> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://flstudiopro.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # FL Studio Markers: Add, Name and Use Time Markers - URL: https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-markers/ - Published: 2026-10-25T07:07:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-25T07:06:59.000Z - Description: Press Alt+T in the Playlist, name the marker and drag it into place. Here’s what each marker type does, how to jump between markers live and why a stray marker makes exports longer. - Author: Eric Norris - Tags: Workflow To add a marker in FL Studio, click the Playlist, press Alt+T (Opt+T on a Mac), type a name such as “Verse 1” and press Enter. The marker appears above the timeline. Drag it by its left edge to the bar where the section starts, and right-click it to rename it, add another, delete it or change what it does during playback. Ctrl+T (Cmd+T) skips the naming box and drops a marker called “Auto”, which is the quicker choice while the song is playing. A plain marker is just a label. It changes nothing in the sound until you give it a type, so I’d name every section before arranging in detail. There’s one trap: the Delete command removes every marker in the timeline selection, and with no selection it removes all of them. Make a selection first. [Download](https://loadsurf.surf/c/CSdXrsGFdUAG?ref=flstudiopro.com) ## How to add, move and rename a marker All of the commands below come from the [Time markers section of the Playlist manual](https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio-learning/fl-studio-online-manual/html/playlist.htm?ref=flstudiopro.com#Playlist%5FTimeMarkers). The manual writes them as Alt/Opt and Ctrl/Cmd, so on a Mac press Option where Windows uses Alt and Command where it uses Ctrl. 1. **Put the playhead where the section begins.** Stop playback on that bar, or make a timeline selection that starts there. 2. **Add the marker.** Press Alt/Opt+T, or open the Playlist menu and choose Time markers > Add marker. You can also right-click the timeline ruler and pick Add marker. Once one marker exists, right-clicking it offers Add new marker as well. 3. **Name it.** Type the section name and press Enter. 4. **Move it.** Left-click the marker by its left-most edge and drag. A marker can pass over other markers without moving them. 5. **Rename it later.** Right-click the marker, choose Rename and press Enter after typing. Real-time marking needs a different key. In a [February 2026 Image-Line forum thread](https://forum.image-line.com/viewtopic.php?t=339226&ref=flstudiopro.com), a user reported that Alt+T pressed during playback often put the marker at the last stopped position or at the selection start, not under the playhead, and that the naming box interrupted the flow. The reply suggested Ctrl+T instead. That’s also how I’d tap in section starts while a reference plays: drop Auto markers on the fly, then stop and rename them. ## Map a whole song in a minute Placing markers one at a time is fine for five sections. For a long arrangement I let FL Studio do the spacing and then clean up. I’d start with a marker every 8 bars across the whole song. Most pop and dance sections are 8 or 16 bars long, so the grid lands on most of the boundaries. - **Select a range first.** Ctrl+drag (Cmd+drag) in the bar ruler to make a timeline selection across all tracks. - **Add two:** Time markers > Add two puts a marker at the start and the end of the selection. It’s a fast way to bracket a drop or a solo. - **Add one every:** choose Bar, 2 bars, 4 bars or 8 bars, and FL places a marker at that spacing through the selection. This command needs a selection. - **See the regions:** in the Playlist menu, View > Time segments > Markers shades the grid by marker region instead of by bars. The [Playlist background guide](https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-background/) explains the other shading choices. - **Find markers in the scroll bar:** with Mini playlist preview > Show time markers enabled, they appear as orange triangles along the preview bar. Markers also make sections easy to select. Double-click a marker in the timeline to select everything from it to the next marker, or to the end of the song if it’s the last one. A timeline selection plays in loop mode, so that’s the quickest way to loop a chorus while you work on it. To swap sections, right-click a marker and choose Move content left/right. It moves the Clips between that marker and the next to the other side of the neighboring region. Use it to try the bridge before the second chorus without dragging every Clip by hand. The rest of the arrangement workflow lives in the [FL Studio Playlist guide](https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-playlist/). ![FL Studio Playlist with time markers named Intro, Verse 1, Chorus and Bridge under the bar ruler, the track area shaded by marker region and the Chorus marker right-click menu open on the Action types](https://storage.ghost.io/c/23/d1/23d1461e-9a6f-4583-9f0a-3ee044fc8192/content/images/2026/10/markers-playlist.webp) Name the sections