Blog · · 2 min read

VLC shortcut for playback speed: faster, slower and back to normal

In VLC, + and - change the playback speed, ] and [ change it in fine steps, and = returns to normal. Why + sometimes does nothing, and how to set your own keys.

In VLC, press + to play faster and - to play slower. Press = to go back to normal speed.

For finer steps, use ] (a little faster) and [ (a little slower). These are the default hotkeys listed on the VideoLAN wiki.

The speed keys

  • Faster: +
  • Slower: -
  • Normal rate: =
  • Faster (fine): ]
  • Slower (fine): [

The fine steps are useful for lectures and podcasts, where a little faster is comfortable and a lot faster is not. VLC shows the current rate on the video for a moment after each press.

There is also a menu for it: Playback > Speed, with Faster, Slower and Normal Speed.

Why the speed keys do nothing

  • The plus key on the main keyboard. On most keyboards the + above the letters is really Shift+=, and since = on its own means "normal rate", the plus may not do what you expect. The + on the numeric keypad is a plus sign without Shift. If you have no keypad, use ] instead, or set your own key (below).
  • A different keyboard layout. On many non-English layouts, [, ] and = are on other keys or need AltGr. Set keys you can reach in the hotkey settings.
  • VLC is not the active window. The hotkeys go to the window in front. Click the video once.
  • A text field has focus. In the playlist search or a dialog, keys type there instead.

Set your own speed keys

VLC lets you change every hotkey:

  1. Open Tools > Preferences.
  2. Select the Hotkeys panel.
  3. Find Faster, Slower, Faster (fine), Slower (fine) and Normal rate in the list.
  4. Double-click an action, press the key you want, and confirm.
  5. Select Save.

Pick keys that work on your layout without AltGr, for example two letters that VLC does not already use. The list shows which keys are taken.

Speed from a ring

RadialDeck is the radial menu for Windows that we make. When VLC is in front, the same hotkey that opens your usual ring opens a VLC ring. The gallery has ready-made VLC slices for Play/Pause, Full screen, Mute, Volume up, Volume down, Next, Previous, Subtitles, Audio track, Snapshot, Go to time and Playlist, but no speed slices yet.

Adding them takes a minute with two Send keys slices:

  1. Faster with the key rbracket (VLC's fine step up).
  2. Slower with the key lbracket (the fine step down).

If you set your own keys in VLC's Hotkeys panel, use those instead. Hold Shift while you click a slice and the ring runs it and stays open, so three clicks speed the video up three steps without the ring closing in between.

Every VLC action in the gallery is on the VLC page.

Quick reference

  • Faster / slower: + / - (numeric keypad plus is the reliable one)
  • Fine steps: ] / [
  • Normal speed: =
  • Menu: Playback > Speed
  • Your own keys: Tools > Preferences > Hotkeys

RadialDeck is free for two rings, and Pro adds a ring per program such as the VLC ring, with a 14-day trial. It is in the Microsoft Store.

Try it in RadialDeck

Free for two rings, with a 14-day trial of everything in Pro. Windows 10 and 11, from the Microsoft Store.

Get it from Microsoft or download the installer (.exe)