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)