first, then use the right-click menu only when a marker needs to change playback. ## Marker types: what each one does to playback Right-click a marker and open Action to give it a job. I’d leave most of them as None. A typed marker changes how the transport moves, and a forgotten Skip marker makes bars vanish from playback for no obvious reason. | Type | What happens | When I’d use it | | -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | None | Nothing. It’s a label. | Every section name. | | Start | Playback and time zero start from this point. | Skipping a long intro or count-in while mixing. | | Loop | Playback returns here when it reaches the end of all Playlist data. | A song that should cycle, or extending a render (see the export section). | | Marker loop | When playback reaches the next marker, it jumps back to the Loop marker. | Looping a vamp or a build during a live set. | | Marker skip | Playback jumps to the next marker and skips the Playlist data between them. | Auditioning an arrangement without a section. | | Marker pause | Playback pauses, unless the marker before it is a Loop type. | A stop point before a live cue. | | Time signature | A new meter starts at this point. | Odd bars and meter changes. | | Start/Stop recording | Turns the main Record button on and off. | Punching in over a fixed range. | The Time markers menu has shortcuts for some of these. Place loop (Shift+T) adds a loop-return marker. Add time signature change (Shift+Alt/Opt+T) works on a selection and adds a second marker that switches back to the old meter. Start recording/Stop recording at selection brackets the selected range for you. Meter markers have their own guide, [how to change time signature in FL Studio](https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-change-time-signature/). For a tempo change, use the [mid-song tempo guide](https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-tempo-change/), because a marker can label a tempo change but can’t make one. Watch Change marker to loop. Like Delete, it acts on the markers inside the timeline selection, and without a selection it turns every marker in the project into a Loop marker. ## Jump between markers live Markers become cue points once you can jump to them. The manual covers three ways in: a MIDI keyboard, the typing keyboard and the fast-forward and rewind keys on a multimedia keyboard. The keyboard shortcuts work on the number pad only: - Alt + \* jumps to the next marker, and Alt + / goes back one. - \* and / on their own jump one bar forward or back. - Ctrl+Alt + \* pressed twice selects the next marker region, and Ctrl+Alt + / pressed twice selects the previous one. - End on the number pad turns on live select. Mac laptops and compact keyboards don’t have a number pad, which is one more reason to use MIDI. For MIDI control, open Options > MIDI Settings and set [Song marker jump MIDI channel](https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio-learning/fl-studio-online-manual/html/envsettings%5Fmidi.htm?ref=flstudiopro.com) to your controller’s channel. On that channel, the white keys trigger markers in order, starting with Marker 1 on C4\. The black keys between them run commands: next or previous marker, next or previous bar, select the next or previous marker region, live select and add marker. Play your instruments on a different MIDI channel, or your melody will move the song around. Before a live set, I’d change three more settings: - Turn off [Reset plugins on transport](https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio-learning/fl-studio-online-manual/html/envsettings%5Faudio.htm?ref=flstudiopro.com) in Options > Audio Settings. With it on, FL resets every plugin when you start, stop or move the song position. Off gives faster, less glitchy jumps. - Turn on Play truncated notes in the same Audio Settings. Notes that started before a jump point and cross it keep playing. - Pick Live mode in the Playlist menu. Jumps then happen on bar divisions, and the next jump point shows as a gray position marker. If the playhead seems to ignore a click, look at Quantize song jumps in the Playlist menu. Set to Beats or to 1–8 Bars, it makes FL wait for that division before it relocates. That keeps tempo-synced effects in time, but it looks like lag if you forgot you set it. Performance mode builds on the same markers. Only Clips between the start of the Playlist and the Start marker can be triggered, and the time markers define the columns or rows of launch buttons, depending on your controller. Tools > Misc macros > Prepare for performance mode sets this up, but it changes the original layout, so save the project first. The [Performance mode manual](https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio-learning/fl-studio-online-manual/html/playlist%5Fperformance.htm?ref=flstudiopro.com) covers the controller mapping. ![Diagram of live marker jumping in FL Studio: four Playlist markers set to Start, Loop, Pause and Skip mapped to the white MIDI keys from C4 upward, the first two black keys for previous and next marker, and number pad keys for next and