Keyboard shortcuts not working
For a list of keyboard shortcuts in Ableton Live, visit the Live Manual section for Live 11 or Live 12. If keyboard shortcuts in Live are not working as expected, follow these steps:
Deactivate Computer MIDI Keyboard
Hold Shift key
Disable Use Tab to Move Focus
Troubleshooting keyboard shortcuts
Deactivate Computer MIDI Keyboard
Some of Live's keyboard shortcuts use a single key, without a modifier like CTRL/CMD. When the Computer MIDI Keyboard is enabled, these letter keys are instead used to input MIDI notes. Examples on macOS and Windows include:
| Toggle Automation Mode | A | |
| Toggle Hot-Swap Mode | Q | |
| Toggle Drum Rack/Last Selected Pad | D |
For single-key keyboard shortcuts to work in Ableton Live, the Computer MIDI Keyboard must be deactivated, at the top right of Live's window:
Hold Shift key
As of Live 12, you can use single-key shortcuts while the Computer MIDI Keyboard is activated, by also holding down the Shift key. Learn more about New Keyboard Shortcuts in Live 12.
Disable Use Tab to Move Focus
As of Live 12, when Use Tab to Move Focus is disabled in Live's Navigate menu, pressing the Tab key switches focus between Session and Arrangement View, as in previous Live versions.
When Use Tab to Move Focus is enabled, the Tab key will not switch between Session and Arrangement View. It can instead be used to navigate in the following ways:
- Tab moves to the next control
- Shift Tab moves to the previous control
Troubleshooting keyboard shortcuts
- Deactivate Computer MIDI Keyboard, or (as of Live 12), hold Shift to use a single-key shortcut while Computer MIDI Keyboard is enabled
- Check whether custom Key Mappings are conflicting with shortcuts. To display the list of Key Mappings in Live's Browser, enter Key Map Mode ( WIN: CTRL K / macOS CMD K ).
- Some plug-ins block input from the computer keyboard if the device's interface window is open. If you have plug-in windows open in Live, try closing these to re-enable keyboard shortcuts.
- Test shortcuts in a new, empty, blank Live Set to find out whether the issue relates to a plug-in or other content in your affected Set. If the shortcuts still don't work in an empty Set, check the following steps for possible factors on your computer outside of Live.
- Some utilities or apps on your computer may use the same keyboard shortcuts as Live. To restore shortcut functions in Live, close/quit those utilities, or disable heir keyboard shortcuts.
- On macOS, check whether you have modified your keyboard shortcut settings.
- Certain graphics cards, especially those geared for gaming, have keyboard shortcuts that conflict with Live's shortcuts. You can open your graphics card control panel and disable these to restore the shortcut functions in Live.