Adding and removing measures
Inserting measures
MuseScore allows you to insert or delete measures in the score using a variety of methods. Measures can be inserted:
After a selection
Before a selection
At the start of the score
At the end of the score
Measure context menu
To insert one or more measures:
Right-click on a blank area of a measure
From the context menu, choose Insert measures
From the options presented, choose the location where you want the measure(s) inserted
Complete the dialog box and press OK.
The Properties panel
To insert one or more measures:
Click on a measure
Go to the Properties panel
Click Insert measures in the Measure section
Type the number of measures you wish to insert (or leave it as “1” to insert a single measure)
Select where you want the measure(s) to be inserted from the dropdown menu (or leave it as is to insert the new measure(s) after the selection point)
Click the + button
This popup remains open until you click another part of the user interface. As such, you can continue pressing the + button as many times as you need to insert further measures.
In addition, you can insert measures from one of two menus:
Note input toolbar
Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
Click the + button in the Note input toolbar
Navigate to Measures
Choose where you want the new measure(s) to be inserted
Menu bar
Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
Click the Add in the Menu bar
Navigate to Measures
Choose where you want the new measure(s) to be inserted
Inserting measures with keyboard shortcuts
To quickly insert one measure before the selection point:
Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
Press Ins
Insert more measures before the selection point by repeatedly pressing Ins.
To quickly insert multiple measures before the selection point:
Select something in your score (can be anything except line objects)
Press Ctrl+Ins (Mac: Cmd+Ins)
Type the number of required measures in the dialog that appears
Click OK
To append to the end of your score, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+B (Mac: Cmd+B) for a single measure, or Alt+Shift+B (Mac: Option+Shift+B) for multiple measures.
Add measures to a frame
Click on the frame
Use one of the methods shown under "Note input toolbar" or "Menu bar", or a keyboard shortcut (above).
Deleting measures
To delete one or more measures using keyboard shortcuts:
Select a measure (or hold Shift and select multiple measures)
Type Ctrl+Backspace or Ctrl+Del (Mac: Cmd+Backspace or Cmd+Del).
Alternatively,
Select a measure (or hold Shift and select multiple measures)
Right-click on any measure within the selection
Select Delete measures
You can also:
Select a measure (or hold Shift and select multiple measures)
Go to Tools
Select Remove selected range
Remove empty trailing measures
To remove any empty measures at the end of your score:
Go to Tools
Select Remove empty trailing measures
See also
Other measure-related pages:
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