Enjoying your favorite shows, movies and music streamed via your Kodi box? Perhaps you’re happily playing retro video games on it? Either way, you’re probably using a remote-control app on your iPhone or Android to interact with the media center software.
As convenient as this is, however, there is another way to control Kodi: with keyboard shortcuts! Download our list of 50 Kodi keyboard shortcuts today.
Kodi Shortcuts Keys
You don’t even have to rely on a wired device, as plenty of Bluetooth and wireless keyboards are available online. However, with a keyboard connected, you’ll be able to navigate Kodi, fast and efficiently.
Various keys provide shortcuts for Kodi. For example, the arrow keys on your keyboard. They’re used for all Kodi functions, such as:
- Live TV controls
- Playing video files
- Streaming media from the web or local network
- Managing surround sound
- Displaying photos and images
Furthermore, Kodi keyboard shortcuts are compatible with any device that runs Kodi. So, if you run Kodi on a Raspberry Pi, plug in a keyboard, and use these shortcuts. Using an Amazon Fire Stick? These Kodi shortcuts work there, too.
50 Kodi Keyboard Shortcut Keys
Navigating Kodi
- Arrow keys—Move left, right, up, and down in menus in Kodi.
- Enter—Select the currently highlighted option.
Kodi Keyboard Shortcuts for Live TV
- B—Schedule recordings in live TV.
- E—Open the EPG (electronic program guide).
- H—Live TV channels window.
- J—Live radio channels window.
- K—Live TV recordings window.
Meanwhile the 0 (zero) key will toggle between the last two viewed live TV channels, and you can use I to view information about the selected TV show.
Finally, the arrow keys can be used to browse the channels. Up and Down moves up and down through the channel list, while Left and Right jumps between channel groups.
Control Your Media Playback
- P—This will play the video.
- X—Stops video playback.
- Space bar—Pause/Play toggle. This is pretty much a universal control, and the same shortcut you’ll find in other media players, and even YouTube.
- F—Fast forward. How you use this depends on how fast you want to proceed through the video. Press it once and the video will fast forward at 2x speed; press it twice for 4x, etc.
- Right arrow—Skips forward through the media file in 30-second increments.
- R—This rewinds the video, and can be tapped multiple times for faster rewinding.
- Left arrow—Skips back through the video in 30-second increments.
- \—The backslash key (usually found next to the left Shift key) will toggle between full-screen and windowed mode. In windowed mode, you can access other apps, software, or even your file manager.
- Z—This changes the aspect ratio of the current video, cycling through various ratios and resolutions. Press this until the picture looks right.
- Ctrl + S—Kodi also supports the capturing of screenshots, which will save to a preferred location selected after the first use.
Audio Control Shortcuts
- +/- (plus and minus symbols)—Volume can be increased or reduced during video streaming, live TV, or audio playback.
- F8—Mute playback.
- A—Audio delay. If the audio and video of the file you’re watching isn’t in sync, use this key to adjust the delay. This should bring the video back into sync.
View Pictures
- +/-—In picture viewing mode, the volume controls become zoom controls, with + zooming in and – zooming out.
- 1–9—Via keys 1 through 9, you can zoom in and out of images, with 9 providing the greatest degree of magnification.
- . and , (period and comma)—You can browse back and forth through the images using the period and comma keys.
- Esc—The Escape key will take you back to the previous menu, or to the home screen.
- S—Displays the shutdown menu. Here you can exit the software, as well as shutdown or hibernate the host system (such as Windows or Mac OS X).
- Windows key—Need to view the Windows desktop, or access the Start menu/Start screen? Use the Windows key.
macOS
- Cmd + Q—Quit out of Kodi.
- Cmd + H / Cmd + M—Hide/minimize Kodi to the OS X dock.
- Cmd + F—Toggle fullscreen view.
- Cmd + S—Take a screenshot.
Modify Your Kodi Keymap Files
If you’re happy to use the keyboard, but aren’t happy with the way the keys are mapped, you can customize this with a Kodi add-on called Keymap Editor. To install this, go to Settings > Add-ons and select Install from repository.
From here, find the Kodi add-on repository, then Program Add-ons and select Keymap Editor. Click Install to continue, and a few moments later the tool will be available to configure via Programs > Add-ons.
Remember to save the file once you’re done. You’ll be able to reuse the configuration, which is saved as an XML file, in the userdata folder. On Windows, find this by pressing Windows + R and entering %APPDATA%\kodi\userdata.
Hit Enter to open the folder.
Enjoy Your Media With These 50 Kodi Keyboard Shortcuts
With these 50 Kodi keyboard shortcuts, you’ll find that you have everything you need for fast and effective interaction with the media center software.