The Secret Keyboard Controls of YouTube

David Pogue
·Tech Critic
Updated

Maybe you already know that tapping the space bar is your Play/Pause control for a YouTube video.

But lots of other keys are available to you, too. Check it out:

  • J: Jumps back 10 seconds. Great if you didn’t catch the words.

  • K: Play/Pause. (In case your space bar is broken.)

  • L: Jumps forward 10 seconds. Great if the introduction is taking forever.

  • M: Mute the audio.

(Isn’t it neat how those four keys are all clustered together under your right hand?)

  • ←, → (arrow keys): Rewind, fast forward

  • Home: Jumps to the beginning.

  • End: Jumps to the end.

The number keys work, too. You can press 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on to jump to points in the video at those percentages in. 0 means “the beginning.” 1 means “10 percent of the way through.” 2 means “20 percent through,” and so on up to 9.

These keyboard shortcuts don’t work in full-screen mode, by the way (except M for mute and space for pause). Still, they’re great to know!

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Pogue's Basics book cover
Pogue's Basics book cover

Adapted from Pogue’s Basics, Flatiron Books. Order here.