Uncovering the Dynamics of YouTube’s Post-Upload System

How Does YouTube Work After a Video Is Uploaded

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You use YouTube to watch videos, post your own content, and build up a following. That is how YouTube works for you. This article is about how YouTube works technically. There are a lot of steps which occur between you clicking ‘upload’ and a viewer clicking ‘play’. Understanding this process can be useful to YouTubers because it can help shed light on where problems may be occurring when you have issues uploading or watching videos. Generally when there is a problem it is on your end and there are multiple simple things you can do to fix it.

This article will explain what goes on behind the scenes when you upload a video, where that video really goes, and what happens when somebody clicks play.

How Does YouTube Work

1. What Happens When You Upload?

When you upload a video your computer or device packages it into IP packets. Packets are fragments of information containing both data from your video and the address you are sending it to, in this case YouTube. The packets are encoded into radio signals which are sent through a wifi or cellular network. Your video travels through switches and routers on the internet until they reach YouTube’s servers. Your video is then reassembled and stored.

If uploading takes a long time for you it probably has nothing to do with YouTube; there is a lot that needs to happen for your video to even get there. How long the upload process takes depends on a number of factors including how many devices share your internet connection, how strong your wifi signal is, and the age of your router. If your uploads are taking too long consider compressing your videos before you upload them. You can also try uploading from your college campus or public libraries as institutions like these tend to have fast internet speeds.

2. Where is Your Video Stored?

As it is owned by Google YouTube uses Google’s ‘Bigtable’, a compressed data storage system which allows it to store the 500+ hours of video uploaded to its servers every minute. Bigtable is software, though, not hardware. YouTube and Google both have massive amounts of data and it needs to be physically housed somewhere.

Google has Modular Data Centers all over the world where it keeps its servers. These centers could cost as much as $600 million dollars each and consume huge amounts of electricity. There are six of them in the United States, three in Europe, two in Asia, and one is South America.

3. What Happens When Someone Watches Your Video?

When a viewer clicks on your video their computer sends an encoded request through the internet to YouTube’s servers. After YouTube receives the play request it chooses which format to play the video in based on the viewer’s browser. Your video is again turned into packets, which are again sent as radio signals over the internet to your viewer. Your viewer’s computer or device reforms the packets into your video and their browser plays it.

If videos take a long time to load for you then there are a few things you can do to speed them up. First, consider changing the channel of your wifi router. Most people stay on the channel their router was set to when they first got it and so there is a good chance you and your neighbors are all on the same channel. This causes your networks to interfere with each other. You can also delete the temporary files on your computer. Besides helping you stream video faster this will free up storage space. Another thing you can do is make sure there are as few devices connected to your network as possible while you are watching videos. Besides mobile phones and laptops you may have appliances, like coffee machines and refrigerators, which are wifi enabled. Disconnect them temporarily and it will help your videos to load faster.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You use YouTube to watch videos, post your own content, and build up a following. That is how YouTube works for you. This article is about how YouTube works technically. There are a lot of steps which occur between you clicking ‘upload’ and a viewer clicking ‘play’. Understanding this process can be useful to YouTubers because it can help shed light on where problems may be occurring when you have issues uploading or watching videos. Generally when there is a problem it is on your end and there are multiple simple things you can do to fix it.

This article will explain what goes on behind the scenes when you upload a video, where that video really goes, and what happens when somebody clicks play.

How Does YouTube Work

1. What Happens When You Upload?

When you upload a video your computer or device packages it into IP packets. Packets are fragments of information containing both data from your video and the address you are sending it to, in this case YouTube. The packets are encoded into radio signals which are sent through a wifi or cellular network. Your video travels through switches and routers on the internet until they reach YouTube’s servers. Your video is then reassembled and stored.

