuts to something usable on a laptop without a keypad?
Yes — the Key Commands editor (Edit > Key Commands) lets you reassign any transport or editing function to a different key, and many laptop-only Cubase users specifically remap play/stop/record off the numeric keypad early in their setup process for exactly this reason.
What's the difference between quantizing in the arrange window versus the Key Editor?
Both use the same underlying quantize function and grid settings, but the Key Editor gives note-level visual feedback (showing exactly which notes moved and by how much) that the arrange window's part-level view can't, which is why detailed quantize work is typically done after opening the Key Editor rather than applying it blindly at the arrange level.
What are Expression Maps used for specifically?
Expression Maps let a single MIDI track trigger different articulations within a sample library, like switching between legato and staccato playing styles, through keyswitches or MIDI channel assignments, reflecting Cubase's especially deep orchestral and film-scoring feature set that goes beyond what generic MIDI sequencing alone would support.
Is Cubase harder to learn than newer DAWs like Ableton Live?
Some of it, yes — decades of incremental feature additions mean the menu structure and command set reflect design decisions made long before Ableton Live or Studio One existed, and those older layers don't always feel intuitive to someone starting fresh today. The trade-off is depth: Cubase's orchestral scoring tools, Expression Maps, and MIDI editing options go further than most newer, more streamlined DAWs bother to offer, so the steeper climb buys real capability rather than complexity for its own sake.
Does soloing a track affect what gets recorded, or just what's audible during playback?
Soloing only affects monitoring — what you hear during playback — and doesn't change what's actually recorded if you're tracking a new take, since record-arming and soloing are separate, independently controlled states in Cubase's mixer.
Does Cubase support VST3 plugins alongside older VST2 format?
Yes, Cubase supports VST3 alongside legacy VST2 plugins, with Steinberg having originally created the VST standard itself, giving Cubase particularly mature and complete VST plugin hosting compared to some competitors.
Does Cubase have a shortcut for quantizing a selected MIDI part to a specific note value?
Q (with a MIDI part selected) applies whatever quantize value is currently set in the Quantize Panel toolbar, snapping notes to that grid; changing which note value it snaps to (eighth notes, sixteenth notes, triplets) requires adjusting the panel first, since the shortcut always uses whatever value is currently selected there rather than accepting a value directly.