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, press the Control key and click the item.
Action | Shortcut |
---|---|
Playback shortcuts |
|
Start or stop playing the selected song | Space bar |
Play the currently selected song from the beginning | Return |
Move forward or backward within a song | Option–Command–Right Arrow or Left Arrow |
Listen to the next or previous album in a list | Option–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 | Command-click the checkbox next to a song in the list |
Create a playlist from a selection of songs | Shift–Command–N |
Create a new Smart Playlist | Option–Command–N |
Delete the selected playlist without confirming that you want to delete it | Command–Delete |
Delete the selected playlist and all the songs it contains from your library | Option–Delete |
Delete the selected song from your library and all playlists | Option–Delete |
Refresh the Radio list (when Radio is selected) | Command–R |
Refresh a Genius Playlist (when the playlist is selected) | Command–R |
iTunes Store shortcuts |
|
Go to the next page in the iTunes Store | Command–Right Bracket ( ] ) |
Go to the previous page in the iTunes Store | Command–Left Bracket ( [ ) |
Initiate a search in the iTunes Store (from anywhere in iTunes) | Type a word or phrase in the Search field and press Option-Return |
Check for app updates (when Apps is selected, below Library) | Command–R |
File and window shortcuts |
|
Change the song information columns | Control-click a column heading |
Expand or collapse all the triangles in the Radio’s Stream list | Command-click a triangle |
Shrink the iTunes window to show only the playback controls | Option-Command-M |
Switch between custom and maximum window sizes | Option-click the zoom button in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window |
See the iTunes window resize while you are resizing it | Command-drag the resize control in the lower-right corner of the window |
In the Info window, see the info for the next or previous song in the list | Command-N or Command-P |
Go to the previous or next pane in the Get Info or Preferences window | Shift–Command–Left Bracket ( [ ) or Shift–Command–Right Bracket ( ] ) |
Select the search field | Command-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 |
iPod shortcuts |
|
Prevent iPod from automatically syncing when you connect it to your computer | Press and hold Option–Command as you connect the iPod to your computer until the iPod appears in the iTunes window |
iPhone shortcuts |
|
Prevent iPhone from automatically syncing when you connect it to your computer | Press and hold Option–Command as you connect the iPhone to your computer until the iPhone appears in the iTunes window |
Spoken word shortcuts |
|
Go to the next or last chapter (if available) | Shift–Command–Right Arrow or Shift–Command–Left Arrow |
iTunes menu shortcuts |
|
Open iTunes Preferences | Command-Comma |
Hide the iTunes window | Command-H |
Hide all other applications | Option-Command-H |
Quit iTunes | Command-Q |
File menu shortcuts |
|
Create a new playlist | Command-N |
Create a new playlist with the selected songs | Shift-Command-N |
Create a new Smart Playlist | Option-Command-N |
Add a file to your music library | Command-O |
Close the iTunes window | Command-W |
Open the Info window for the selected song or CD | Command-I |
Show where a song file is located | Shift-Command-R |
Show the currently playing song in the list | Command-L |
Stream audio file at a specific URL to iTunes | Command-U |
Edit menu shortcuts |
|
Undo your last typing change while editing an item’s information | Command-Z |
Cut the selected song’s information or artwork | Command-X |
Copy the selected song’s information or artwork | Command-C |
Paste the selected song’s information or artwork | Command-V |
Select all the songs in the list | Command-A |
Deselect all the songs in the list | Shift-Command-A |
Hide or show the Artist and Album columns | Command-B |
Open the View Options window for the selected source | Command-J |
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 | Command–Up Arrow |
Decrease the volume | Command–Down Arrow |
Mute the sound (song keeps playing) | Option–Command–Down Arrow |
Eject a CD | Command-E |
Visualizer menu shortcuts |
|
Turn the visualizer on or off | Command-T |
Switch between viewing visual effects using the entire screen or in the iTunes window (when visualizer is on) | Command-F |
View menu shortcuts |
|
Enter or exit full-screen view | Control–Command–F |
Window menu shortcuts |
|
Put the iTunes window in the Dock | Command-M |
Help menu shortcuts |
|
Open iTunes Help | Command-? |
General shortcuts |
|
Open iTunes in “safe mode” (without external plug-ins) | Option-Command (while opening iTunes) |