How to Use the Shift-Command-R Shortcut in Final Cut Pro to Reveal Media in the Finder

Keyboard shortcut: ShiftCommandR

Every clip in Final Cut Pro points to a real media file somewhere on your drives. When you need to find that file, press Shift-Command-R. It runs Reveal in Finder, one of Final Cut Pro's own commands.

What Shift-Command-R Does

Select a clip or a library and press Shift-Command-R. Final Cut Pro opens a Finder window with the source file selected, so you can see exactly where it lives. It works from the Browser and from the timeline, and you can also choose it by Control-clicking a clip.

How to Use It

  1. Select a clip in the Browser or the timeline, or select a library in the Libraries sidebar.
  2. Press Shift-Command-R.
  3. A Finder window opens with the media file (or library) highlighted.

When It Helps

  • Checking where media lives: find out whether a clip's file sits on your internal drive, an external drive, or inside the library.
  • Sharing a source file: grab the original file to send to a colleague or another app.
  • Troubleshooting: confirm which file a clip is actually using when two versions have similar names.
  • Finding a library: select a library in the sidebar to see where it's saved before you back it up or move it.

Tips

Look, but be careful before you touch. If you move, rename, or delete a file that Final Cut Pro is using, the clip can go offline. To move media safely, use Final Cut Pro's own tools, such as consolidating media, rather than dragging files around in the Finder.

Don't confuse it with Shift-F, Reveal in Browser, which goes the other way: it finds a timeline clip's source in the Browser instead of on your drive.

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