VLC is the ultimate open source media player. It will play any video format you throw at it, and it’s widely available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. If you use VLC a lot and are interested in becoming more proficient with the tool, you should check out these VLC keyboard shortcuts.
One of the great things about VLC is that most of the keyboard shortcuts are single keys. There may be some that are a combo, but many of the most critical ones are just one key. If you ever forget these, you can find them in the “Hotkeys” section of your preferences menu in VLC.
| Function | macOS | Windows / Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Fullscreen | Cmd +f | f |
| Exit fullscreen | Esc | Esc |
| Play/pause | Spacebar | Spacebar |
| Pause only | Not set by default | Media pause |
| Play only | Not set by default | Media play |
| Faster | Cmd + = | + |
| Slower | Cmd + – | – |
| Normal rate | Not set by default | = |
| Faster (fine | Not set by default | ] |
| Slower (fine) | Not set by default | [ |
| Next | Cmd + -> | n |
| Previous | Cmd + <- | p |
| Stop | Cmd | s |
| Position | t | t |
| Very short backwards jump | Cmd + Ctrl + <- | Shift + <- |
| Very short forward jump | Cmd + Ctrl + -> | Shift + -> |
| Short backwards jump | Cmd + Opt + <- | Alt + <- |
| Short forward jump | Cmd + Opt + -> | Alt + -> |
| Medium backwards jump | Cmd + Shift + <- | Ctrl + <- |
| Medium forward jump | Cmd + Shift + -> | Ctrl + -> |
| Long backwards jump | Cmd + Shift + Opt + <- | Ctrl + Alt + <- |
| Long forward jump | Cmd + Shift + Opt + -> | Ctrl + Alt + -> |
| Next frame | e | e |
| Activate | Enter | Enter |
| Navigate up | Up | Up |
| Navigate down | Down | Down |
| Navigate left | <- | <- |
| Navigate right | -> | -> |
| Go to DVD menu | Ctrl + m | Shift + m |
| Select previous DVD title | Ctrl + p | Shift + o |
| Select next DVD title | Ctrl + n | Shift + b |
| Select previous DVD chapter | Ctrl + u | Shift + p |
| Select next DVD chapter | Ctrl + d | Shift + n |
| Quit | Cmd + q | Ctrl + q |
| Volume up | Cmd + Up | Ctrl + Up |
| Volume down | Cmd + Down | Ctrl + Down |
| Mute | Cmd + Opt + Down | m |
| Subtitle delay up | j | h |
| Subtitle delay down | h | g |
| Subtitle sync/bookmark audio timestamp | Shift + h | Shift + h |
| Subtitle sync/bookmark subtitle timestamp | Shift + j | Shift + j |
| Subtitle sync/synchronize audio & subtitle timestamps | Shift + k | Shift + k |
| Subtitle sync/reset audio & subtitle synchronization | Cmd + Shift + k | Ctrl + Shift + k |
| Audio delay up | g | k |
| Audio delay down | f | j |
| Cycle audio track | l | b |
| Cycle through audio devices | Shift + a | Shift + a |
| Cycle subtitle track in reverse order | Opt + s | Alt + v |
| Cycle subtitle track | s | v |
| Toggle subtitles | Shift + s | Shift + v |
| Cycle next program Service IDx | x | x |
| Cycle previous program Service ID | Shift + x | Shift + x |
| Cycle source aspect ratio | a | a |
| Cycle video crop | c | c |
| Toggle autoscaling | o | o |
| Increase scale factor | Opt + o | Alt + o |
| Decrease scale factor | Opt + Shift + o | Alt + Shift + o |
| Toggle deinterlacing | d | d |
| Cycle deinterlace modes | Shift + d | Shift + d |
| Show controller in fullscreen | i | i |
| Context menu | Menu | Menu |
| Take video snapshot | Cmd + Opt + s | Shift + s |
| Record | Cmd + Shift + r | Shift + r |
| Zoom | z | z |
| Un-zoom | Shift + z | Shift + z |
| Toggle Wallpaper mode in video output | Not set by default | w |
| Crop one pixel from the top of the video | Opt + i | Alt + r |
| Uncrop one pixel from the top of the video | Opt + Shift + i | Alt + Shift + r |
| Crop one pixel from the left of the video | Opt + j | Alt + d |
| Uncrop one pixel from the left of the video | Opt + Shift + j | Alt + Shift + d |
| Crop one pixel from the bottom of the video | Opt + k | Alt + c |
| Uncrop one pixel from the bottom of the video | Opt + Shift + k | Alt + Shift + c |
| Crop one pixel from the right of the video | Opt + l | Alt + f |
| Uncrop one pixel from the right of the video | Opt + Shift + l | Alt + Shift + f |
| Random | Cmd + z | r |
| Normal/Loop/Repeat | Shift + l | l |
| Shrink the viewpoint field of view (360) | Not set by default | Page Up |
| Expand the viewpoint field of view (360) | Not set by default | Page Down |
| 1:4 quarter | Not set by default | Alt + 1 |
| 1:2 half | Cmd + 0 | Alt + 2 |
| 1:1 original | Cmd + 1 | Alt + 3 |
| 2:1 double | Cmd + 2 | Alt + 4 |
| Set playlist bookmark 1 | Cmd + F1 | Ctrl + F1 |
| Set playlist bookmark 2 | Cmd + F2 | Ctrl + F2 |
| Set playlist bookmark 3 | Cmd + F3 | Ctrl + F3 |
| Set playlist bookmark 4 | Cmd + F4 | Ctrl + F4 |
| Set playlist bookmark 5 | Cmd + F5 | Ctrl + F5 |
| Set playlist bookmark 6 | Cmd + F6 | Ctrl + F6 |
| Set playlist bookmark 7 | Cmd + F7 | Ctrl + F7 |
| Set playlist bookmark 8 | Cmd + F8 | Ctrl + F8 |
| Set playlist bookmark 9 | Not set by default | Ctrl + F9 |
| Set playlist bookmark 10 | Not set by default | Ctrl + F10 |
| Play playlist bookmark 1 | F1 | F1 |
| Play playlist bookmark 2 | F2 | F2 |
| Play playlist bookmark 3 | F3 | F3 |
| Play playlist bookmark 4 | F4 | F4 |
| Play playlist bookmark 5 | F5 | F5 |
| Play playlist bookmark 6 | F6 | F6 |
| Play playlist bookmark 7 | F7 | F7 |
| Play playlist bookmark 8 | F8 | F8 |
| Play playlist bookmark 9 | Not set by default | F9 |
| Play playlist bookmark 10 | Not set by default | F10 |
| Clear the playlist | Not set by default | Ctrl + w |
| Reset subtitles text scale | Cmd + 0 | Ctrl + 0 |
| Scale down subtitles text | Cmd + Scroll up | Ctrl + Scroll up |
| Scale up subtitles text | Cmd + Scroll down | Ctrl + Scroll down |
Check out more cheatsheets here.
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