The Selects workspace is one screen. Five panels sit around a central preview and timeline, and you can fold any of them out of the way. This guide names each panel, says what it is for, and points you at the guide that goes deeper.

The Selects workspace arranges five panels around the preview and the draft timeline.

The Assistant panel sits at the far left, on its own. It is where you describe the edit you want and where you review a draft. The composer has two modes, [Chat] for a conversation and [Comments] for leaving timestamped notes on a draft.

Fold it away and a thin rail takes its place, with a chat icon that shows [Assistant] when you point at it. Click the icon to bring the panel back.

Learn more in Edit with chat and Review a draft with comments.

The project panel has two tabs at the top, [Project] and [Tools]. The [Project] tab lists everything in the project: source files, the folders you sorted them into, synced timelines, and every draft you have made.

Below the tabs sit three controls: a + button on the left for adding and creating, a magnifier beside it, [Search project], for finding items by name, and a view toggle on the right for list, flat, and card views. Flat view lists every file without folder rows, which is quicker to scan when your footage is spread across a lot of folders.

In list view, you can move around the project panel with the arrow keys:

Type in the search box to narrow the panel to the items whose names match. To find a moment by what is on screen instead, click [Find moments] in the box. It runs a scene search across all your analyzed files. Learn more in Search your footage: text and scene search.

The + button opens [Media], [Folder], [Timeline], [Synced timeline], and below a divider, [Import synced timeline].

Three gestures cover most of what you do in the project panel.

Hover a file and buttons appear at the end of its row. A file that has not been analyzed yet shows [Analyze]. An analyzed file shows a + icon, [Add to current timeline], that adds it to the timeline you have open, at the playhead on a draft, and an ellipsis that opens the same menu as right-click.

Right-click a file for the rest, in this order: [Rename], [Reveal in Finder], [Color label], [Add to current timeline], [Add to new timeline], [Audio gain/volume], and [Delete]. On Windows, [Reveal in Finder] reads [Show in File Explorer]. [Add to current timeline] shows only while a draft is open, and places the file at that draft's playhead. [Add to new timeline] starts a new draft with the file. [Color label] opens a submenu of colors, with [None] to clear it.

A draft row also offers [Duplicate], and a synced timeline row offers [Edit synced timeline]. Select two or more media files and the menu adds [Sync]. Select files that have not been analyzed yet and it adds [Analyze (number) files]. While a synced timeline is open, it also offers [Add to (name)], or [Remove from (name)] if the files are already in it, so you can change what is inside it.

Learn more in What are topics and subtopics?.

The [Tools] tab sits beside [Project] at the top of the project panel, and holds the tools that run across a whole timeline at once.

Learn more in Remove silence in Selects, Cut filler words, and Check names and terms before editing.

The preview in the center plays whatever is currently selected, either your draft or a source file you clicked in the project panel.

Click [Compare with source] to watch your edit against the original footage and see what was left out. Cut sections show grayed out, so you can spot at a glance what did not make it in.

The preview toolbar also holds [Frame size], which sets the output frame size of the open draft. The menu lists sizes rather than ratios: 3840 × 2160 or 1920 × 1080 for 16:9, 1080 × 1920 for vertical, 1080 × 1080 for square, and 1440 × 1080 or 1080 × 1440 for 4:3 either way up. [Original] matches your source footage, and [Custom] lets you type your own width and height. [Frame size] shows only while a draft or synced timeline tab is open, not while you are viewing a source file, and the size you pick carries through to your editing software.

The source minimap is the strip under the preview showing a whole source file end to end. It appears while you are looking at a source file or comparing with the source, and it is also where unusable shots are marked.

Learn more in Set your draft's frame size and Find shaky and blurry shots.

The transcript panel on the right shows every word in the open draft, grouped by speaker. Click any word to move the playhead to that exact moment.

A topic outline sits on the right edge of the panel, as a rail of dashes that shows its titles when you point at it. Click a topic to scroll the transcript straight to it.

Right-click a selection to edit from the text: [Cut] and [Uncut] to remove and restore, [Play] to hear it back, [Edit word] to fix a misheard word, [Merge with above] and [Split caption] to reshape a caption, and [Speaker] to reassign who is talking.

The draft timeline runs along the bottom of the workspace. Your drafts sit as tabs in the bar above it. The + at the end of that bar opens a menu: [New timeline] starts an empty one, and any drafts you have closed are listed below it so you can reopen them.

Drag a tab along the bar to reorder your drafts. You can also move the timeline into its own window, which helps on a second monitor. Right-click a draft tab and choose [Undock panel], and the timeline opens as a separate window while the rest of the editor stays put. Right-click the tab again and choose [Dock panel] to bring it back.

The timeline follows the conventions you already know: tracks stack vertically, clips sit on tracks horizontally, and you drag clips to move or reorder them.

The floating toolbar sits at the bottom right of the timeline and holds the tools you reach for while cutting.

Learn more in Editing tools in Selects, Selects keyboard shortcuts, and Set up speakers, cameras, and audio for multi-cam.

The top bar carries the controls that apply to the whole project.

Learn more in Search your footage: text and scene search, Selects keyboard shortcuts, Selects app & editor workspace settings, and Export your edit to editing software, or as a transcript or video.

Fold a panel by dragging its edge shut, and a labeled button appears in its place: [Assistant] as a chat icon at the top of the thin rail on the far left, [Project] at the top left of the preview, and [Transcript] at the top right of the preview. Click the button to bring the panel back.

Only one panel is active at a time, and the active one owns your keyboard. On the Premiere shortcut preset, Shift + 1 selects the project panel, Shift + 2 the Assistant panel, Shift + 3 the draft timeline, and Shift + 4 the transcript. On the Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve presets these are Cmd + 1 through Cmd + 4.

Selects has four panel arrangements, and you switch between them from [View mode] in the top bar, next to the settings icon. Your choice is remembered per project.

Learn more in Set your draft's frame size and Review a draft with comments.

The B-roll and Audio tabs were replaced by the project panel, which lists every file in one place rather than splitting them across tabs. Sort your footage into folders and drag from there, or ask chat to find and place shots for you. Learn more in Add B-roll and audio to your edit.

Remove silence and Cut filler words live in the [Tools] tab of the project panel, next to the [Project] tab. They used to sit in the floating toolbar on the timeline.

Markers live on the timeline now, not in the transcript. Add one with [Add marker] under [More] in the floating toolbar, then click the marker on the timeline to write a note. Because a marker is pinned to the timeline rather than to a word, it stays put when you cut or rearrange the material around it. You can also give a marker a color when you write its note. The color shows on the timeline pin and in the [Comments] panel, and it carries through to a Premiere handoff.

The panel is folded, not gone. Look for its labeled button: [Assistant] as a chat icon at the top of the thin rail on the far left, [Project] at the top left of the preview, and [Transcript] at the top right of the preview. Click it and the panel returns.

The source minimap only appears when you are looking at a source file, or when [Compare with source] is on. It is hidden while you are working on a draft alone, because there is no single source file to show.