VLC Media player shortcuts are highly beneficial for saving some of your time. We can perform numerous actions without needing to move the mouse and click on the menu buttons. The hotkeys are great for quick video playback actions. Simply, hit the shortcut combination keys and see the results immediately.
VLC Media Player Shortcuts for Microsoft Windows
Here are the shortcuts and hotkeys of VLC Media Player on Windows:
File Operations
CTRL + O : Open a single file
CTRL + SHIFT + O : Open multiple files
CTRL + F : Open folder
CTRL + D : Open disk
CTRL + N : Open network stream
CTRL + C : Open capture device
CTRL + V : Open location copied in the clipboard
CTRL + R : Convert and save file
CTRL + S : Stream your media locally or on the internet
Program Operations
CTRL + Q or ALT + F4 or ALT + Q : Quit
CTRL + E : Open the adjustment and effects menu
CTRL + SHIFT + W : VLM Configuration
CTRL + M : Open the message screen
CTRL + P : Open the preferences menu
F1 : Help
SHIFT + F1 : About
Playing Operations
SPACE : Play and Pause a file
N : Next Track
P : Previous Track
F or F11 or Mouse Double Click : Full screen mode on and off
CTRL + H : Switch minimal interface on and off
T : Show current and remaining time information
CTRL + T : Go to a specific time of a playing media
P : Go and play from the start of a file
S : Stop movie
Esc : Full screen exit
E : Switch to next frame
L : Loop off, one or all
R : Random on and off
Subtitles
G : Decrease subtitle delay
H : Increase subtitle delay
V : Cycle through subtitles
Playing Speed
[ : Decrease playing speed
] : Increase playing speed
= : Normal playing speed
Quick Forward and Backward
SHIFT + RIGHT ARROW : 3 seconds forward
SHIFT + LEFT ARROW : 3 seconds backward
ALT + RIGHT ARROW : 10 seconds forward
ALT + LEFT ARROW : 10 seconds backward
CTRL + RIGHT ARROW : 1 minute forward
CTRL + LEFT ARROW : 1 minute backward
Video Display Options
A: Cycle aspect ratio
C : Cycle through crop display area
Z : Cycle through zoom mode
D : Deinterlace On and Off
O : Switch to original size of the video
W : Wallpaper mode on (with DirectX output)
Sound and Audio Operations
CTRL + UP ARROW or Mouse Scroll Up : Volume Up
CTRL + DOWN ARROW or Mouse Scroll Down: Volume Down
J : Decrease audio delay
K : Increase audio delay
B : Cycle through available audio tracks
M : Mute sound on and off
Shift + A : Cycle through audio devices
Media Information
CTRL + I : View and edit media information like title, artist, album
CTRL + J : View codec information like your media dimensions, audio and video codecs
Playlist Operations
CTRL + L : Switch to playlist or back to media
CTRL + Y : Save current playlist to a file
CTRL + B : Create, delete and clear bookmarks menu.
Disc Operations
Shift + B : Next title
Shift + O : Previous title
Shift + N : Next chapter
Shift + P : Previous chapter
Shift + M : Disk Menu
Shift + H : History forward
Shift + G : History back
Miscellaneous
Shift + R : Start and stop recording
Shift + S : Take snapshot
ALT + C : Crop from bottom
ALT+ SHIFT + C : Uncrop from bottom
ALT + D: Crop from left
ALT + SHIFT + D: Uncrop from left
ALT + F: Crop from right
ALT + SHIFT + F: Uncrop from right
ALT + R : Crop from top
ALT + SHIFT + R: Uncrop from top
File Menu Operations
ALT + M : Open media menu
ALT + L : Open playback menu
ALT + A : Open audio menu
ALT + V : Open video menu
ALT + S : Open subtitle menu
ALT + O : Open tools menu
ALT + I : Open view menu
ALT + H : Open help menu
* Hit the subsequent underlined character of menu item name after opening menu items using the above file menu operation shortcuts. This will open the sub-menu. If the same character is underlined for several sub-menu items, hit those characters multiple times to navigate to the correct one. Then hit enter to open it.
* You can also learn how to edit these shortcuts to fit your preferences.
