Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts

VLC Redesign has two kinds of keys:

• VLC's shortcuts (play, seek, volume, subtitles...). Every one of them can be changed, and each can also have a global key that works from any program. They are listed below in the groups and with the names of the Keyboard Shortcuts window.
• The keys of the interface (open a file, open Settings, show the queue...). They belong to the window and are fixed.

The tables give the defaults of VLC Redesign on Windows. Where an action has several keys, any of them works.

Changed from VLC: L shows the library next to the video (VLC's Normal/Loop/Repeat moved to Shift+L), Q shows the queue, < and > were added to Previous / Next, and , and . to Previous frame / Next frame, as the first-run setup teaches them.

The keys of the first-run setup

The last step of the first-run setup shows these twelve. It reads the keys in use, so a key you changed shows there as you set it.

Action	Key
Play / Pause	Space
Seek backward / forward	Left / Right
Previous / next item	< / >
Previous / next frame	, / .
Cycle subtitle track	V
Cycle audio track	B
Toggle fullscreen	F
Increase / decrease volume	Up / Down
Show / hide queue	Q (Ctrl+L when a VLC shortcut takes Q)
Show / hide file browser (the library next to the video)	L
Take a snapshot	Shift+S
Record	Shift+R

Good to know

• Left, Right, Up and Down are VLC's navigation keys. In a DVD or Blu-ray menu they move in the menu; in a 360° video they turn the view; otherwise Left / Right seek by the short jump (10 seconds by default) and Up / Down change the volume.
• Q and L work only while no VLC shortcut uses them. Give L to a VLC action and the library key stops; the queue still has Ctrl+L. Q also opens the queue from the library; L works in the player only.
• In the library, the arrow keys move between the cards and rows; VLC's shortcuts take over in the player.

VLC's shortcuts

The groups and names are those of the Keyboard Shortcuts window. "none" means the action has no key until you give it one.

Basic

Action	Key
Toggle fullscreen	F
Exit fullscreen / close dialog	Esc
Show playback position and time	T
Show interface controls in fullscreen	I

Playback

Action	Key
Play / pause	Space
Stop playback	S
Next track	N, >, Shift+>
Previous track	P, <, Shift+<
Next program / Service ID	X
Cycle previous program Service ID	Shift+X
Pause only	Browser Stop
Play only	Browser Refresh
Faster / Slower	+ / -
Normal rate	=
Faster (fine) / Slower (fine)	] / [
Very short backwards / forward jump (3 s)	Shift+Left / Shift+Right
Short backwards / forward jump (10 s)	Alt+Left / Alt+Right
Medium backwards / forward jump (1 min)	Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right
Long backwards / forward jump (5 min)	Ctrl+Alt+Left / Ctrl+Alt+Right
Next frame	E, .
Previous frame	Shift+E, ,
Select previous / next DVD title	Shift+O / Shift+B
Select prev / next DVD chapter	Shift+P / Shift+N
Quit	Ctrl+Q
Toggle autoscaling	O
Increase / Decrease scale factor	Alt+O / Alt+Shift+O
Boss key	none
Show the menu (the right-click menu)	Menu
Record	Shift+R
Toggle wallpaper mode in video output	W
Random	R
Normal/Loop/Repeat	Shift+L
Shrink / Expand the viewpoint field of view (360°)	Page Up / Page Down
Roll the viewpoint clockwise / anti-clockwise (360°)	none
Clear the play queue	Ctrl+W
Set play queue bookmark 1 … 10	Ctrl+F1 … Ctrl+F10
Go to play queue bookmark 1 … 10	F1 … F10 (see the note below)

The jump lengths (3 s, 10 s, 1 min, 5 min) are the Skip Amounts of Settings: Controls; the table shows their defaults.

Audio

Action	Key
Volume up / down	Ctrl+Up / Ctrl+Down
Mute	M
Subtitle sync / bookmark audio timestamp	Shift+H
Audio delay up / down	K / J
Cycle audio track	B
Cycle through audio devices	Shift+A

Subtitle sync / bookmark audio timestamp is listed under Audio in the window (its internal name has "audio" in it); it is the first of the four subtitle sync keys, see Subtitles.

Video

Action	Key
Cycle source aspect ratio	A
Cycle video crop	C
Toggle deinterlacing	D
Cycle deinterlace modes	Shift+D
Take video snapshot	Shift+S
Zoom / Un-Zoom	Z / Shift+Z
Crop / Uncrop one pixel from the top of the video	Alt+R / Alt+Shift+R
Crop / Uncrop one pixel from the left of the video	Alt+D / Alt+Shift+D
Crop / Uncrop one pixel from the bottom of the video	Alt+C / Alt+Shift+C
Crop / Uncrop one pixel from the right of the video	Alt+F / Alt+Shift+F
1:4 Quarter / 1:2 Half / 1:1 Original / 2:1 Double	Alt+1 / Alt+2 / Alt+3 / Alt+4

Subtitles

Action	Key
Subtitle delay up / down	H / G
Subtitle sync / bookmark subtitle timestamp	Shift+J
Subtitle sync / synchronize audio & subtitle timestamps	Shift+K
Subtitle sync / reset audio & subtitle synchronization	Ctrl+Shift+K
Subtitle position up / down	Shift+Up / Shift+Down
Cycle subtitle track in reverse order	Alt+V
Cycle subtitle track	V
Toggle subtitles	Shift+V
Toggle secondary subtitle control	Ctrl+Shift+V
Reset subtitles text scale	Ctrl+0 (see the note below)
Scale up / down subtitles text	Ctrl+Mouse Wheel Up / Ctrl+Mouse Wheel Down

How the sync keys work: press Shift+H when you hear a line, Shift+J when its text shows, then Shift+K to move the subtitles by the gap between the two. The Subtitle timing buttons of the languages and tracks panel do the same with the mouse: see Subtitles.

