Animation will not reverse

Symptoms

If one or more of these match what you are seeing, you are on the right page.

• •No reverse option appears in the Properties Panel
• •Reversing affects only one track of several
• •The reversed animation has different timing than expected
• •Easing looks wrong after reversing

Causes and fixes

Ordered from most to least likely. Work down the list — each cause is paired with what to do about it.

1. 1

   Nothing is selected, or only part of the animation is.

   Select the full range of keyframes across every track that should reverse, then run Timeline → Reverse Selected Keyframes. The command operates on the selection, not the element.

2. 2

   The timing is mirrored around the selection centre, not the project.

   This is how the command works. Select exactly the range you want mirrored — a wider selection moves the animation in time as well as reversing it.

3. 3

   Easing now reads backwards.

   Easing applies to the outgoing transition of each keyframe, so reversing swaps which transitions ease in and which ease out. Re-apply easing after reversing, or use the bulk shortcuts: F9 for Ease In-Out, Ctrl+F9 for Ease In, Shift+F9 for Ease Out, Ctrl+Shift+F9 for Linear.

4. 4

   A back-and-forth cycle is wanted rather than a one-off reverse.

   Use loopOut("pingpong") on the property instead — it plays forward then backward continuously without duplicating keyframes.

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