iTunes icon

Keyboard shortcuts

You can use your keyboard to quickly accomplish many tasks in iTunes. To find the shortcuts for common commands, look in the menus (or see the list at the bottom of this page). Many items in iTunes (for example, songs and column headings) also have contextual menus. To see a contextual menu, press the Control key and click the item.

To do an action, press the shortcut keys indicated below.

Playback shortcuts

Play the selected song immediately

 

Return

Move forward or backward within a song

 

Command-Option-Arrow

Listen to the next or previous album in a list

 

Option-Right Arrow or Left Arrow (or Option-click the Skip Forward or Skip Backward controls in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window)

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

Create a playlist from a selection of songs

 

Shift-click the Add (+) button (Or drag the songs to the white area of the Source list)

Create a new Smart Playlist

 

Option-click the Add (+) button

Reshuffle the current playlist

 

Option-click the Shuffle button

Delete the selected playlist from your Source list 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

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 ( [ )

File and window shortcuts

Change the song information columns you see

 

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

 

Click the zoom control in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window

Zoom the window to an ideal size

 

Option-click the zoom control in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window

See the iTunes window resize while you are resizing it

 

Command-drag the resize box in the lower-right corner of the window

In the Get 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

 

Command-click left bracket ( [ ) or right bracket ( ] )

Select the search field

 

Command-Option-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)

iPod shortcuts

Prevent iPod from automatically updating when you connect it to your computer

Command-Option as you connect the iPod to your computer (hold the keys down until the iPod appears in the iTunes Source list)

Spoken word shortcuts

Go to the next or last chapter (if available)

Command-Shift-Right Arrow or 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 folder

 

Option-Shift-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

Import a song, playlist, or library file

 

Shift-Command-O

Open the song or CD Info window for the selected song or CD

 

Command-I

Show where a song file is located

 

Command-R

Show the currently playing song in the list

Command-L

Edit menu shortcuts

Undo your last typing change while still in edit mode

 

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

Hide or Show the song artwork

 

Command-G

Open the View Options window for the selected source

Command-J

Control menu shortcuts

Stop or start 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 visual effects taking up the entire screen or appearing in the iTunes window (when visualizer is on)

Command-F

Advanced menu shortcuts

Stream audio file at a specific URL to iTunes

Command-U

Window menu shortcuts

Put the iTunes window in the Dock

 

Command-M

View the iTunes window

 

Command-1

View the Equalizer window

Command-2

Help menu shortcuts

Open iTunes Help

 

Command-?