If uploading takes a long time for you it probably has nothing to do with YouTube; there is a lot that needs to happen for your video to even get there. How long the upload process takes depends on a number of factors including how many devices share your internet connection, how strong your wifi signal is, and the age of your router. If your uploads are taking too long consider compressing your videos before you upload them. You can also try uploading from your college campus or public libraries as institutions like these tend to have fast internet speeds.

2. Where is Your Video Stored?

As it is owned by Google YouTube uses Google’s ‘Bigtable’, a compressed data storage system which allows it to store the 500+ hours of video uploaded to its servers every minute. Bigtable is software, though, not hardware. YouTube and Google both have massive amounts of data and it needs to be physically housed somewhere.

Google has Modular Data Centers all over the world where it keeps its servers. These centers could cost as much as $600 million dollars each and consume huge amounts of electricity. There are six of them in the United States, three in Europe, two in Asia, and one is South America.

3. What Happens When Someone Watches Your Video?

When a viewer clicks on your video their computer sends an encoded request through the internet to YouTube’s servers. After YouTube receives the play request it chooses which format to play the video in based on the viewer’s browser. Your video is again turned into packets, which are again sent as radio signals over the internet to your viewer. Your viewer’s computer or device reforms the packets into your video and their browser plays it.

If videos take a long time to load for you then there are a few things you can do to speed them up. First, consider changing the channel of your wifi router. Most people stay on the channel their router was set to when they first got it and so there is a good chance you and your neighbors are all on the same channel. This causes your networks to interfere with each other. You can also delete the temporary files on your computer. Besides helping you stream video faster this will free up storage space. Another thing you can do is make sure there are as few devices connected to your network as possible while you are watching videos. Besides mobile phones and laptops you may have appliances, like coffee machines and refrigerators, which are wifi enabled. Disconnect them temporarily and it will help your videos to load faster.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You use YouTube to watch videos, post your own content, and build up a following. That is how YouTube works for you. This article is about how YouTube works technically. There are a lot of steps which occur between you clicking ‘upload’ and a viewer clicking ‘play’. Understanding this process can be useful to YouTubers because it can help shed light on where problems may be occurring when you have issues uploading or watching videos. Generally when there is a problem it is on your end and there are multiple simple things you can do to fix it.

This article will explain what goes on behind the scenes when you upload a video, where that video really goes, and what happens when somebody clicks play.

How Does YouTube Work

1. What Happens When You Upload?

When you upload a video your computer or device packages it into IP packets. Packets are fragments of information containing both data from your video and the address you are sending it to, in this case YouTube. The packets are encoded into radio signals which are sent through a wifi or cellular network. Your video travels through switches and routers on the internet until they reach YouTube’s servers. Your video is then reassembled and stored.

If uploading takes a long time for you it probably has nothing to do with YouTube; there is a lot that needs to happen for your video to even get there. How long the upload process takes depends on a number of factors including how many devices share your internet connection, how strong your wifi signal is, and the age of your router. If your uploads are taking too long consider compressing your videos before you upload them. You can also try uploading from your college campus or public libraries as institutions like these tend to have fast internet speeds.

2. Where is Your Video Stored?

As it is owned by Google YouTube uses Google’s ‘Bigtable’, a compressed data storage system which allows it to store the 500+ hours of video uploaded to its servers every minute. Bigtable is software, though, not hardware. YouTube and Google both have massive amounts of data and it needs to be physically housed somewhere.

Google has Modular Data Centers all over the world where it keeps its servers. These centers could cost as much as $600 million dollars each and consume huge amounts of electricity. There are six of them in the United States, three in Europe, two in Asia, and one is South America.

3. What Happens When Someone Watches Your Video?

When a viewer clicks on your video their computer sends an encoded request through the internet to YouTube’s servers. After YouTube receives the play request it chooses which format to play the video in based on the viewer’s browser. Your video is again turned into packets, which are again sent as radio signals over the internet to your viewer. Your viewer’s computer or device reforms the packets into your video and their browser plays it.

