An other way would be to automatically paste on an EMPTY TRACK or on the SELECTED TRACK. (Selected, in the sense that you only have to click on your spot in the timeline rather than mark and unmark tracks because that is ridiculous).

Deselecting all tracks does copy/paste to the original track, but that requires extra steps for users unless they leave all tracks deselected and never need to use track targeting for anything else. Sounds like a good solution would be to offer a new command shortcut "Paste to Original Track". Users could assign Cmd+V to it if they never want paste to respect track targeting, or they could find a different key combination for it if they wanted to retain the option of both behaviors.

Thanks for the feedback. We will consider this request for a future release.
As always, thanks for posting, thanks for voting – please stay tuned.

"Pasting to the lowest enabled track is a terrible idea since it goes against basic logic (something you and I clearly get, but Adobe still doesn't). "

When it seems to me that Adobe has made baffling design decisions I ask myself two questions:

1. Would this make sense in After Effects? 'Sequence in/out' being the default for exports might make sense for a compositor, not for an NLE.

2. Is Adobe assuming we're all using a source/record paradigm?
My guess is that this is the problem here. They don't think so much about timeline pasting behaviour as they assume we are adding clips from the source panel. I always use timelines as sources - so much more flexible, and visual. The irony is that PPro could be the greatest timeline-centric editor out there. We already have the ability to pancake multiple timelines, for example.

It just seems like the basic operations are not quite there yet. And it's frustrating that so many of these are solved problems (see old FCP).

Another simpler option I missed is to simply allow users to change the current pasting behaviour so that media automatically gets pasted to the lowest AVAILABLE track, whether it's enabled or not, creating new track(s) if there's no available track(s) present where the media is being pasted. Problem solved! Zero risk of overwriting media by accident and no screwing around with constant enabling/disabling of tracks! This should to be a user selectable preference to accomodate those that, for some reason, enjoy screwing around with track targeting.

@TaranVH
Those are some great suggestions! It's nice to see a voice of reason from time to time.

Rather than being a user selectable preference, though, I think Adobe should add new keyboard shortcut options. This way, users could assign a shortcut for pasting to the highest selected track, and they could assign another shortcut for pasting to the same track media was cut from, for example, and pick and choose on the fly the pasting method that works best in any given moment!

Pasting to the lowest enabled track is a terrible idea since it goes against basic logic (something you and I clearly get, but Adobe still doesn't). Hopefully Adobe will fix this before too much longer!

Yes this is one of the most annoying things to deal with coming over from Final Cut, the whole track selecting thing. I gotta toggle them off and on and back to the way it was and turn them off to just copy and paste to keep it on the same track but them turn it on to be able to forward the playhead and keep it knowing the edits i want it to follow then turn it back off to paste it. its a RIDICULOUS waste of time.

@jim_simon
With all due respect, your observation is completely irrelevant. Track targeting is NOT the only way for PP to know where an editor wants to paste something.

Why do you even bother making such clueless remarks?

This is now redundant with this one:
https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/35314639--paste-onto-same-track-shortcut#comments
I'd recommend moving your votes over there.

@jim_simon
The trouble is the track targeting is also used for a ton of other stuff, like Ripple Trim to Next/Previous edit, (Q and W,) Go to Previous/Next Edit Point, (Up/Down keys) and more. As a result, I pretty much have to leave it ON for all tracks at all times.

My suggestion to fix all this is as follows:

Pasted video clips currently go on the lowest numbered (and unlocked) targeted track by default. This is quite annoying, since the user probably already has something there. Give us the following option/preference:
Pasted video/audio clips go to:
⚪︎Lowest number targeted track
⚪︎Highest number targeted track
◉Source patching
⚪︎Same as copied track(s)
⚪︎ V▭ and A▭ (Choose specific tracks)

IMPORTANT: Note my use of the term "lowest number." this is referring to the V1 V2, A1 A2 track numbering.
This is because audio track numbering is "mirrored" from video track numbering.

This is item # 78 in my speadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dVJb7kI_ZETLavrplfARgn9gL8HUpvkq6A0jCPxqA3w/edit#gid=1133868629

PS: there was also some discussion in this other thread, which should perhaps be merged: https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/35103007-cut-and-paste#comments

Hi Andy, let me be the first in this thread to say: I FULLY AGREE WITH YOUR FR!

Guys, the OP is asking for SUPPORT for his FR, not for childish "why don't you try this" responses that assume he's a clueless editor.

For heaven's sake, can people in these forums show a little more support and respect?

What Andy is asking for is a perfectly valid request, very similar to a FR I've been asking Adobe to give us for years (new keyboard shortcuts to paste/ripple paste into the highest selected tracks). With the near total lack of support I see in this thread for the OP's FR, as well as so many other threads, Adobe must be laughing behind closed doors thinking "See, our users can't agree on what they want!"

If you don't have something to say to actually support the idea, or constructively build upon it, I honestly think it's best not to dilute the importance of the feature being requested with a bunch of 'solutions'. No, those 'solutions' that some people suggest are not a solution and they don't help! They only serve to minimize the importance of Adobe getting their act together and fixing what needs to be fixed!

Also as you've unselected all tracks, you now can't select trim points with the keyboard until you toggle the tracks back on - so it's actually shift-click video, shift-click audio, command-v to paste, shift click video, shift click audio.

It would be nice to have a single keyboard shortcut instead.

"Solution: "Shift-click" any track number (V4 for example) will select or deselect all video or audio tracks inversely based on selection status of that track."

That's two mouse clicks and a keyboard shortcut. I would like the ability to do this with just one keyboard shortcut.

I would map it to command-v and make it the default pasting behaviour (shift-command-v to paste to selected track). Even if you wouldn't go that far, it would still be useful right?

For many editors this would be a several-times-a-minute shortcut. Look how many once-a-year actions have their own shortcuts. How often do you open device control preferences? It has its own keyboard shortcut.

Solution: "Shift-click" any track number (V4 for example) will select or deselect all video or audio tracks inversely based on selection status of that track. Paste will "remember" the track it came from if you first deselect all tracks. So, copy your selected segments (command-c), "shift-click" any "selected" track (which will deselect all), then "command-v" to paste at time-position indicator. Very quick. Hope this helps.

@Anonymous 'I have a shortcut to toggle off target tracks and then all i do is select the one target track. Stops a lot of individual toggling of tracks.'

It's two keypresses - 'toggle all target video' and 'toggle all target audio' - that REQUIRE the source or timeline pane be active - I know because I use them all day.

Also requires looking at the screen to see which mode they were in, so cannot be used in a macro.

https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/35351707-deselect-all-tracks-shortcut

OPs request to 'paste to original tracks' as an option or seperate keystroke is a good one. I'd also like a 'deselect all' for tracks and have it respect the last selected relevant window (e.g. source or program/timeline panes) - rather than require the timeline to be selected.

I have a shortcut to toggle off target tracks and then all i do is select the one target track. Stops a lot of individual toggling of tracks.

@Trevor In case you didn't know but for others reading, the closest thing I can think of to get around that is Shift+Click the track selection to select or deselect all.

Agreed. And I was wrong, you can add an edit with no track selected. What you can't do is select a trim point with the keyboard.

If you deselect all timeline tracks (which should really have it's own dedicated keyboard shortcut) by toggling all video and all audio off, then it will paste to the tracks it was copied from.

So I'm suggesting another way for PP to 'know' which track should be pasted to. A specific mode or command that 'tells' PP - 'in this instance ignore track targeting, paste the clip to the track it was copied from'.

This is the only feature of old FCP that I miss daily. It can make track organisation so much quicker and easier.