Cutting soft materials is a complex, multiphysics process arising from the interplay between large deformations, interfacial soft fracture, and contact forces at the tool–material interface. Existing experimental characterizations and numerical models often fail to capture the broad spectrum of observed behaviors, particularly the transition from indentation to cutting and the role of dissipative mechanisms. Here, we combine novel cutting experiments on three representative classes of soft materials—a hydrogel, an elastomer, and food materials—with a coupled computational framework integrating cohesive-zone soft fracture, adhesion, frictional contact, and pseudo-viscous dissipation. Our experiments reveal that, for a same blade, each material exhibits distinct cutting signatures, including abrupt or gradual transitions from indentation to crack initiation and characteristic steady-state cutting regimes. The computational model reproduces these behaviors and enables a mechanistic interpretation of the governing physics. In particular, our simulations show that adhesion and damping contributions in the cohesive interaction dominate tangential stresses, whereas Coulomb friction plays a negligible role due to the low normal pressures typical of soft cutting. The model additionally predicts that cutting onset and that material-specific dissipative parameters strongly modulate the transition between stable and unstable fracture. Together, these results establish a unified framework for the mechanics of soft cutting, bridging bulk deformation, failure, and contact dissipative pathways. The combined experimental–computational approach explains why materials with similar bulk stiffness exhibit markedly different cutting forces, and how adhesive and damping effects govern cuttability. This work provides new mechanistic insight into one of the most widespread yet poorly understood processes in soft matter and offers design principles for tailoring soft materials, optimizing cutting tools, and developing cutting protocols with applications in surgical dissection, soft robotics, and the engineering of food textures optimized for mastication. REFERENCES: [1] M.A. Moreno-Mateos, P. Steinmann. (2026). “Cutting soft materials: how material differences shape the response”, npj Computational Materials, 12:15. [2] A. Spagnoli, R. Brighenti, M. Terzano, F. Artoni. (2019). “Cutting resistance of soft materials: Effects of blade inclination and friction”, Theor. Appl. Fract