If videos take a long time to load for you then there are a few things you can do to speed them up. First, consider changing the channel of your wifi router. Most people stay on the channel their router was set to when they first got it and so there is a good chance you and your neighbors are all on the same channel. This causes your networks to interfere with each other. You can also delete the temporary files on your computer. Besides helping you stream video faster this will free up storage space. Another thing you can do is make sure there are as few devices connected to your network as possible while you are watching videos. Besides mobile phones and laptops you may have appliances, like coffee machines and refrigerators, which are wifi enabled. Disconnect them temporarily and it will help your videos to load faster.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You use YouTube to watch videos, post your own content, and build up a following. That is how YouTube works for you. This article is about how YouTube works technically. There are a lot of steps which occur between you clicking ‘upload’ and a viewer clicking ‘play’. Understanding this process can be useful to YouTubers because it can help shed light on where problems may be occurring when you have issues uploading or watching videos. Generally when there is a problem it is on your end and there are multiple simple things you can do to fix it.

This article will explain what goes on behind the scenes when you upload a video, where that video really goes, and what happens when somebody clicks play.

How Does YouTube Work

1. What Happens When You Upload?

When you upload a video your computer or device packages it into IP packets. Packets are fragments of information containing both data from your video and the address you are sending it to, in this case YouTube. The packets are encoded into radio signals which are sent through a wifi or cellular network. Your video travels through switches and routers on the internet until they reach YouTube’s servers. Your video is then reassembled and stored.

If uploading takes a long time for you it probably has nothing to do with YouTube; there is a lot that needs to happen for your video to even get there. How long the upload process takes depends on a number of factors including how many devices share your internet connection, how strong your wifi signal is, and the age of your router. If your uploads are taking too long consider compressing your videos before you upload them. You can also try uploading from your college campus or public libraries as institutions like these tend to have fast internet speeds.

2. Where is Your Video Stored?

As it is owned by Google YouTube uses Google’s ‘Bigtable’, a compressed data storage system which allows it to store the 500+ hours of video uploaded to its servers every minute. Bigtable is software, though, not hardware. YouTube and Google both have massive amounts of data and it needs to be physically housed somewhere.

Google has Modular Data Centers all over the world where it keeps its servers. These centers could cost as much as $600 million dollars each and consume huge amounts of electricity. There are six of them in the United States, three in Europe, two in Asia, and one is South America.

3. What Happens When Someone Watches Your Video?

When a viewer clicks on your video their computer sends an encoded request through the internet to YouTube’s servers. After YouTube receives the play request it chooses which format to play the video in based on the viewer’s browser. Your video is again turned into packets, which are again sent as radio signals over the internet to your viewer. Your viewer’s computer or device reforms the packets into your video and their browser plays it.

If videos take a long time to load for you then there are a few things you can do to speed them up. First, consider changing the channel of your wifi router. Most people stay on the channel their router was set to when they first got it and so there is a good chance you and your neighbors are all on the same channel. This causes your networks to interfere with each other. You can also delete the temporary files on your computer. Besides helping you stream video faster this will free up storage space. Another thing you can do is make sure there are as few devices connected to your network as possible while you are watching videos. Besides mobile phones and laptops you may have appliances, like coffee machines and refrigerators, which are wifi enabled. Disconnect them temporarily and it will help your videos to load faster.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Streamline Your Content with These 20 Essential YouTube Hacks

YouTube Shortcuts You Should Know in 2024

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

YouTube, as one of the most popular free streaming video portals, the majority of people use it, probably several times a day. However, how many of you know that there are more than 20 shortcuts that help you use the website comparatively more conveniently?

With that said, the following two-columned tables give you detailed information on the shortcut keys and their respective functions, so you don’t have to grab the mouse every time you want to navigate through the YouTube videos, or do any such similar tasks.

Amazing YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts You May Not Know

To make things convenient for you, the shortcut keys are placed under their corresponding categories, where each category is in the form of a two-columned table.

