MAC TREAT #73: Favorite iTunes Keyboard Shortcuts

ByMike Moffit

I love me some Mac keyboard shortcuts. They speed up and simplify every day computer tasks. This week I’m going to share my favorite iTunes shortcuts. If there are any shortcuts you like that I didn’t include, email me at Ed@smalldog.com and I will add them when this article is posted to our blog on Monday.

These shortcuts are Mac-oriented, but most will work on Windows if you use the Control key instead of the Command key.

iTunes Playback:

  • To navigate up or down a list of songs without automatically playing the songs, use the Up and Down arrows.
  • To play a song you’ve highlighted while navigating up or down a list of songs, press Return.
  • Press the Spacebar to start or pause a song that’s already playing.
  • To skip five seconds forwards or backwards in a song while it’s playing, press Option-Command-Left Arrow or Option-Command-Right Arrow.
  • To listen to the next or previous album in a list of albums: Option-Right Arrow or Option-Left Arrow.
  • To increase the volume press Command-Up Arrow.
  • To decrease the volume by pressing Command-Down Arrow.
  • To mute the sound, press Option-Command-Down Arrow.
  • To the Equalizer window, press Command-2.

Playlist Creation and Editing:

  • To select all songs in a list: Command-A.
  • To select non-sequential songs in a list: hold down the Command key while selecting the song with your mouse.
  • Create a new empty playlist: press Command-N.
  • Create a new Smart Playlist: Option click the Add (+) button.
  • Select all songs in list of songs: Command-A.
  • To automatically create a playlist from a list of highlighted / selected songs: hold down the Shift key while clicking the Add (+) button at the bottom left corner of the iTunes window (or simply drag the songs to the left area of the source pane).
  • To shuffle and reshuffle songs in a playlist, hold down the Option key while clicking the Shuffle button.
  • To delete a selected playlist without having to confirm that you want to delete it, press Command-Delete.

Miscellaneous

  • To reveal the actual location of the song file in the Finder, press Command-R.
  • Eject a CD: press Command-E.
  • To activate and deactivate the Visualizer: press Command-T.
  • To view the Visualizer in full-screen mode: press Command-F
  • Some Visualizers support multiple viewing options; press ? to see Visualizer options.
  • Get info on a song by selecting it and pressing Command-I
  • To connect your iPod to your Mac without automatic syncing / updating, hold down Control-Option keys until the iPod appears in the Source list in iTunes. On Windows this is actually Command-Option.
  • You probably know that you can press Command-H to hide an application without actually quitting it. This works in iTunes, but even better, you can press Command-Option-1 to hide the iTunes window AND bring it back.
  • Put the iTunes window into the Dock by pressing Command-M.
  • Quit iTunes by pressing Command-Q

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