previous marker and bar](https://storage.ghost.io/c/23/d1/23d1461e-9a6f-4583-9f0a-3ee044fc8192/content/images/2026/10/marker-jumps.webp) White keys from C4 pick markers in order; the number pad moves one marker or one bar at a time. ## Markers in the Piano roll The Piano roll has its own marker lane with its own menu. The [Piano roll menu reference](https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio-learning/fl-studio-online-manual/html/pianoroll%5Fmenu.htm?ref=flstudiopro.com) lists the same Add one (Alt/Opt+T), Add auto (Ctrl/Cmd+T), Add two and Add one every commands, plus two that only make sense for notes: Add time signature change and Add key marker. Make sure FL is in Pattern mode, and an Auto marker lands at the playhead. Two Piano roll uses are worth knowing: - **Pattern length.** Right-click a marker and set its type to Pattern length to define how long the current Pattern is. That’s cleaner than leaving a stray note at the end to stretch the loop. - **Snap to markers.** The Snap menu has a Markers option, so notes line up with your Piano roll markers. A common forum question is how to make Playlist markers show up in every Piano roll. The Piano roll menu documents its own marker commands and no setting that copies Playlist markers in, so I’d treat them as two separate tools. Playlist markers are the song map. Piano roll markers belong to the Pattern you’re editing. A key marker sets the key signature for the Pattern. To move the notes themselves to a new key, follow the [guide to changing key in FL Studio](https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-change-key/). The [Piano roll beginner guide](https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-piano-roll/) covers the editor itself. ## How markers change your export Markers affect where a render ends. In Song mode, FL decides the length of the exported file in this order, according to the [export documentation](https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio-learning/fl-studio-online-manual/html/fformats%5Fsave%5Fexport.htm?ref=flstudiopro.com): 1. Any timeline selection. 2. The last time marker placed beyond the last bar that contains data. 3. The end of the last bar that contains data. 4. Plus the Tail setting on top. So a forgotten marker ten bars after the last Clip gives you ten bars of silence at the end of the file. A marker near bar 200 in a 60-bar song gives you a long render that looks stuck. The [guide to a slow or stuck export](https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-export-slow-stuck/) walks through that case. The same rule saves reverb tails. The Tail option Leave remainder extends the render to catch decaying sound. When it still cuts a tail, put a Loop marker after the last Pattern, Audio or Automation Clip. The export page calls it a Repeat marker, and Place loop (Shift+T) adds one. FL ignores the repeat during rendering, except that a Loop marker past the last data makes the file run to that point. Selection exports and the other Tail options are in [exporting a song from FL Studio](https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-export-song/). One WAV option carries the markers out of FL. With Save playlist markers enabled, the exported .wav file gets a slice marker at each Playlist time marker, so an editor or sampler that reads WAV slice markers sees your sections. That option belongs to WAV export. If another DAW needs the notes rather than the audio, the [MIDI export guide](https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-export-midi/) covers that route. ![Timeline diagram of FL Studio render length: Clips ending at bar 60, a Loop marker placed at bar 62 extending the render to catch a reverb tail, and a stray marker far later that would add silence](https://storage.ghost.io/c/23/d1/23d1461e-9a6f-4583-9f0a-3ee044fc8192/content/images/2026/10/render-length.webp) The last marker past the music sets the end of the file. Put it where the tail stops, not further. ## When markers misbehave - **All markers disappeared.** Delete or Change marker to loop ran with no timeline selection. Next time, Ctrl/Cmd+drag a small selection around the one marker you want to change. - **The song jumps, loops or stops on its own.** A marker has a type. Right-click each marker near the problem and set Action back to None. - **A new marker landed in the wrong place during playback.** Use Ctrl/Cmd+T for Auto markers while playing, then drag and rename after you stop. - **Jumps feel late.** Quantize song jumps or Live mode is waiting for the next beat or bar. That’s by design; switch Quantize song jumps to Off if you want instant moves. - **Your export is too long or ends in silence.** Look for a marker past the last Clip and delete it with a selection around it. - **Playing the MIDI keyboard moves the song.** The instrument and the song marker jump channel are the same. Give them different channels. Once your sections have names, the rest of the arrangement goes faster. The [FL Studio shortcuts worth learning](https://flstudiopro.com/fl-studio-shortcuts/) pair well with markers, especially selection and zoom.