Category 1: YouTube Playback Hotkeys

While watching a YouTube video, there might be instances when you want to pause and resume the playback. This category teaches how this can be done using the keyboard:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘K’	Play and Pause (Works as a toggle key)
‘Spacebar’	Play and Pause (Works as a toggle key)

Category 2: Scrolling YouTube Videos Back and Forth

This section talks about the shortcut keys to skim the video forward and backward during playback:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘L’	Skip the video 10 seconds forward
‘J’	Skip the video 10 seconds backward
‘→’ (Right Arrow)	Skip the video 5 seconds forward
‘←’ (Left Arrow)	Skip the video 5 seconds backward
‘SHIFT’ + ‘N’	Skip to the next video in the playlist or to the next suggested video
‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’; then ‘.’ (Period)	Pressing ‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’ pauses the video; pressing the ‘.’ (Period) key repeatedly moves the video forward one frame at a time (Period key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’; then ‘,’ (Comma)	Pressing ‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’ pauses the video; pressing the ‘,’ (Comma) key repeatedly moves the video backward one frame at a time (Period key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘0’ (Zero)	Takes the video to the beginning

If you’re watching videos on YouTube mobile app, you can use double-tap on the right side of the video player to skip 10 seconds forward, and double-tap on the left side of the video player to skip the video 10 seconds backward. Every double-tap forwards/rewinds the video in 10-seconds increments. E.g., Tapping 6 times on the right skips the video 30 seconds forward. Tapping 6 times on the left skips the video 30 seconds backward.

Long press the Video Player and swipe right will navigate the video forward; and long press the video player and wwipe left will navigate the video backward.

Category 3: Manage Playback Speed

This category contains information on increasing or decreasing the playback speed of a YouTube video:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘SHIFT’ + ‘.’ (Period)	Increase playback speed
‘SHIFT’ + ‘,’ (Comma)	Decrease playback speed

Category 4: Managing the Captions

This category talks about managing the video captions using the shortcut keys:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘C’	Enable or disable captions (Works as a toggle key)
‘O’ (The letter O)	Increase or decrease the brightness level of the captions (Works as a toggle key)
‘W’	Enable, increase, and disable the background transparency of the captions (Press multiple times to manage intensity)
‘-‘ (Minus Key)	Reduce the font size of the captions (Minus key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘+’ (Plus Key)	Increase the font size of the captions (Plus key on the Numpad isn’t supported)

Category 5: Managing the Audio Video

This category shows the shortcut keys to manage audio for a YouTube video:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘M’	Mute YouTube video
‘↑’	Increase volume by 5%
‘↓’	Decrease volume by 5%

Category 6: Switching Between Screen Modes

The shortcut keys given in this table enable you to switch between different screen modes:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘F’	Switch between the full-screen and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)
‘T’	Switch between the theater and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)
‘I’	Switch between the independent player and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)

Double press F/T/I on the keyboard will exit the full-screen/theater model/independent mode accordingly.

If you are watching video on YouTube mobile app, you can swipe up the video slightly to enter the full screen mode, and swipe down the video slightly to exit the full screen.

Category 7: Viewing 360o/VR Videos

In this category, the navigation and management of shortcut keys for 360o and Virtual Reality (VR) view are discussed:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘W’, ‘A’, ‘S’, ‘D’	Up, left, down, and right camera panning respectively
‘+’ (Plus Key on Numpad)	Zoom in
‘-‘ (Minus Key on Numpad)	Zoom out
‘-‘ (Minus Key on Keyboard)	Decrease font size
‘+’ (Plus Key on Keyboard)	Increase font size

Bonus: How to Get the YouTube Shortcut List with One-Click

In this section, you will learn how to pull up the list of important YouTube shortcuts by pressing merely one key:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘SHIFT’ + ‘?’	Show the important keyboard shortcuts assigned for YouTube

So, when you press the Shift+? on YouTube, you will see a full list of shortcuts.

