GIGAXXX Keyboard Shortcuts: Browse and Watch Faster

A few keys can replace a lot of clicking. GIGAXXX supports keyboard shortcuts for search and for the video player, so you can pause, skip, change the speed or go fullscreen without reaching for the mouse. Here is the complete list, the touch gestures for phones and tablets, and what to check when a key doesn’t respond.

Site-wide keyboard shortcuts

Three shortcuts work across the site, whether you’re on the home page, a category or a star’s profile.

The slash key is the fastest route to a query: press it and start typing. Ctrl + K opens search too, with a combination many people already know from other apps. Esc is the universal way out: it closes the menu, the search panel and dialogs such as Cookie & storage settings.

On a Mac

Use the Command key (⌘) instead of Ctrl. Many Mac laptops have no Home or End keys, which the player uses to jump to the start or end of a video. On those keyboards, Fn + Left Arrow works as Home and Fn + Right Arrow works as End.

Video player keyboard shortcuts

On a video page, the player responds to these keys once it has focus (more on that below).

Play, pause and skip

On most keyboards, K sits between J and L, so one hand covers pause, rewind and fast-forward. J and L move 10 seconds at a time, while the left and right arrows move 5 seconds when you only need a small correction.

The number keys are the quickest way around a long video. 5 jumps to the halfway point, 9 to the 90% mark, and 0 back to the beginning, just like Home. End takes you straight to the end.

Volume, speed and view

The up and down arrows raise and lower the volume, and M mutes. Shift + . (period) speeds playback up and Shift + , (comma) slows it down. Your volume, playback speed, quality and autoplay next choice are saved in your browser, like everything else GIGAXXX remembers for you; our guide to how local saving works explains the details.

F switches to fullscreen, and your browser always lets you leave fullscreen with Esc. T switches to theater mode, a middle ground between the standard layout and fullscreen. I opens picture-in-picture where your browser supports it: the video floats in a small window on top of your other tabs and apps.

If jumping ahead makes the video stop to load, our guide to fixing video buffering explains why it happens and what helps.

Moving between videos

Shift + N takes you to the next video: the first one in the Up next list, which follows on logically from the video you’re watching. If you’d rather decide what comes next yourself, turn off autoplay next in the player.

Touch gestures on phones and tablets

Touch screens get one gesture of their own: double-tap the left side of the player to go back 10 seconds, or the right side to go forward 10 seconds. It mirrors J and L on a keyboard, and it saves you from dragging a tiny progress bar with your thumb.

Everything else, from pausing to fullscreen, uses the player’s on-screen controls. If you pair a keyboard with your tablet, the keyboard shortcuts above apply as well, because a hardware keyboard sends the same key presses as a computer’s.

When a shortcut doesn’t respond

Nearly every “my shortcut is broken” moment comes down to one of these four causes.

1. You’re typing in a field. Shortcuts don’t fire while the cursor is in a text field, such as the search box or a form. That’s deliberate: typing a query that contains a K or an F never pauses your video or switches to fullscreen. Click outside the field, or close search with Esc, then try again.
2. The player doesn’t have focus. Player keys only reach the player when it’s focused. Click the player once, then use the keys. This matters most right after a page loads, or after you’ve clicked somewhere else on the page.
3. Something else is catching the key. Browser extensions with their own shortcuts, system-wide shortcuts and screen readers in browse mode can intercept key presses before the page sees them. Turn the extension off for the site, or switch your screen reader to focus or forms mode.
4. You’re on a Mac laptop. Use ⌘ rather than Ctrl for search, and the Fn + arrow combinations in place of Home and End.

Keyboard shortcuts and accessibility

Shortcuts aren’t only about speed. For people with limited hand mobility, a tremor or repetitive strain, and for anyone who prefers not to use a mouse, a single key press replaces aiming at small buttons.

A few things help beyond the shortcuts themselves:

• Standard browser navigation works alongside them: the Tab key moves between links and buttons, Shift + Tab moves back, and Enter opens a link.
• Hover previews can be switched off in menu → Preferences, which cuts down on motion as you move across a grid of videos.
• Esc closes menus, search and dialogs, so backing out of a menu or dialog takes a single key press.

If something gets in your way, from a shortcut that clashes with your assistive technology to a control you can’t reach by keyboard, tell us through our contact form.

Build the habit in one minute

Muscle memory beats any cheat sheet. Run through this once and the main keys will stick:

1. Press / and search for anything that interests you.
2. Open a video and click the player once.
3. Press K to pause, then K again to play.
4. Press L twice to jump 20 seconds ahead, then J once to go back 10.
5. Press 5 to land at the halfway point, then Home to return to the start.
6. Press Shift + . to speed up, then Shift + , to slow back down.
7. Press F for fullscreen and Esc to leave it.

The bottom line

You don’t need to memorize the whole table. Start with / to search, K to play and pause, and J and L to skip, then add the number keys and Shift + N as you go. If a key does nothing, click the player once or step out of the text field, and on a phone, double-tap either side of the player to skip 10 seconds.