Most Useful YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts The Only List You Need

Youtube is one of the largest social media websites in the world today, just after Facebook. Right now, as I write down this post on 5 YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts, millions of hours of video content are constantly being uploaded to YouTube and billions of hours of content are watched.

If you are one of the power users of YouTube, some keyboard tricks and shortcuts will definitely come in handy. Even though there are lots of shortcuts, the ones mentioned in this article are handpicked and really really useful to get the most of your video watching session on YouTube.

Feel free to skip towards the bottom of the article and check out the table with all other YouTube shortcuts and how to use them.

8 YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know

All these shortcuts are for the main YouTube player or the video watching page.

1. Keyboard Shortcut to Play/Pause YouTube Video

Spacebar or K 

Everyone knows this one right?? You just press the space bar and the video pauses and plays. But you must have pressed the space bar and sometimes it might have scrolled the page instead of pausing the video. Yes, that is a bit annoying.

The space bar only pauses and plays the video back if the video is selected. By selected, I mean if you have clicked on the video and nowhere else.

To play and pause the video regardless of what you’ve selected or clicked, you should use the “K” key. Use the “K” key on your keyboard to pause and play the video.

READ: How To Change Your YouTube Channel Name Without Changing Google Name

2. YouTube Volume Control Shortcut

UP/ Down Arrowkey 

While watching a YouTube video, press the Up or Down arrow key on the keyboard to increase or decrease the volume of the video playing. There is also another shortcut that you can use to mute a video quickly that is the no.5 on this guide.

3. Keyboard Shortcut to Rewind/Forward YouTube Video.

Left/Right key for 5 seconds | J/L for 10 seconds 

There are a couple of ways to do this.

Forward/rewind 5 seconds: If you use the arrow keys/direction keys(Left or Right) on the keyboard, the video will rewind or forward five seconds.

Forward/Rewind 10 seconds: On the other hand, if you use the “J” and “L” buttons, it forwards/rewinds the video by 10 seconds.

4. Youtube Fullscreen Keyboard Shortcut

F 

To watch the YouTube video on fullscreen without any distractions, just hit the “F” key. And to toggle back or exit the fullscreen, press the “F” key again. It is that simple.

5. Enable Captions On A YouTube video

C | +/- to increase/decrease subtitles font size

YouTube provides captions for all the videos on YouTube. In some cases, the uploader might have provided the caption by themselves. If not, YouTube automatically generates captions for the video you are watching in the language of your choice.

The keyboard shortcut to toggle the caption on/off in a YouTube video is the “C” button.

READ: How To Block Unwanted YouTube Channels

6. Mute a YouTube video from keyboard

M

In order to mute a YouTube video, use the “M” key. To unmute it press it again which will unmute the video.

 7. Quickly Search A Video On YouTube

/

If you are like me and want to save time while browsing or finding my favorite video or podcast on YouTube, you can press the “/” button on the keyboard.

You have to be on the YouTube page and just hit the backslash (/) key on the keyboard to quickly jump to the YouTube search box.

8. YouTube Mini Player

i

 You know that YouTube supports mini-player these days. Meaning you can continue to browse and look for other videos while the current video keeps playing in a mini player in the corner of the page.

It’s sort of like the picture in picture mode on iOS or Android phones.

When a video is playing, press the “i” key on the keyboard. The video will load in a mini player in the corner.

9. YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts For Next / Previous Videos

Shift + N/P 

If you have a keyboard with media buttons, this one will not come in very handy for you. But if you don’t have dedicated next or previous keys on your keyboard, you can use these YouTube keyboard shortcuts to switch between songs.

Play the next video – Shit + N

Play the previous video – Shift + P

If you are listening to a playlist, this will switch between videos on the playlist. In case you are just watching a random video, it will jump between the videos as per your YouTube’s suggestions.

Google has also provided lots of other keyboard keys combinations for YouTube find them in the table below.

READ: How To Make YouTube Videos Load Faster On Your Current Connection

All YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts Keys You Should Know

YouTube Action Keyboard Shortcut
Play / Pause Space Bar or K
Fast Foward Video 5 Seconds Right Arrow Key
Rewind Video 5 Seconds Left Arrow Key
Enable or Disable Subtitle C
Increase Subtitle Font Size +
Decrease Subtitle Font Size
Go to the start of the video(restart) 0 (Zero)
Increase / Decrease Volume Up / Down Arrow Key
Mute the video M
Enter/Exit fullscreen F
Move back one frame when a video is paused , (comma)
Move forward one frame when a video is paused .(period)

The ones that have been mentioned in this article are the ones that I cannot live without and use all the time.

Hope these YouTube Keyboard shortcuts help you acquire better control on YouTube navigation and use. Please let me know if you are using these shortcuts constantly and if they have been much help.

Prajwal is a senior editor @Windowslovers. A Tech enthusiast who loves to read and write articles that aid users in getting the most out of their gadgets and tech it easy.

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