Conclusion

Watching videos on YouTube is fun, and you can enjoy the clips, movies, tutorials, etc. more if you are well-aware of the important shortcut keys. This not only helps you navigate through the videos faster but also gives you relief from the additional efforts that you would otherwise have to make while grabbing the mouse, and then looking for and using the correct option.

As one of the most popular video editing software among YouTubers, Filmora provides lots of effects, title templates, transitions, and elements as well as powerful video editing tools such as instant cutter tool, scene detection , beat detection , motion tracking , animation keyframe, and much more. All these editing features and effects makes Filmora as one of the best video editing software for all creators.

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

YouTube, as one of the most popular free streaming video portals, the majority of people use it, probably several times a day. However, how many of you know that there are more than 20 shortcuts that help you use the website comparatively more conveniently?

With that said, the following two-columned tables give you detailed information on the shortcut keys and their respective functions, so you don’t have to grab the mouse every time you want to navigate through the YouTube videos, or do any such similar tasks.

Amazing YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts You May Not Know

To make things convenient for you, the shortcut keys are placed under their corresponding categories, where each category is in the form of a two-columned table.

Category 1: YouTube Playback Hotkeys

While watching a YouTube video, there might be instances when you want to pause and resume the playback. This category teaches how this can be done using the keyboard:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘K’	Play and Pause (Works as a toggle key)
‘Spacebar’	Play and Pause (Works as a toggle key)

Category 2: Scrolling YouTube Videos Back and Forth

This section talks about the shortcut keys to skim the video forward and backward during playback:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘L’	Skip the video 10 seconds forward
‘J’	Skip the video 10 seconds backward
‘→’ (Right Arrow)	Skip the video 5 seconds forward
‘←’ (Left Arrow)	Skip the video 5 seconds backward
‘SHIFT’ + ‘N’	Skip to the next video in the playlist or to the next suggested video
‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’; then ‘.’ (Period)	Pressing ‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’ pauses the video; pressing the ‘.’ (Period) key repeatedly moves the video forward one frame at a time (Period key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’; then ‘,’ (Comma)	Pressing ‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’ pauses the video; pressing the ‘,’ (Comma) key repeatedly moves the video backward one frame at a time (Period key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘0’ (Zero)	Takes the video to the beginning

If you’re watching videos on YouTube mobile app, you can use double-tap on the right side of the video player to skip 10 seconds forward, and double-tap on the left side of the video player to skip the video 10 seconds backward. Every double-tap forwards/rewinds the video in 10-seconds increments. E.g., Tapping 6 times on the right skips the video 30 seconds forward. Tapping 6 times on the left skips the video 30 seconds backward.

Long press the Video Player and swipe right will navigate the video forward; and long press the video player and wwipe left will navigate the video backward.

Category 3: Manage Playback Speed

This category contains information on increasing or decreasing the playback speed of a YouTube video:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘SHIFT’ + ‘.’ (Period)	Increase playback speed
‘SHIFT’ + ‘,’ (Comma)	Decrease playback speed

Category 4: Managing the Captions

This category talks about managing the video captions using the shortcut keys:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘C’	Enable or disable captions (Works as a toggle key)
‘O’ (The letter O)	Increase or decrease the brightness level of the captions (Works as a toggle key)
‘W’	Enable, increase, and disable the background transparency of the captions (Press multiple times to manage intensity)
‘-‘ (Minus Key)	Reduce the font size of the captions (Minus key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘+’ (Plus Key)	Increase the font size of the captions (Plus key on the Numpad isn’t supported)

Category 5: Managing the Audio Video

This category shows the shortcut keys to manage audio for a YouTube video:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘M’	Mute YouTube video
‘↑’	Increase volume by 5%
‘↓’	Decrease volume by 5%

Category 6: Switching Between Screen Modes

The shortcut keys given in this table enable you to switch between different screen modes:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘F’	Switch between the full-screen and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)
‘T’	Switch between the theater and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)
‘I’	Switch between the independent player and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)

Double press F/T/I on the keyboard will exit the full-screen/theater model/independent mode accordingly.

