YouTube Shortcuts You Should Know in 2026
Jul 28, 2026• Proven solutions
TL;DR:
You can bypass the mouse and control YouTube playback, captions, scrolling, and screen modes entirely using keyboard shortcuts, starting by pressing SHIFT + ? to instantly pull up the complete master list directly on your screen.
● Use J and L to skip 10 seconds backward or forward, SHIFT and the period or comma keys to adjust playback speed, or pause the video and press the standard period or comma keys for frame-by-frame navigation since Numpad equivalents are not supported.
● Control the YouTube mobile app using touch gestures by double-tapping the video player edges to skip in 10-second increments, long-pressing and swiping left or right to scrub, and swiping up or down to enter or exit full-screen mode.
● Adjust your viewing interface by pressing C to toggle captions, F, T, or I to switch between full-screen, theater, or independent screen modes, and use the W, A, S, and D keys to pan the camera during 360-degree or VR video playback.
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YouTube, as one of the most popular free streaming video portals, the majority of people use it, probably several times a day. However, how many of you know that there are more than 20 shortcuts that help you use the website comparatively more conveniently?
With that said, the following two-columned tables give you detailed information on the shortcut keys and their respective functions, so you don’t have to grab the mouse every time you want to navigate through the YouTube videos, or do any such similar tasks.
Amazing YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts You May Not Know
To make things convenient for you, the shortcut keys are placed under their corresponding categories, where each category is in the form of a two-columned table.
Category 1: YouTube Playback Hotkeys
While watching a YouTube video, there might be instances when you want to pause and resume the playback. This category teaches how this can be done using the keyboard:
| Keyboard Shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| 'K' | Play and Pause (Works as a toggle key) |
| 'Spacebar' | Play and Pause (Works as a toggle key) |
Category 2: Scrolling YouTube Videos Back and Forth
This section talks about the shortcut keys to skim the video forward and backward during playback:
| Keyboard Shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| 'L' | Skip the video 10 seconds forward |
| 'J' | Skip the video 10 seconds backward |
| '→' (Right Arrow) | Skip the video 5 seconds forward |
| '←' (Left Arrow) | Skip the video 5 seconds backward |
| 'SHIFT' + 'N' | Skip to the next video in the playlist or to the next suggested video |
| 'K' or 'Spacebar'; then '.' (Period) | Pressing 'K' or 'Spacebar' pauses the video; pressing the '.' (Period) key repeatedly moves the video forward one frame at a time (Period key on the Numpad isn't supported) |
| 'K' or 'Spacebar'; then ',' (Comma) | Pressing 'K' or 'Spacebar' pauses the video; pressing the ',' (Comma) key repeatedly moves the video backward one frame at a time (Period key on the Numpad isn't supported) |
| '0' (Zero) | Takes the video to the beginning |
If you’re watching videos on YouTube mobile app, you can use double-tap on the right side of the video player to skip 10 seconds forward, and double-tap on the left side of the video player to skip the video 10 seconds backward. Every double-tap forwards/rewinds the video in 10-seconds increments. E.g., Tapping 6 times on the right skips the video 30 seconds forward. Tapping 6 times on the left skips the video 30 seconds backward.
Long press the Video Player and swipe right will navigate the video forward; and long press the video player and wwipe left will navigate the video backward.
Category 3: Manage Playback Speed
This category contains information on increasing or decreasing the playback speed of a YouTube video:
| Keyboard Shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| 'SHIFT' + '.' (Period) | Increase playback speed |
| 'SHIFT' + ',' (Comma) | Decrease playback speed |
Category 4: Managing the Captions
This category talks about managing the video captions using the shortcut keys:
| Keyboard Shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| 'C' | Enable or disable captions (Works as a toggle key) |
| 'O' (The letter O) | Increase or decrease the brightness level of the captions (Works as a toggle key) |
| 'W' | Enable, increase, and disable the background transparency of the captions (Press multiple times to manage intensity) |
| '-' (Minus Key) | Reduce the font size of the captions (Minus key on the Numpad isn't supported) |
| '+' (Plus Key) | Increase the font size of the captions (Plus key on the Numpad isn't supported) |
Category 5: Managing the Audio Video
This category shows the shortcut keys to manage audio for a YouTube video:
| Keyboard Shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| 'M' | Mute YouTube video |
| '↑' | Increase volume by 5% |
| '↓' | Decrease volume by 5% |
Category 6: Switching Between Screen Modes
The shortcut keys given in this table enable you to switch between different screen modes:
| Keyboard Shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| 'F' | Switch between the full-screen and normal mode (Works as a toggle key) |
| 'T' | Switch between the theater and normal mode (Works as a toggle key) |
| 'I' | Switch between the independent player and normal mode (Works as a toggle key) |
Double press F/T/I on the keyboard will exit the full-screen/theater model/independent mode accordingly.
If you are watching video on YouTube mobile app, you can swipe up the video slightly to enter the full screen mode, and swipe down the video slightly to exit the full screen.
Category 7: Viewing 360o/VR Videos
In this category, the navigation and management of shortcut keys for 360o and Virtual Reality (VR) view are discussed:
| Keyboard Shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| 'W', 'A', 'S', 'D' | Up, left, down, and right camera panning respectively |
| '+' (Plus Key on Numpad) | Zoom in |
| '-' (Minus Key on Numpad) | Zoom out |
| '-' (Minus Key on Keyboard) | Decrease font size |
| '+' (Plus Key on Keyboard) | Increase font size |
Bonus: How to Get the YouTube Shortcut List with One-Click
In this section, you will learn how to pull up the list of important YouTube shortcuts by pressing merely one key:
| Keyboard Shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| 'SHIFT' + '?' | Show the important keyboard shortcuts assigned for YouTube |
So, when you press the Shift+? on YouTube, you will see a full list of shortcuts.
Conclusion
Watching videos on YouTube is fun, and you can enjoy the clips, movies, tutorials, etc. more if you are well-aware of the important shortcut keys. This not only helps you navigate through the videos faster but also gives you relief from the additional efforts that you would otherwise have to make while grabbing the mouse, and then looking for and using the correct option.
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