Use These PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts to Play, Pause and Control Videos During a Presentation
by Avantix Learning Team | Updated January 31, 2025
Applies to: Microsoft® PowerPoint® 2016, 2019, 2021 and 365 (Windows)
You can use these useful PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts when you are running a slide show to play, pause, restart and control videos during a slide show.
Contents
In this article, we'll review shortcuts for working with video during a slide show in PowerPoint:
- Run a slide show
- Play a video during a slide show
- Pause or stop a video
- Jump to a bookmark in a video
- Control the volume of a video
- Go forward or backward
- Show or hide the audio subtitles menu
- Recommendation for audio files
Recommended article: 50+ PowerPoint Slide Show Shortcuts
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On some laptops, you may need to press the Fn key in addition to the listed shortcuts to enable function keys (such as Fn + F5).
Run a slide show
In Normal View or Slide Sorter View, to start a slide show from the beginning, press F5. To start a slide show from the current slide, press Shift + F5.
Play a video during a slide show
To start a video during a slide show (assuming it is not set to start automatically), press Alt + P or Ctrl + spacebar.
Pause or stop a video
To stop video playback during a slide show, press Alt + Q.
To toggle between play and pause during a slide show, press Alt + P.
Jump to a bookmark in a video
To go to the next bookmark in a video during a slide show, press Alt + End.
To go to the previous bookmark in a video during a slide show, press Alt + Home.
Go forward or backward
To go forward in a video by 3 seconds during a slide show, press Alt + Shift + Page down.
To go backward in a video by 3 seconds during a slide show, press Alt + Shift + Page up.
To go forward in a video by 0.25 seconds during a slide show, then pause, press Alt + Shift + right arrow
To go backward in a video by 0.25 seconds during a slide show, then pause, press Alt + Shift + left arrow
Control the volume of a video
To increase the volume of a video during a slide show, press Alt + up arrow.
To decrease the volume of a video during a slide show, press Alt + down arrow.
To mute the sound of a video during a slide show, press Alt + U.
Show or hide the audio subtitles menu
To toggle the audio and subtitles menu during a slide show, press Alt + J.
You can show or hide the audio and subtitles menu only for videos that have multiple audio tracks and/or subtitle tracks in supported formats.
Recommendation for audio files
Be sure to practice these shortcuts before running the presentation for a seamless show.
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More resources
How to Add Audio in PowerPoint Presentations
How to Embed a YouTube Video in PowerPoint
A Beginner's Guide to Video Formats in PowerPoint
How to Insert Video in PowerPoint (from a File on Your PC or a Shared Drive)
How to Compress Video and Audio Media in PowerPoint to Reduce File Size
Related courses
Microsoft PowerPoint: Introduction
Microsoft PowerPoint: Intermediate / Advanced
Microsoft PowerPoint: Design for Non-Designers
Microsoft PowerPoint: Accessible PowerPoint Presentations
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