If you are watching video on YouTube mobile app, you can swipe up the video slightly to enter the full screen mode, and swipe down the video slightly to exit the full screen.

Category 7: Viewing 360o/VR Videos

In this category, the navigation and management of shortcut keys for 360o and Virtual Reality (VR) view are discussed:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘W’, ‘A’, ‘S’, ‘D’	Up, left, down, and right camera panning respectively
‘+’ (Plus Key on Numpad)	Zoom in
‘-‘ (Minus Key on Numpad)	Zoom out
‘-‘ (Minus Key on Keyboard)	Decrease font size
‘+’ (Plus Key on Keyboard)	Increase font size

Bonus: How to Get the YouTube Shortcut List with One-Click

In this section, you will learn how to pull up the list of important YouTube shortcuts by pressing merely one key:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘SHIFT’ + ‘?’	Show the important keyboard shortcuts assigned for YouTube

So, when you press the Shift+? on YouTube, you will see a full list of shortcuts.

Conclusion

Watching videos on YouTube is fun, and you can enjoy the clips, movies, tutorials, etc. more if you are well-aware of the important shortcut keys. This not only helps you navigate through the videos faster but also gives you relief from the additional efforts that you would otherwise have to make while grabbing the mouse, and then looking for and using the correct option.

As one of the most popular video editing software among YouTubers, Filmora provides lots of effects, title templates, transitions, and elements as well as powerful video editing tools such as instant cutter tool, scene detection , beat detection , motion tracking , animation keyframe, and much more. All these editing features and effects makes Filmora as one of the best video editing software for all creators.

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

YouTube, as one of the most popular free streaming video portals, the majority of people use it, probably several times a day. However, how many of you know that there are more than 20 shortcuts that help you use the website comparatively more conveniently?

With that said, the following two-columned tables give you detailed information on the shortcut keys and their respective functions, so you don’t have to grab the mouse every time you want to navigate through the YouTube videos, or do any such similar tasks.

Amazing YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts You May Not Know

To make things convenient for you, the shortcut keys are placed under their corresponding categories, where each category is in the form of a two-columned table.

Category 1: YouTube Playback Hotkeys

While watching a YouTube video, there might be instances when you want to pause and resume the playback. This category teaches how this can be done using the keyboard:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘K’	Play and Pause (Works as a toggle key)
‘Spacebar’	Play and Pause (Works as a toggle key)

Category 2: Scrolling YouTube Videos Back and Forth

This section talks about the shortcut keys to skim the video forward and backward during playback:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘L’	Skip the video 10 seconds forward
‘J’	Skip the video 10 seconds backward
‘→’ (Right Arrow)	Skip the video 5 seconds forward
‘←’ (Left Arrow)	Skip the video 5 seconds backward
‘SHIFT’ + ‘N’	Skip to the next video in the playlist or to the next suggested video
‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’; then ‘.’ (Period)	Pressing ‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’ pauses the video; pressing the ‘.’ (Period) key repeatedly moves the video forward one frame at a time (Period key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’; then ‘,’ (Comma)	Pressing ‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’ pauses the video; pressing the ‘,’ (Comma) key repeatedly moves the video backward one frame at a time (Period key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘0’ (Zero)	Takes the video to the beginning

If you’re watching videos on YouTube mobile app, you can use double-tap on the right side of the video player to skip 10 seconds forward, and double-tap on the left side of the video player to skip the video 10 seconds backward. Every double-tap forwards/rewinds the video in 10-seconds increments. E.g., Tapping 6 times on the right skips the video 30 seconds forward. Tapping 6 times on the left skips the video 30 seconds backward.

Long press the Video Player and swipe right will navigate the video forward; and long press the video player and wwipe left will navigate the video backward.

