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21 Useful iTunes 11 Keyboard Shortcuts

iTunes 11 icon The new iTunes interface can be a bit jolting at first, but whether you're still trying to get the hang of the new iTunes 11 interface of you've already made the changes to bring some familiarity back to the app, you'll find good use out of these keyboard shortcuts.

We've split them up into three distinct sections based on usage, and you'll be able to start and stop songs, change volume, hide and show the sidebar, toggle the new MiniPlayer, and access all of your media libraries, all with the help of nothing but some simple keyboard shortcuts.

General Usage & Navigation Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Spacebar to play or stop playing the selected song
  • Option+Return to add current song to "Up Next"
  • Command+. to stop current action
  • Command+Right Arrow to go to the next song
  • Command+Left Arrow to go to the previous song
  • Command+Up Arrow to increase volume
  • Command+Down Arrow to decrease volume
  • Command+Option+S to Show or Hide Sidebar
  • Command+/ to Show or Hide Status Bar

Access Specific Features

  • Command+Option+3 to show or hide the Mini Player
  • Command+Option+M to toggle the iTunes window into the Mini Player
  • Command+Option+2 to show the Equalizer
  • Command+Option+U to show Up Next

Accessing Media Libraries in iTunes

  • Command+1 to see Music library
  • Command+2 to go to Movies library
  • Command+3 to access TV Shows library
  • Command+4 to access Podcasts
  • Command+5 to go to iTunes U
  • Command+6 jumps to Books library
  • Command+7 to go to Apps
  • Command+Shift+H to go to the iTunes Store home screen

You'll notice that some of the media library keyboard shortcuts won't work if you don't have anything stored in them in iTunes. For example, if you have no iBooks available in iTunes, then hitting Command+6 won't do anything.

iTunes 11 keyboard shortcuts

This post was inspired by MacGasm, who listed a handful of the keyboard shortcuts that let you quickly jump around media libraries.

Are we missing any other useful keyboard shortcuts? Let us know!