VLC Media Player Shortcuts for Apple Mac
Here are the shortcut keys for VLC Media Player when you use it on Apple’s Mac devices (Macbook Air, Pro, iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Studio, Mac Pro):
Playback Operations
⌘ + F: Fullscreen
Esc: Exit Fullscreen
Space: Play/Pause
⌘ + =: Increase Playback Speed
⌘ + -: Decrease Playback Speed
⌘ + Right Arrow: Next Track
⌘ + Left Arrow: Previous Track
⌘ + . : Stop
T: Display Position
⌘ + ⌥ + Left Arrow: Short Backward Jump
⌘ + ⌥ + Right Arrow: Short Forward Jump
⌘ + Shift⇧ + Left Arrow: Medium Backward Jump
⌘ + Shift⇧ + Right Arrow: Medium Forward Jump
⌘ + ⌃ + Left Arrow: Very Short Backward Jump
⌘ + ⌃ + Right Arrow: Very Short Forward Jump
E: Next Frame
Navigation and Program Operations
Up Arrow: Navigate Up
Down Arrow: Navigate Down
Left Arrow: Navigate Left
Right Arrow: Navigate Right
⌃ + M: Access the DVD Menu
⌃ + P: Select Previous DVD Title
⌃ + N: Select Next DVD Title
⌃ + U: Select Previous DVD Chapter
⌃ + D: Select Next DVD Chapter
⌘ + Q: Quit VLC
Sound and Audio Operations
⌘ + Up Arrow: Volume Up
⌘ + Down Arrow: Volume Down
⌘ + ⌥ + DownArrow: Mute the Volume
G: Audio Delay Up
F: Audio Delay Down
L: Cycle between two or more audio tracks
Shift⇧ + A: Cycle between audio devices
Subtitle Operations
J: Subtitle Delay Up
H: Subtitle Delay Down
Shift⇧ + H: Subtitle Sync or Bookmark Audio Timestamp
Shift⇧ + J: Subtitle Sync or Bookmark Subtitle Timestamp
Shift⇧ + K: Subtitle Sync or Reset Audio and Subtitle Synchronization
S: Cycle between subtitle tracks
⌥ + S: Cycle between subtitle tracks in reverse order
Shift⇧ + S: Toggle Subtitles on or off
⌘ + 0: Reset Subtitle Text Scale
⌘ + Mouse Wheel Up: Scale Down Subtitle
⌘ + Mouse Wheel Down: Scale Up Subtitle
Playback Operations
⌘ + Z: Random
Shift⇧ + L: Toggle between normal, looped, and repeat the single track/playlist playback
Video Display Operations
A: Cycle between different aspect ratios
C: Cycle between different video crop options
O: Toggle Autoscaling
⌥ + O: Increase Scale Factor
Shift⇧ + ⌥ + O: Decrease Scale Factor
D: Deinterlacing on and off
Shift⇧ + D: Cycle between deinterlacing modes
L: Show Controller when a video is fullscreen
⌘ + ⌥ + S: Take a Snapshot
⌘ + Shift⇧+ R: Begin and Stop Recording
Z: Zoom
Shift⇧ + Z: Zoom Out (Unzoom)
⌘ + 0: Set the video size to half of the original
⌘ + 1: Set the video dimensions to the original
⌘ + 2: Set the video dimensions to double of the original
Crop Video During Playback
⌥ + I: Crop one pixel from the top of the video
⌥ + Shift⇧ + I: Uncrop one pixel from the top of the video
⌥ + J: Crop one pixel from the left of the video
⌥ + Shift⇧ + J: Uncrop one pixel from the left of the video
⌥ + K: Crop one pixel from the bottom of the video
⌥ + Shift⇧ + K: Uncrop one pixel from the bottom of the video
⌥ + L: Crop one pixel from the right of the video
⌥ + Shift⇧ + L: Uncrop one pixel from the right of the video
Playlist Bookmark Operations
⌘ + F1: Set Playlist Bookmark 1
⌘ + F2: Set Playlist Bookmark 2
⌘ + F3: Set Playlist Bookmark 3
⌘ + F4: Set Playlist Bookmark 4
⌘ + F5: Set Playlist Bookmark 5
⌘ + F6: Set Playlist Bookmark 6
⌘ + F7: Set Playlist Bookmark 7
⌘ + F8: Set Playlist Bookmark 8
F1: Play Playlist Bookmark 1
F2: Play Playlist Bookmark 2
F3: Play Playlist Bookmark 3
F4: Play Playlist Bookmark 4
F5: Play Playlist Bookmark 5
F6: Play Playlist Bookmark 6
F7: Play Playlist Bookmark 7
F8: Play Playlist Bookmark 8
Miscellaneous Operations
X: Cycle Next Program Service ID
Shift⇧ + X: Cycle Previous Program Service ID