Category 3: Manage Playback Speed

This category contains information on increasing or decreasing the playback speed of a YouTube video:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘SHIFT’ + ‘.’ (Period)	Increase playback speed
‘SHIFT’ + ‘,’ (Comma)	Decrease playback speed

Category 4: Managing the Captions

This category talks about managing the video captions using the shortcut keys:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘C’	Enable or disable captions (Works as a toggle key)
‘O’ (The letter O)	Increase or decrease the brightness level of the captions (Works as a toggle key)
‘W’	Enable, increase, and disable the background transparency of the captions (Press multiple times to manage intensity)
‘-‘ (Minus Key)	Reduce the font size of the captions (Minus key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘+’ (Plus Key)	Increase the font size of the captions (Plus key on the Numpad isn’t supported)

Category 5: Managing the Audio Video

This category shows the shortcut keys to manage audio for a YouTube video:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘M’	Mute YouTube video
‘↑’	Increase volume by 5%
‘↓’	Decrease volume by 5%

Category 6: Switching Between Screen Modes

The shortcut keys given in this table enable you to switch between different screen modes:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘F’	Switch between the full-screen and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)
‘T’	Switch between the theater and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)
‘I’	Switch between the independent player and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)

Double press F/T/I on the keyboard will exit the full-screen/theater model/independent mode accordingly.

If you are watching video on YouTube mobile app, you can swipe up the video slightly to enter the full screen mode, and swipe down the video slightly to exit the full screen.

Category 7: Viewing 360o/VR Videos

In this category, the navigation and management of shortcut keys for 360o and Virtual Reality (VR) view are discussed:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘W’, ‘A’, ‘S’, ‘D’	Up, left, down, and right camera panning respectively
‘+’ (Plus Key on Numpad)	Zoom in
‘-‘ (Minus Key on Numpad)	Zoom out
‘-‘ (Minus Key on Keyboard)	Decrease font size
‘+’ (Plus Key on Keyboard)	Increase font size

Bonus: How to Get the YouTube Shortcut List with One-Click

In this section, you will learn how to pull up the list of important YouTube shortcuts by pressing merely one key:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘SHIFT’ + ‘?’	Show the important keyboard shortcuts assigned for YouTube

So, when you press the Shift+? on YouTube, you will see a full list of shortcuts.

Conclusion

Watching videos on YouTube is fun, and you can enjoy the clips, movies, tutorials, etc. more if you are well-aware of the important shortcut keys. This not only helps you navigate through the videos faster but also gives you relief from the additional efforts that you would otherwise have to make while grabbing the mouse, and then looking for and using the correct option.

As one of the most popular video editing software among YouTubers, Filmora provides lots of effects, title templates, transitions, and elements as well as powerful video editing tools such as instant cutter tool, scene detection , beat detection , motion tracking , animation keyframe, and much more. All these editing features and effects makes Filmora as one of the best video editing software for all creators.

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

YouTube, as one of the most popular free streaming video portals, the majority of people use it, probably several times a day. However, how many of you know that there are more than 20 shortcuts that help you use the website comparatively more conveniently?

With that said, the following two-columned tables give you detailed information on the shortcut keys and their respective functions, so you don’t have to grab the mouse every time you want to navigate through the YouTube videos, or do any such similar tasks.

Amazing YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts You May Not Know

To make things convenient for you, the shortcut keys are placed under their corresponding categories, where each category is in the form of a two-columned table.

