15 Best YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows and Mac

YouTube, Google’s streaming service, is reaching new heights of popularity every day. The service is available everywhere, including phone, laptop, smart TV, and the web. While YouTube’s fame is mainly due to mobile apps, the service is better appreciated on the web. You can love the big screen and also take advantage of keyboard shortcuts to navigate the app quickly.

The YouTube web offers many keyboard shortcuts for enjoying the YouTube experience.

Using keyboard shortcuts, you can quickly increase / decrease volume, mute video, restart video, increase subtitle font, disrupt playback speed, etc. In this article, we are going to mention the 15 best YouTube keyboard shortcuts for the web. It will work on both Windows and Mac. Let’s start.

6. Restart the video

At any point in the video, you can restart the video from the beginning. Press the 0 key on the keyboard to restart the video. The good news is, video doesn’t have to be sharp to work.

7. Go to the end

Don’t want to watch the whole video? Use the End key on the keyboard to skip the video to the end.

8. Move the playhead to a respective percentage

Everyone should remember this keyboard shortcut. You can use the number 1 to 9 to quickly switch to the respective percentage of the video.

9. Enter or exit full screen

Using F key on keyboard, users can turn full screen on or off in YouTube video.

10. Go to next / previous video

If you are watching YouTube videos in a playlist, these few keyboard shortcuts can help you skip to the next or previous video. You can use Ctrl + Right / Left Arrow on Windows or Command + Right / Left Arrow on Mac to jump to the next or previous YouTube playlist video.

11. Activate / deactivate closed captions

YouTube offers a handy subtitle tool for generating subtitles. Use the C key on the keyboard to turn subtitles on or off.

12. Increase or decrease CC fonts

When subtitles are enabled, you can use the + key to increase the font size and – the key to decrease the font size.

13. Change the background color of the subtitles

YouTube allows you to change the background color of the subtitles. When CC is on, use B key to change CC background color in YouTube video.

14. Increase / Decrease reading speed

YouTube provides the option to speed up or reduce video playback. Choose the> button to increase the playback speed or the

15. Control the functions of the YouTube player

You can control most of the functions of the YouTube player with the keyboard shortcuts mentioned above. However, they still can’t control everything, like toggle cinema mode or control options in player settings.

You will need the help of the Tab key to access these options, then use the Enter and Arrow keys to control the options.

Use Chrome Extensions to Create Keyboard Shortcuts

There is a Chrome extension for almost everything. There is definitely a handle for creating and adding keyboard shortcuts to your Chrome browser. Note that it will work on all Chromium powered browsers such as Edge and Brave.

You can use the Custom Hotkeys extension to create a keyboard shortcut for the YouTube web. Install the extension and click the extension icon to select Options. You will see a plus icon at the bottom of the screen.

Download custom keyboard shortcuts extension

Just enter the keyboard shortcut you’ll use, the URL of the website you’ll be using it on, and the jQuery selector that will mimic the click of a button.

You can also go for paid extensions like Keyboard Shortcuts to create custom keyboard shortcuts for the YouTube web.

Download the Shortkeys extension

Use YouTube like a pro

YouTube is much more fun and productive with the keyboard shortcuts mentioned above. Most of the time, you’ll be fine with using the default keyboard shortcuts, but if you need more functionality, use Chrome Extensions to create custom keyboard shortcuts.