Premiere Pro how-to
How to reverse a clip in Premiere Pro (Reverse Speed, smooth)
Short answer
Right-click the clip in the Timeline, choose Speed/Duration (Ctrl-R / Cmd-R), tick Reverse Speed and click OK. The clip now plays backwards, audio included. To reverse only part of it, cut that part off first. If you also slow the reversed clip down, set Time Interpolation to Optical Flow for smoother motion.
Checked against: Adobe Premiere (formerly Premiere Pro), 2026 releases, Windows and Mac.
Method 1: Speed/Duration dialog
Select the clip
Select one or more clips in the Timeline.
Open Speed/Duration
Choose Clip > Speed/Duration, or right-click the clip and choose Speed/Duration.
ClipSpeed/Duration
Tick Reverse Speed
Select Reverse speed. Leave Speed at 100% for a straight reverse, or change it at the same time.
Pick smoothing and ripple
Choose Time Interpolation: Frame Sampling (fastest), Frame Blending, or Optical Flow (smoothest for slow motion). Tick Ripple Edit if clips after it should move with the change. Click OK.
Method 2: Reverse only part of a clip
Cut the section out
Use the Razor tool (C) or Ctrl-K at the start and end of the section, then reverse just that piece.
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If it doesn't work
| What you see | Fix |
|---|---|
| Reversed clip is choppy | Set Time Interpolation to Optical Flow, then render the section (Sequence > Render In to Out). |
| The audio sounds strange | Reverse Speed reverses audio too. Unlink and delete the audio, or replace it with music. |
| Optical Flow shows warping | Fast motion and overlapping objects confuse it. Use Frame Blending, or reverse at 100% speed. |
| A gap appeared after the clip | The duration changed with speed. Tick Ripple Edit, or close the gap with Ripple Delete. |
Questions people ask
What is the shortcut to reverse a clip in Premiere Pro?
There is no single reverse key. Ctrl-R (Cmd-R) opens Speed/Duration, where you tick Reverse Speed.
Can I reverse a clip and keep the audio forward?
Unlink the clip first, then reverse only the video clip.
Does reversing reduce quality?
Not at 100% speed. Changing speed at the same time can add blending or Optical Flow artifacts.
More Premiere Pro guides
Sources and how we checked
- Adobe Help: Change clip speed and duration using the Speed/Duration command (checked 2026-10-05; Adobe blocks automated readers; text read from the Internet Archive copy of 24 Sep 2026)
- Adobe Help: Cut clips (checked 2026-10-05; Adobe blocks automated readers; text read from the Internet Archive copy of 23 Aug 2026)
The Ctrl-R shortcut follows Premiere's default keyboard map as listed by several current guides; Adobe's article describes the menu path.
Reviewed October 5, 2026 by the Koldflux team. Each step is compared with Premiere Pro's own documentation (linked above) and with the top search results for this task; where they disagree, the maker's documentation wins. Steps without a source link follow the menu names that several current guides agree on.