VLC’s keyboard shortcuts do one thing its menus cannot: they let you fix what you are watching without looking away from it. Press Space to pause, F for fullscreen, M to mute, and Ctrl with the left or right arrow to jump a minute. Everything on this page is the default set that ships with VLC on Windows and Linux, as published by VideoLAN in its own hotkeys documentation.
The shortcuts worth memorising
If you learn nothing else, learn these eight. They cover the controls you reach for in almost every video.
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Space | Play or pause |
| F | Enter fullscreen |
| Esc | Leave fullscreen, or close the open dialogue |
| S | Stop playback |
| M | Mute and unmute |
| Ctrl + Up / Ctrl + Down | Volume up and down |
| N / P | Next and previous item in the playlist |
| E | Step forward one frame |
Four ways to skip, not one
This is the part most people never discover. VLC does not have a single skip button — it has four different jump distances, chosen by which modifier key you hold with the arrow keys. Once you know them you stop dragging the progress bar.
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Shift + Left / Right | Jump 5 seconds — for catching a line of dialogue you missed |
| Alt + Left / Right | Jump 10 seconds |
| Ctrl + Left / Right | Jump 1 minute |
| Ctrl + Alt + Left / Right | Jump 5 minutes — for skipping an interval or a long credits sequence |
Playback speed
The plus and minus keys change speed in noticeable steps; the bracket keys nudge it finely, which is the pair you want for following fast speech without the audio turning into a chipmunk.
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| + | Faster |
| – | Slower |
| = | Return to normal speed |
| ] | Faster, fine adjustment |
| [ | Slower, fine adjustment |
Subtitles and audio tracks
Two of these solve the most common complaint about downloaded video: subtitles or audio that drift out of step with the picture. H and G nudge the subtitle timing, K and J nudge the audio. Hold one down while watching and you can dial a file back into sync in a few seconds.
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| V | Cycle to the next subtitle track |
| Shift + V | Turn subtitles on or off |
| Alt + V | Cycle subtitle tracks in reverse |
| B | Cycle to the next audio track |
| Shift + A | Cycle to the next audio device |
| H / G | Subtitle delay up and down |
| K / J | Audio delay up and down |
Picture, zoom and capture
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| A | Cycle the aspect ratio |
| C | Cycle the cropping ratio |
| Z | Cycle zoom |
| Shift + Z | Un-zoom |
| O | Toggle original video size and autoscaling |
| Shift + S | Take a snapshot of the current frame |
| Shift + R | Start or stop recording |
| L | Switch between normal, loop and repeat |
| R | Toggle random order |
How to check or change your own shortcuts
Every key above is a default, and defaults can be reassigned — by you, or by a previous install you have forgotten about. To see the list your copy is actually using, open Tools → Preferences, choose Show settings: All at the bottom left, then select Hotkeys. Double-click any entry to record a new key. That screen is also the fastest way to settle an argument about what a key is bound to, because it shows your machine rather than someone else’s.
If a shortcut does nothing, the usual cause is focus: VLC only receives the keypress when its window is in front. A key can also be captured by another application’s global hotkey, which is worth checking before assuming VLC is at fault.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my VLC shortcut not working?
Three causes account for nearly all of it. The VLC window may not have focus, so the keypress goes to whatever is in front. The shortcut may have been reassigned in Preferences. Or another program may be holding that combination as a system-wide hotkey, which takes priority. Checking Tools → Preferences → Hotkeys rules out the middle one immediately.
How do I fix audio that is out of sync with the video?
Use K to push the audio later and J to pull it earlier, while the video plays. VLC shows the current offset on screen as you adjust, so you can tune it by ear in a few presses. The equivalent keys for subtitles are H and G.
What is the difference between the four skip shortcuts?
They are the same action at four distances: Shift moves 5 seconds, Alt moves 10 seconds, Ctrl moves 1 minute and Ctrl + Alt moves 5 minutes. Holding a different modifier is how you choose how far to travel.
How do I take a screenshot of a video in VLC?
Press Shift + S. VLC saves a snapshot of the exact frame on screen, at the video’s own resolution rather than your screen resolution, which is why it beats a normal screen capture for stills.
Are these shortcuts the same on a Mac?
Not necessarily. VideoLAN documents this hotkey set for the Qt interface used on Windows and Linux, and does not publish a separate macOS mapping alongside it. If you are on a Mac, the reliable answer is the Preferences → Hotkeys screen on your own machine rather than any list published elsewhere.
Can I use these shortcuts for audio as well as video?
Yes. Play, pause, stop, volume, mute, speed, the four skip distances and the playlist keys all behave the same when VLC is playing music. The subtitle and picture keys simply have nothing to act on.
Related reading
If VLC is not quite the right tool for a job, these cover the neighbouring ground: a free all-in-one media player for Windows, the types of online video converter and what each is good for, and three fast ways to convert MKV to MP4 on a Mac.
1 Comment
I always used tto read paragraph in news papers but now
as I amm a user of web thus from now I am using net
for posts, thanks to web.