Navigation

Action	Key
Activate	Enter
Navigate up / down / left / right	Up / Down / Left / Right
Go to the DVD menu	Shift+M

The keys of the interface

These belong to the window, not to VLC's list: they are not in the Keyboard Shortcuts window and cannot be changed.

Key	What it does
Ctrl+O	Open file(s)
Ctrl+Shift+O	VLC's Open Media dialog (several files, subtitles, options)
Ctrl+F	Open folder
Ctrl+D	Open disc
Ctrl+N	Open network stream
Ctrl+C	Open capture device
Ctrl+V, Shift+Insert	Open the location in the clipboard: one link opens the Open URL dialog; several lines ask Do you want to enqueue the following URLs into the play queue?
Ctrl+Y	Save the play queue to a playlist file
Ctrl+R	Convert / Save
Ctrl+S	Stream
Ctrl+E	Effects, in the middle of the window (see Effects)
Ctrl+I	Media information
Ctrl+J	Codec information
Ctrl+M	Messages (VLC's log)
Ctrl+P	Settings
Ctrl+T	Go to time
Ctrl+B	Bookmarks window (needs the media library)
Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+9, Ctrl+0	Play one of the ten media played last: Ctrl+1 the last one, Ctrl+0 the tenth (needs the media library)
Ctrl+Shift+W	VLM configuration
Ctrl+L	Show / hide the queue
Ctrl+H, Ctrl+\	Hide / show the player UI (the video alone, without the bars)
Ctrl++ or Ctrl+=	Make the whole interface larger
Ctrl+- or Ctrl+Shift+-	Make the whole interface smaller
Ctrl+Q	Quit (also VLC's Quit)
F1	Help
Shift+F1	About VLC
F10	Show / hide the menu bar
F11	Fullscreen of the whole window, also from the library or the music view
Q	Show / hide the queue (while no VLC shortcut uses Q)
L	Show / hide the library next to the video, in the player (while no VLC shortcut uses L)

In the library

Key	What it does
/, Ctrl+K	Open the search of the page
Arrow keys, Page Up, Page Down	Move between cards and rows
Enter	Open or play the item with the focus
Ctrl+A	Select every item of a list or grid
Delete	Remove the selected rows from the queue, or from the playlist that is open
Esc	Go back, or close the search

In the player

Key	Where	What it does
Enter	After a click on the time played	Go to the time typed
Esc	A panel above the bar, the Continue where you left off? card, the time field	Close it

Keys that two lists share

Some interface keys are also defaults of VLC actions. The window's own key is handled first, so in practice:

Key	Interface	VLC action that loses it
F1	Help	Go to play queue bookmark 1
F10	Menu bar	Go to play queue bookmark 10
Ctrl+0	Tenth media played last (with the media library)	Reset subtitles text scale

To keep the VLC action, give it another key in Keyboard Shortcuts (for example Ctrl+Shift+0 for Reset subtitles text scale). The Reset button of the subtitle size, in the languages and tracks panel, also resets the size.

Change a shortcut

1. Open ⋯ → Keyboard Shortcuts, or ⋯ → Settings → Controls → Keyboard Shortcuts → Edit Keyboard Shortcuts.
2. Find the action: the list is grouped (Basic, Playback, Audio, Video, Subtitles, Navigation), or type in Search Keyboard Shortcuts... at the top. The list next to the search chooses where to look: All Fields, Action, Hotkey or Global Hotkey.
3. Click the Hotkey field (works while VLC Redesign has the focus) or the Global Hotkey field (works from any program; empty by default). The window asks Press a key combination to add to … (Esc cancels).
4. Press the keys. An action can have several keys; each shows apart in the field.
5. Save. The keys work at once, without a restart.

To	Do this
Remove a key	Click the cross after it. The cross shows while the field is under the pointer or has the focus.
Take a key from another action	Press it anyway: the window asks This key is assigned to … Replace that assignment?. Replace moves the key here.
Drop your changes	Close the window without saving.
Go back to the defaults	⋯ → Settings → Controls, Reset all shortcuts, Reset: Reset all shortcuts? — "Local and global shortcuts will return to VLC defaults when you save. Cancel keeps your current settings."

Good to know

• While a panel or a dialog of the interface is open (Languages and tracks, Effects, VLC Settings, HDR, the sleep timer, Customize Player, Settings, Keyboard Shortcuts, the first-run setup...), the keys go to it: VLC's shortcuts and the interface keys wait until it closes. Space does not pause while the languages and tracks panel is open, for example; Esc closes the panel first.
• The search of Settings finds shortcuts too: type an action's name in Settings and its keys show under Keyboard Shortcuts; a click on one opens the Keyboard Shortcuts window on it.
• Some keys cannot be used by VLC (the window says This key combination cannot be used by VLC.).
• The keys are part of the settings a player profile keeps: switching profile can bring other keys. See Customize the player.
• The right-click menu and the ⋯ menu show the keys in use, including the ones you set.
• The mouse wheel and clicks on the video are set in Settings: Controls; see The player.

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