What are the playback controls for BBC iPlayer on the website?

When watching programmes, you'll see:

  • A larger, centralised play/pause button
  • 20 second skip forwards/backwards buttons
  • Playback speed options
  • Onward journey buttons at the end of a programme or episode
  • Control the player with keyboard shortcuts

Trailers can be skipped using the pink 'Skip trailer' button on the bottom right of the playback area. The trailer can be skipped back or forwards 5 seconds using the icons at either side of the play button, or the playback bar can be used to navigate through the trailer.

Image of a trailer playing before a programme on the BBC iPlayer website. The playback controls can be seen and the pink 'Skip' button is highlighted

Programme intros and episode recaps can also be skipped.

Image showing the recap of an episode of Peaky Blinders. The 'Skip recap' can be seen on the bottom right in bold

Programme playback can be skipped back or forwards 20 seconds using the icons on either side of the play button. 

Image showing the playback screen on the iPlayer website. The rewind and fast-wards 20 second icons on either side of the play button are highlighted

Subtitle options can be found by clicking the speech bubble icon on the playback screen. Subtitles can be switched on and off, and the size of the text can be adjusted.

Image showing the playback screen on the iPlayer website. The Speech Bubble icon has been clicked and the subtitle options can be seen

The playback speed of a programme can be adjusted using the '1x' button. 

Image showing the playback screen on the BBC iPlayer website. The 1x button has been selected and the playback speed options are highlighted

Autoplay can be toggled on and off using the Settings cog on the playback screen. The video quality can also be adjusted here. 

Image showing the playback screen on the website. The Settings cog has been selected and the autoplay and video settings options box is highlighted

When you finish an episode, our Onward Journeys menu will give you the option to continue watching or to move to the next episode.

Image showing the end of a programme on the iPlayer website. The credits can be seen, and the options to keep watching, or move on to the next episode are highlighted at the bottom of the screen

At the end of a series or programme, you'll see three recommendations, with your programme still showing on the top left. The main recommendation will be in full screen and will play after the countdown shown in the pink box on the bottom left. To start the programme right away, click the pink button. To watch any of the other two recommendations, just select them. To go back to the programme you were watching, simply click the mini player on the top left.

Image showing the end of a series. The programme is playing on the top left corner of the website. Three recommended programmes are showing as well as the option to continue with the current programme or move to the recommended programme which will autiplay once the timer has reached zero.

To learn more about recommendations, have a look at the following page: What are recommendations?

If you're watching on a small or zoomed screen, you'll now see larger player controls displayed in the middle of the screen. To make them visible, we display the controls against a darkened background. On smaller screens, volume, subtitles and playback settings can all be found on the top right.

Image showing the playback screen on a smaller monitor or screen. The main playback icons are large and in the middle of the screen, and the other controls are on the top right rather than at the bottom of the screen.

Keyboard shortcuts

You can control new versions of our media player using your keyboard.

You can start using keyboard shortcuts as soon as you play something. Before then, only the ‘play’ and ‘full screen’ keyboard shortcuts work. The shortcuts are:
 

Play    

  • Space bar (when focus is on the player or seek bar)
  • k
  • 'Play' media key
     

Pause or stop    

  • Space bar (when focus is on the player or seek bar)
  • k
  • 'Pause' or 'Stop' media key
     

Subtitles on or off    

  •  s
  • 888
     

Rewind    

  •  j
  • Left arrow
     

Fast forward    

  • l (that's a lower case letter 'L')
  • Right arrow
     

Mute or unmute    

  • m
     

Full screen    

  • f
     

Exit full screen    

  • f
  • Esc