How do you change playback speed in VLC?
+ — Faster
Press + to play faster and - to play slower; each press changes the rate in steps, and = returns to normal speed. The ] and [ keys make finer adjustments when a full step is too much.
Related VLC Player shortcuts: Playback
| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Space | Play/pause | |
| + | Faster | |
| - | Slower | |
| = | Normal rate | |
| ] | Faster (fine) | |
| [ | Slower (fine) | |
| N | Next track | |
| P | Previous track | |
| S | Stop | |
| X | Cycle next program Service ID | |
| Shift + X | Cycle previous program Service ID |
From the VLC Player reference (125 entries) · all how-to answers
How the speed keys behave
VLC changes rate multiplicatively rather than by a fixed amount, so the first press of + takes 1.00x to about 1.5x and a further press lands near 2x, while - steps down through 0.67x and 0.5x. The current rate shows briefly in the top-right corner of the video and permanently in the Playback menu, and = snaps back to 1.00x in a single press whatever the rate is. Audio keeps its pitch by default, which is why sped-up dialogue stays intelligible up to roughly 1.5x and turns choppy beyond that.
Fine steps and the on-screen control
When a whole step overshoots, ] and [ move the rate by a much smaller fraction, which is how people settle on 1.25x or 1.1x for lectures. The same control exists as a slider under Playback › Speed, and the status bar slider in the Qt interface can be dragged if you prefer the mouse. Rate is not saved between files: every new stream starts at 1.00x unless you set the rate preference under Tools › Preferences › Input / Codecs.
Why the keys sometimes do nothing
Speed keys only reach the player when the video window or the playlist has focus; a click on the seek bar is enough to restore it. Some streams cannot change speed at all: live network streams and most DVD menus play at their native rate, and VLC silently ignores the request. On keyboards where + requires Shift, VLC also accepts the numeric-keypad plus and minus, which is the usual fix when the row key appears dead. The full VLC table on this site lists the playback keys alongside jump, subtitle and audio-track keys, all taken from the VideoLAN hotkeys reference.