iTunes 11 for Windows: Keyboard shortcuts
You can use keyboard shortcuts to quickly accomplish many tasks in iTunes. To find the shortcuts for common commands, look in the iTunes menus, or use the table below as a reference.
Many items in the iTunes window (for example, songs and column headings) also have shortcut menus that let you do tasks quickly. To see a shortcut menu, right-click the item.
To turn on full keyboard navigation, choose Edit > Preferences, click General, and select “Enable full keyboard navigation.”
Some screen readers override keyboard combinations built into iTunes; check the screen reader documentation for instructions on customizing key combinations.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Playback shortcuts | |
| Play the currently selected song immediately | Enter |
| Move forward or backward within a song | Control–Alt–Right Arrow or Left Arrow |
| Listen to the next or previous album in a list | Shift–Right Arrow or Left Arrow |
| Go to the next or previous song in a list | Left Arrow or Right Arrow (or click the Skip Forward or Skip Backward controls in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window) |
| Library and playlist shortcuts | |
| Select or deselect all the songs in a list | Control-click the checkbox next to a song |
| Create a playlist from a selection of songs | Control-Shift-N |
| Create a new Smart Playlist | Control-Alt-N |
| Refresh the Radio list (when Radio is selected) | F5 |
| Refresh a Genius Playlist (when the playlist is selected) | F5 |
| iTunes Store shortcuts | |
| Go to the next page in the iTunes Store | Control–Right bracket ( ] ) |
| Go to the previous page in the iTunes Store | Control–Left bracket ( [ ) |
| Check for new podcast episodes (when Podcasts is selected, below Library) | F5 |
| Initiate a search in the iTunes Store (from anywhere in iTunes) | Type in Search field and press Shift-Return |
| Open the Store menu | Alt-S |
| Check for app updates (when Apps is selected, below Library) | F5 |
| File and window shortcuts | |
| Expand or collapse all the triangles in the Radio’s Stream list | Control-click a triangle |
| Shrink the iTunes window to show only the playback controls | Click the zoom control in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window |
| In the Get Info window, see the info for the next or previous song in the list | Alt-N or Alt-P |
| Select the search field | Control-F |
| See more options when a visual effect is showing | Press ?, then press the indicated key to use an option (not all visual effects support this) |
| Choose artwork for the selected video | While the video is playing, Control-click the movie, and choose Set Poster Frame |
| Stream audio file at a specific URL to iTunes | Control-U |
| iPod shortcuts | |
| Prevent iPod from automatically syncing when you connect it to your computer | Control-Shift as you connect the iPod to your computer (hold the keys down until the iPod appears in the iTunes window) |
| iPhone shortcuts | |
| Prevent iPhone from automatically syncing when you connect it to your computer | Control-Shift as you connect the iPhone to your computer (hold the keys down until the iPhone appears in the iTunes window) |
| Spoken word shortcuts | |
| Go to the next or last chapter (if available) | Control–Shift–Right Arrow or Left Arrow |
| File menu shortcuts | |
| Create a new playlist | Control-N |
| Add a file to your music library | Control-O |
| Close the iTunes window | Control-W |
| Open the song or CD Info window for the selected song or CD | Control-I |
| Show where a song file is located | Control-R |
| Show the currently playing song in the list | Control-L |
| Edit menu shortcuts | |
| Open iTunes Preferences | Control-Comma |
| Undo your last typing change while still in edit mode | Control-Z |
| Cut the selected song’s information or artwork | Control-X |
| Copy the selected song’s information or artwork | Control-C |
| Paste the selected song’s information or artwork | Control-V |
| Select all the songs in the list | Control-A |
| Deselect all the songs in the list | Control-Shift-A |
| Control menu shortcuts | |
| Start or stop playing the selected song | Space Bar |
| When a song is playing, play the next song in a list | Right Arrow |
| When a song is playing, play the previous song in a list | Left Arrow |
| Increase the volume | Control–Up Arrow |
| Decrease the volume | Control–Down Arrow |
| Mute the sound (song keeps playing) | Control–Alt–Down Arrow |
| Eject a CD | Control-E |
| Window menu shortcuts |
|
| Eject a CD | Control-E |
| View menu shortcuts | |
| Switch to the MiniPlayer | Control-Shift-M |
| Hide or show the Browser (Artist and Album columns) | Control-B |
| Turn the visualizer on or off | Control-T |
| Switch between viewing visual effects using the entire screen or in the iTunes window (when visualizer is on) | Command-F |
| Enter or exit full-screen view | Control-Shift-F |
| Open the View Options window for the selected source | Control-J |
| Help menu shortcuts | |
| Open iTunes Help | Control-? |
| General shortcuts | |
| Open iTunes in “safe mode” (without external plug-ins) | Control-Shift (while opening iTunes) |
| Edit the name of the currently selected item | F2 |
| Refresh source list | F5 |
| Interrupt the current process (burning a CD, syncing, converting a file, and so on) | Control-Break |
| With full keyboard navigation enabled | |
| Select the next control | Tab |
| Click the currently selected control | Enter |
| Open or close the selected item’s disclosure triangle | Left Arrow or Right Arrow, or + and - on the numeric keypad |