YouTube Video Control Shortcuts

June 2026:

When using the official YouTube app for on Android, iPhone, and iPad devices:

1. Single Tap

   • A single tap with your finger on a YouTube Short plays or pauses the Short.

2. Double Tap

   • Double tapping with your finger on the right side of the video skips ahead 10 seconds. 

   • Double tapping with your finger on the left side of the video rewinds the video 10 seconds. It's a great way to quickly rewind and replay something funny or interesting. 

   • Double tapping a YouTube Short "likes" the Short.

3. Press and Hold

   • Press and hold your finger on the right side of the video to fast-forward until you lift your finger. 

   • Press and hold your finger on the left side of the video to rewind until you lift your finger. 

   • Pressing and holding on a YouTube Short opens the settings for the video and gives you access to captions, saving to a playlist, and more.

4. Slide your finger on the progress bar 

   • Position your finger on the video progress bar and drag it left or right to jump more than 10 seconds to another section of the video.

5. Swipe up and down 

   • Swiping your finger up on a YouTube video makes the video full screen. 

     • If the video is full screen and you swipe down, it restores to its original size. 

   • Swiping the video down when it's not full screen moves it to the corner and lets you continue to browse for other videos while the video continues to play. 

     • If you swipe down one more time when the video is in the corner, it closes the video.

   • If you're watching a YouTube Short, swiping up moves to the next Short. 

     • Swiping down moves to the previous Short.

6. Swipe to the left

   • Swiping left on a YouTube Short opens more Shorts from that content creator. 

     • Helpful when you enjoy a Short and want to find similar content.

7. Pinch

   • When the video is full screen, pinching out on the video zooms in.

   • Pinching in zooms out of a zoomed-in video. 

     • Once the video is fully zoomed out, pinching in does nothing.

   • Pinching does nothing when watching a YouTube Short.

8. Settings

   • Tap the settings gear icon (⚙️) in the top-right corner to adjust video settings, such as how fast the video plays or if captions should be turned on or off.

9. Tap the video title

   • Tap the video title to view the full YouTube video description. 

10. Save

    • Tap the save icon resembling a bookmark if you'd like to save the video to one of your playlists. 

When using the official YouTube website in a desktop browser:

1. Play and pause a video

   • Press the spacebar or letter "K" on your keyboard to play and pause a video.

     • Holding down either of these keys will play the video in slow motion.

   • Pressing the "," (comma) or "." (period) key while the video is paused moves the video backward or forward (respectively) one frame at a time.

     • Either of these keys can also be held down for slow motion.

2. Jump to start of a video

   • Pressing the "0" (zero) key on your keyboard jumps to the beginning of a video. 

     • The "home" key on your keyboard also works for jumping to the start of a video.

3. Jump to the end of a video, or go to the next video

   • Pressing "end" on your keyboard jumps to the end of the video. 

     • If you are watching a playlist, it goes to the next video in the playlist.

4. Skip or jump in the video

   • Fast forward or rewind

     • Press the left or right arrow keys to rewind or fast forward (respectively) in increments of five seconds. 

     • Press the letter "J" key to rewind ten seconds, or press the letter "L" key to fast forward ten seconds.

   • Skip to video sections

     • Pressing the number keys from "1" to "9" seeks (jumps) to that percentage of the video. 

       • In other words, "1" jumps to 10% completion, "2" jumps to 20% completion, "6" jumps to 60%, etc.

5. Change video playback speed

   • Hold down the Shift key and quickly press the "," (comma) key to decrease the playback speed of a video. 

     • Each press of the "," (comma) key decreases the speed by a 25% increment (for example, two presses decreases the speed from 100% to 50%).

   • Hold down the Shift key and quickly press the "." (period) key to increase the playback speed of a video.

     • Each press of the "." (period) key increases the speed by a 25% increment (for example, three presses increases the speed from 100% to 175%).

6. Switch the video to full-screen or theater mode

   • Pressing the letter "F" key switches from normal mode to full-screen mode.

     • Pressing the letter "F" key in full-screen mode switches back to normal mode.

   • Pressing the letter "T" key switches from normal mode to theater mode.

     • Pressing the letter "T" key in theater mode switches back to normal mode.

7. Switch to the mini-player

   • Press the letter "I" (not "L") key to switch the video you're watching to the mini-player.

     • This lets you continue browsing YouTube while watching the video in the bottom right corner of the screen.

8. Skip to the next or previous video in a playlist

   • Hold down the Shift key and then press the "N" key to go to the next video if you're watching YouTube videos in a playlist.

   • Hold down the Shift key and then press the "P" key to go to the previous video.

9. Turn closed captions and subtitles on or off 

   • If a video has CC (closed captions) or subtitles, press the "C" key on the keyboard to turn them on. 

     • Pressing the "C" key a second time turns them back off.

   • While CC is turned on:

     • Press the "+" (plus) key to increase the CC font size.

       • Press the "-" (minus) key to decrease the CC font size.

     • Press the letter "O" (not zero) key will toggle the CC font between being more or less opaque.

       • Press the letter "W" key will toggle the CC font background between being more or less opaque.

10. Turn the volume up or down when in full-screen mode

    • Press the "up arrow" or "down arrow" key to turn up or turn down (respectively) the video's volume. 

      • If you are turning down the volume and continue to hold the down arrow key, it will eventually mute the volume.

      • You can instead press the letter "M" key to mute, or unmute, the volume.

(Source: https://www.computerhope.com/tips/tip170.htm)