Hotkeys
Listen has a hotkey editor with one row per action. Hotkeys work inside the Listen window; on Linux you can also make most playback actions work system-wide. Open Settings → Hotkeys.
Recording a hotkey
- Open Settings → Hotkeys.
- Click the field in the row of the action. It shows “Press keys…”.
- Press the key combination you want. The field takes the first valid combination.
- To cancel, press
Esc. To remove a binding, click the cross at the end of the row.
Notes:
ModmeansCtrl. Combinations can useCtrl,Alt,Shiftand the Super/Windows key plus one key.- A field with a red border means the same combination is used by another action.
- Every action starts unbound except the defaults in the table below.
Actions
“Global” means the action can be made system-wide on Linux (see below). Actions marked “No” only work while the Listen window has focus.
| Action | What it does | Default | Global |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browser back | Go back one page | none | No |
| Browser forward | Go forward one page | none | No |
| Favorite current song | Like the playing song | none | Yes |
| Unfavorite current song | Remove the like from the playing song | none | Yes |
| Toggle current song favorite | Like or unlike the playing song | none | Yes |
| Favorite previous song | Like the queue entry before the playing one | none | Yes |
| Unfavorite previous song | Unlike that entry | none | Yes |
| Toggle previous song favorite | Toggle the like of that entry | none | Yes |
| Global search | Open the command palette and search | Ctrl+K | No |
| List: navigate to page | Open the page of the selected row | Ctrl+G | No |
| List: play (default) | Play the selected rows the default way | Enter | No |
| List: play last | Add the selected rows to the end of the queue | none | No |
| List: play next | Play the selected rows after the current song | none | No |
| List: play now | Replace the queue with the selected rows and play | none | No |
| List: show playing song | Scroll the list to the playing song | Ctrl+L | No |
| Local search | Focus the search field in the sidebar | Ctrl+F | No |
| Navigate to home | Go to the Home page | none | No |
| Next track | Skip to the next song | none | Yes |
| Next album | Skip to the first song of the next album | none | Yes |
| Pause | Pause (does nothing when already paused) | none | Yes |
| Play | Resume (does nothing when already playing) | none | Yes |
| Play / pause | Toggle playback | Space | Yes |
| Previous track | Go to the previous song | none | Yes |
| Previous album | Go to the previous album | none | Yes |
| Rate 0 stars | Clear the rating of the playing song | none | Yes |
| Rate 1 star | Rate the playing song 1 star | none | Yes |
| Rate 2 stars | 2 stars | none | Yes |
| Rate 3 stars | 3 stars | none | Yes |
| Rate 4 stars | 4 stars | none | Yes |
| Rate 5 stars | 5 stars | none | Yes |
| Skip backward | Jump back by the skip amount | none | Yes |
| Skip forward | Jump forward by the skip amount | none | Yes |
| Stop | Stop playback | none | Yes |
| Toggle full-screen player | Open or close the full-screen player | none | No |
| Toggle heart-rate tempo | Switch heart-rate tempo on or off | none | Yes |
| Toggle queue | Show or hide the queue | none | No |
| Toggle repeat | Cycle repeat: off, all, one | none | Yes |
| Toggle shuffle | Switch shuffle on or off | none | Yes |
| Volume down | Lower the volume by one step | none | Yes |
| Volume mute | Mute or unmute | none | Yes |
| Volume up | Raise the volume by one step | none | Yes |
| Zoom in | Make the interface larger | none | Yes |
| Zoom out | Make the interface smaller | none | Yes |
Details:
- Skip backward and forward use the amounts from the player bar settings (5 and 10 seconds by default). The volume step is the volume wheel step from the same settings.
- Rating hotkeys do nothing for sources without ratings, such as YouTube Music.
- Hotkeys that act on a list (the “List:” actions) use the rows you selected in the list that is on screen. See Lists, selection and menus.
- Window hotkeys are ignored while the command palette is open.
System-wide shortcuts (Linux)
On Linux the editor has an extra checkbox at the end of each row for actions marked “Global”. Tick it (after you have bound a key) and Listen registers the shortcut with the desktop’s GlobalShortcuts portal, so it works from any window, including on Wayland. This is supported by KDE Plasma and GNOME, among others.
- The key you record is only a suggestion. The desktop owns the final choice and may show a confirmation dialog or pick another key. The System-wide section shows “Active in the desktop: …” with what was really bound.
- A global action no longer fires from inside the Listen window, only from the portal, so it never runs twice.
- To change a key the desktop has already bound, use the desktop’s shortcut settings (for example System Settings → Shortcuts → Listen).
- If the portal is missing or refuses, a red message at the top says so, and the actions fall back to working inside the window only.
- Global media hotkeys is the separate switch for the hardware media keys; see Media keys and system controls.
- Clearing a hotkey also removes its global flag.
Windows
Hotkeys work while the Listen window has focus. There are no system-wide shortcuts for the editor’s actions on Windows; use the hardware media keys, which work through the media flyout (see Media keys and system controls), or the tray menu.