How to Link and Unlink Audio and Video in Kdenlive

This article provides a quick, step-by-step guide on how to link and unlink audio and video tracks in Kdenlive. Whether you need to edit audio independently, delete a video track while keeping its sound, or sync separated clips back together, you will learn the exact menu options and keyboard shortcuts needed to manage your timeline efficiently.

By default, when you drag a video clip with audio onto the Kdenlive timeline, the audio and video tracks are grouped together. To separate them so they can be edited individually:

  1. Click on the clip in the timeline to select it.
  2. Right-click the selected clip.
  3. Select Ungroup Clips from the context menu. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + G (or Cmd + Shift + G on macOS).
  4. Click on an empty space in the timeline to deselect the clips. You can now select, move, edit, or delete the audio or video track independently.

If you have separate audio and video clips that you want to lock together so they move and cut as a single unit, you can group them:

  1. Select both the video clip and the audio clip. You can do this by holding down the Shift key and clicking on each clip, or by clicking and dragging a selection box over both clips.
  2. Right-click one of the selected clips.
  3. Select Group Clips from the context menu. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + G (or Cmd + G on macOS).
  4. The clips are now linked. Moving or trimming one will automatically apply the same action to the other.

The “Split Audio” Alternative

If you have a video clip in your project bin and only want to bring its audio or video to the timeline, or if you want to split them instantly: