Over the past few years, Kodi (formerly known as XBMC) has become a robust, open source video server and player. Kodi currently supports the majority of devices, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, Raspberry Pi, and more thanks to community work. The popularity of Kodi is largely due to its limitless customisation possibilities. To completely personalise the UI, you can utilise Kodi Skins, Kodi repos, Kodi builds, and more. However, despite all of Kodi’s changes, one thing hasn’t changed: the keyboard shortcuts.
And that’s fortunate because novice users may find it difficult to understand how to use Kodi’s user interface. The interface has a unique navigation scheme that deviates from the native app architectures of the platforms it runs on. For this reason, knowing a few keyboard shortcuts makes it easier to move around the UI fast. You should become familiar with Kodi’s keyboard shortcuts before using it. This article lists some of the most practical keyboard shortcuts for Kodi that every user should be aware of.
Best Kodi Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know in 2020
You can navigate the article more simply by using the quick links below. Use these quick links to jump right to the Kodi keyboard shortcuts you wish to learn since the tutorial is lengthy.
Quick Links
- Contextual Menu
- Live TV Window
- Seek Forward or Backward
- Move to Queued Video
- Toggle Fullscreen Playback
- Mute
- Exit Kodi
- Toggle between Full-screen and Windowed Mode
- Audio delay control
- Fast forward
- Play
- Stop
- Rewind
- Toggle Subtitles On/Off
- Previous Menu or Home Screen
- Take a screenshot
- Volume Down, Volume Up or Mute
- Shut down Menu
- Pause / Play
- Zoom / Aspect Ratio
- Kodi Shortcuts For Pictures
- Some Handy Default Kodi Keyboard Shortcuts
- Useful Mouse Controls
- Platform Specific Keyboard Shortcuts
- Frequently Asked Questions
1. Contextual Menu
Cut-off Key: C
You may access the contextual menu of files, folders, and add-ons by using this shortcut key. If you have chosen a video file, for instance, pressing the C key will give you a few alternatives, such as Play, Add to Queue, Mark as Watched, etc. This shortcut key essentially serves as an alternative to the right mouse click.
2. Live TV Window
Cut-off Key: H
Anywhere on Kodi, simply hit the H key to switch to the live TV window. When switching between the live TV window and your neighbourhood library, this shortcut is useful.
3. Seek Forward or Backward
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl + or Ctrl +
To move forward or backward in a video, hold down the Ctrl key and the right/left arrow keys. The playback will be shifted back by 5 seconds.
4. Move to Queued Video
Keyboard Shortcut: Page Up or Page Down
To advance to the following film in the queue, use the page up and page down keys. It will be most useful while you are watching TV or have videos lined up in your playlist.
5. Toggle Fullscreen Playback
Cut-off Key: tab
Simply use the tab key to end full-screen playback while a video is playing and keep it playing in the background. While waiting, you can use Kodi to watch a different video or accomplish another work. In order to return to full-screen mode, press the tab key once again.
6. Mute
Cut-off Key: M
Now, all you have to do is hit the M key to mute audio or video playing. There’s no need to repeatedly hit the minus key to reduce the volume.
7. Exit Kodi
Default Shortcut: Ctrl + End
Simply hit Ctrl and End at the same time to shut down Kodi if you are on the home screen. Keep in mind that in order to use this shortcut, Kodi’s home screen must be active.
8. Toggle between Full-screen and Windowed Mode
Key Shortcut:
By default, Kodi launches in full-screen mode. This keyboard shortcut makes switching between full screen and windowed mode simple. By doing this, the user will be able to utilise Kodi and other programmes or apps at the same time.
9. Audio delay control
Cut-off Key: A
A particular video’s audio and video can occasionally be out of sync. In these circumstances, you can use this keyboard instruction to change the audio delay such that the audio and visual are well synced.
10. Fast forward
Cut-off Key: F
Simply hit the F key to skip a certain scene in a movie or music video. A single press will cause the video to advance at a 2x rate. If you press it twice, the video will advance at a 4x speed, and so on. Alternately, you can fast-forward the video by 30 seconds by using the right arrow key.
11. Play
Cut-off Key: P
The video will begin when you press P.
12. Stop
Cut-off Key: X
Simply use the X key to end any video.
13. Rewind
Cut-off Key: R
Simply hit the R key to fast forward to a particular scene in a movie or music video if you like it. The movie will rewind at twice the speed if you only press once. The movie will rewind at a 4x speed if you press it twice, and so on. As an alternative, you can rewind the movie by three seconds by using the left arrow key.
14. Toggle Subtitles On/Off
Cut-off Key: T
Simply press T to enable or disable subtitles for a movie or video. To use this shortcut, the Subtitles settings must be set up correctly first.
15. Previous Menu or Home Screen
Delete Key: Esc
You only need to press the Esc key to return to the previous menu or the home screen. You won’t have to make as many clicks.
16. Take A Screenshot
Ctrl + S or Prt Sc shortcut key
Simply press Ctrl+S to snap a screenshot of what is now playing on your Kodi media player. When you click it, a dialogue window will appear and ask you where you would like to save the snapshot.
Alternatively, you can press PrtSc to take a screenshot. When you open Paint and press Ctrl+V, the screenshot will be saved to the clipboard and you may access it there.
The screenshot is readily available in a printable format, so you can easily print it out if you want to.
17. Volume Down, Volume Up or Mute
Shortcut Keys: -, +, and Plus
Just hit the – or + keys to lower the volume of a video and the opposite to raise it. To adjust the volume to the desired level, you must repeatedly press a specific key.
Press the – key repeatedly until the volume is zero to fully muffle a video.
18. Shut down Menu
Cut-off Key: S
Simply press the S key to swiftly log out of the programme. You will have the choice to shut down Kodi with a single click. Additionally, you can choose to immediately shut down or hibernate your system. When you’re pressed for time, this is a huge time saver.
19. Pause / Play
Space bar is a shortcut key.
All you have to do to play/pause a certain video is press the space bar. The keyboard shortcut is the same as the ones we use for VLC and YouTube.
20. Zoom / Aspect Ratio
Cut-off Key: Z
Simply hit the Z key to change the aspect ratio of a video to match its resolution. The movie will change to a new resolution, such as (320 x 240), (1024 x 768), etc. each time you push the key. Pick the one with most clarity.
Kodi Shortcuts for Pictures
21. Zoom Picture From Level 1 to level 9
Quick Key: 1–9
The photos can be zoomed in by pressing the numbers 1 through 9, in that order.
22. Next Picture
Keyboard Shortcut:. period
Images can be browsed through without the need for a cursor. Simply hit the “.” key to move to the next image.
23. Previous Picture
Keyboard Shortcut: comma
Simply press to view the previous image.
24. Zoom In
While viewing images, zooming in is also quite easy. The (+) key can be used to zoom in on the picture.
25. Zoom Out
Simply hit the (-) key to zoom out of a picture.
Some Handy Default Kodi Keyboard Shortcuts
These built-in keyboard shortcuts can be useful when you want more control over Kodi.
26. Toggle Debug Logging
All you have to do is press Ctrl+ Shift+D to turn on debug logging.
27. Get Codec Info
Press Ctrl+ Shift+O whenever you feel the need to retrieve code information such as bitrates and cache.
28. Adjust Playback Speed
It’s as simple to change the playing speed using a keyboard shortcut. Simply use thealt+or to slow down or speed up playback.
29. Select/Switch player
To choose or change players, press the Y key.
Useful Mouse Controls
Additionally, Kodi supports a number of useful shortcuts for mouse controls. If you prefer to use a mouse to control media, keep these in mind.
30. Select an Item
Simply left-click an item to choose it.
31. Queue to playlist
To add an item to your playlist, middle-click on it.
32. Access Context Menu
Right-clicking on an object will swiftly bring up the context menu.
33. Go Back
To go back, right-click on the empty space. Even though there are several ways to return to the previous screen, using a mouse makes it appear particularly simple.
34. Go Up
You only need to mouse wheel up to go up.
35. Go Down
Click the mouse wheel downward to descend.
Platform Specific Keyboard Shortcuts
in Windows
36. Shortcut Key: Windows Key
If you want to use a feature on your computer outside of Kodi without leaving it. To start, simply press the Windows key.
Apple Mac
Several practical Mac Kodi keyboard shortcuts.
37. Quit
Press the Cmd+Q buttons on your Mac keyboard to close the app.
38. Hide/Minimize to the Dock
You can use the keyboard commands Cmd+H and Cmd+M to hide or minimise an application to the dock, respectively.
39. Toggle Fullscreen
Pressing the Cmd+F keys allows you to toggle full-screen.
40. Take a Screenshot
To capture screenshot, all you have to do is just press the Cmd+S keys at once.
That ends our article on the best Kodi Keyboard shortcuts that you should know. If you need an official list of all Kodi keyboard shortcuts, you canclick here to learn them. However, I think for most users, the keyboard shortcuts mentioned here are more than enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Go Back in Kodi?
It s quite simple to go back to Kodi. Simply, click/tap on the back button. You can also hit the Esc key to go back to the previous screen. When using the mouse, right-click on the blank area.
What is Keymap?
Keymaps are XML base files that are used to define the mapping of keys including keyboard keys as well as joysticks, mouse, and remote buttons.
How do I Minimize Kodi on My Computer?
To minimize Kodi on your computer running Windows, simply press the Win + M keys. If you want to minimize Kodi to the dock on your Mac, press Cmd+M keys.
Use These Kodi Keyboard Shortcuts to Use Kodi with Ease
Once you start using these keyboard shortcuts, using Kodi will be a peace of cake for you. As per my experience, it will take you about two to three weeks of using Kodi to remember all these keyboard shortcuts. I personally use these Kodi keyboard shortcuts even without thinking about them now. Do check them out and let us know your favorite Kodi keyboard shortcuts by writing in the comments section below.
