All YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts
YouTube has become a staple in the online world, with millions of videos being uploaded and viewed every day. To help optimize your viewing experience and save you time, use keyboard shortcuts and gestures! Here is every keyboard shortcut and gesture YouTube supports, checked against YouTube Help in September 2026!
Quick answer
The YouTube shortcuts worth memorizing: K plays or pauses, J and L jump back or forward 10 seconds, the arrow keys jump 5 seconds, F toggles full screen, M mutes, C shows captions and SHIFT + . / , changes the speed. Press SHIFT + ? on YouTube to see the full list.
Keyboard Shortcuts for Playback Speed
These handy shortcuts will allow you to quickly change the playback speed of your video. On mobile, you can also press and hold on the video to set the playback speed to 2x.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Increase playback rate | SHIFT + . |
| Decrease playback rate | SHIFT + , |
Frame by Frame Keyboard Shortcuts
You must have the video paused first to use these keyboard shortcuts. These allow you to view a video frame-by-frame to catch any quick edits in the video.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Next frame (while paused) | . |
| Previous frame (while paused) | , |
Change Chapter Keyboard Shortcuts
Chapter shortcuts jump straight to the next or previous chapter marker, which is the fastest way to reach the part of a long video you want.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Seek to next chapter | CONTROL + right arrow key (Option + right arrow on Mac) |
| Seek to previous chapter | CONTROL + left arrow key (Option + left arrow on Mac) |
General YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Toggle play/pause | k or SPACE |
| Rewind 10 seconds | j |
| Rewind 5 seconds | Left arrow key |
| Fast forward 10 seconds | l |
| Fast forward 5 seconds | Right arrow key |
| Previous video | SHIFT + p |
| Next video | SHIFT + n |
| Seek to specific point in the video (0% to 90%) | 0-9 |
| Toggle full screen | f |
| Toggle theater mode | t |
| Toggle miniplayer | i |
| Toggle mute | m |
| Volume up or down 5% | Up or down arrow key |
| Jump to the start or end | Home or End |
| Go to the search box | / |
| Show all keyboard shortcuts | SHIFT + ? |
YouTube Gestures on Mobile
Obviously these keyboard shortcuts won't work on mobile. However, there are a few gestures you can learn to massively improve your viewing experience on mobile!
| Action | Gesture |
|---|---|
| Enable full screen | Swipe up on video |
| Disable full screen | Swipe down on video |
| Skip forward 10 seconds | Double tap on the right side of the video |
| Skip backwards 10 seconds | Double tap on the left side of the video |
| Skip to next chapter | Double tap on the right side of the video with 2 fingers |
| Skip to previous chapter | Double tap on the left side of the video with 2 fingers |
| Zoom in on video | Punch outward with 2 fingers |
Other Keyboard Shortcuts
Here are a few other shortcuts. These are much more specific and niche, so they likely won't be as useful. We want to include them anyway to cover all of the shortcuts available.
Subtitles and Closed Captions Shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| If the video supports captions, toggle captions ON/OFF | c |
| Rotate through different text opacity levels | o |
| Rotate through different window opacity levels | w |
| Rotate through font sizes (increasing) | + |
| Rotate through font sizes (decreasing) | - |
Spherical Video Shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Pan up | w |
| Pan left | a |
| Pan down | s |
| Pan right | d |
| Zoom in | + on numpad or ] |
| Zoom out | - on numpad or [ |
YouTube shortcut questions
Why are my YouTube keyboard shortcuts not working?
Click once on the video so the player has focus. Shortcuts don't fire while you're typing in the search box or a comment, and browser extensions that remap keys can block them.
How do you skip 5 or 10 seconds on YouTube?
The left and right arrow keys jump 5 seconds. J and L jump 10 seconds. On a phone, double-tap the left or right side of the video.
What is the YouTube shortcut for theater mode?
Press T to switch theater mode on or off. F toggles full screen, and Escape also leaves full screen.
How do you speed up a YouTube video with the keyboard?
Press SHIFT + . (the > key) to speed up and SHIFT + , (the < key) to slow down. On mobile, press and hold the video to play at 2x while you hold.
Conclusion
By mastering keyboard shortcuts on YouTube, you can streamline your viewing experience, save time, and navigate the platform more efficiently.
Next time you're on YouTube, try incorporating these keyboard shortcuts and gestures into your viewing routine. You'll be amazed at how much time and effort you can save over the long term by using these simple tricks. I hope you learned some new keyboard shortcuts for YouTube from this post! Thanks for reading!
Setting up your own channel? See our guides to the YouTube banner size and design, YouTube profile picture guidelines and how to get monetized on YouTube.