Category 1: YouTube Playback Hotkeys

While watching a YouTube video, there might be instances when you want to pause and resume the playback. This category teaches how this can be done using the keyboard:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘K’	Play and Pause (Works as a toggle key)
‘Spacebar’	Play and Pause (Works as a toggle key)

Category 2: Scrolling YouTube Videos Back and Forth

This section talks about the shortcut keys to skim the video forward and backward during playback:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘L’	Skip the video 10 seconds forward
‘J’	Skip the video 10 seconds backward
‘→’ (Right Arrow)	Skip the video 5 seconds forward
‘←’ (Left Arrow)	Skip the video 5 seconds backward
‘SHIFT’ + ‘N’	Skip to the next video in the playlist or to the next suggested video
‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’; then ‘.’ (Period)	Pressing ‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’ pauses the video; pressing the ‘.’ (Period) key repeatedly moves the video forward one frame at a time (Period key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’; then ‘,’ (Comma)	Pressing ‘K’ or ‘Spacebar’ pauses the video; pressing the ‘,’ (Comma) key repeatedly moves the video backward one frame at a time (Period key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘0’ (Zero)	Takes the video to the beginning

If you’re watching videos on YouTube mobile app, you can use double-tap on the right side of the video player to skip 10 seconds forward, and double-tap on the left side of the video player to skip the video 10 seconds backward. Every double-tap forwards/rewinds the video in 10-seconds increments. E.g., Tapping 6 times on the right skips the video 30 seconds forward. Tapping 6 times on the left skips the video 30 seconds backward.

Long press the Video Player and swipe right will navigate the video forward; and long press the video player and wwipe left will navigate the video backward.

Category 3: Manage Playback Speed

This category contains information on increasing or decreasing the playback speed of a YouTube video:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘SHIFT’ + ‘.’ (Period)	Increase playback speed
‘SHIFT’ + ‘,’ (Comma)	Decrease playback speed

Category 4: Managing the Captions

This category talks about managing the video captions using the shortcut keys:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘C’	Enable or disable captions (Works as a toggle key)
‘O’ (The letter O)	Increase or decrease the brightness level of the captions (Works as a toggle key)
‘W’	Enable, increase, and disable the background transparency of the captions (Press multiple times to manage intensity)
‘-‘ (Minus Key)	Reduce the font size of the captions (Minus key on the Numpad isn’t supported)
‘+’ (Plus Key)	Increase the font size of the captions (Plus key on the Numpad isn’t supported)

Category 5: Managing the Audio Video

This category shows the shortcut keys to manage audio for a YouTube video:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘M’	Mute YouTube video
‘↑’	Increase volume by 5%
‘↓’	Decrease volume by 5%

Category 6: Switching Between Screen Modes

The shortcut keys given in this table enable you to switch between different screen modes:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘F’	Switch between the full-screen and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)
‘T’	Switch between the theater and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)
‘I’	Switch between the independent player and normal mode (Works as a toggle key)

Double press F/T/I on the keyboard will exit the full-screen/theater model/independent mode accordingly.

If you are watching video on YouTube mobile app, you can swipe up the video slightly to enter the full screen mode, and swipe down the video slightly to exit the full screen.

Category 7: Viewing 360o/VR Videos

In this category, the navigation and management of shortcut keys for 360o and Virtual Reality (VR) view are discussed:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘W’, ‘A’, ‘S’, ‘D’	Up, left, down, and right camera panning respectively
‘+’ (Plus Key on Numpad)	Zoom in
‘-‘ (Minus Key on Numpad)	Zoom out
‘-‘ (Minus Key on Keyboard)	Decrease font size
‘+’ (Plus Key on Keyboard)	Increase font size

Bonus: How to Get the YouTube Shortcut List with One-Click

In this section, you will learn how to pull up the list of important YouTube shortcuts by pressing merely one key:

Keyboard Shortcut	Function
‘SHIFT’ + ‘?’	Show the important keyboard shortcuts assigned for YouTube

So, when you press the Shift+? on YouTube, you will see a full list of shortcuts.

Conclusion

Watching videos on YouTube is fun, and you can enjoy the clips, movies, tutorials, etc. more if you are well-aware of the important shortcut keys. This not only helps you navigate through the videos faster but also gives you relief from the additional efforts that you would otherwise have to make while grabbing the mouse, and then looking for and using the correct option.

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Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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