--- title: "Keyboard shortcuts while watching · NoaLingua" description: "Thirteen single keys drive replay, save, shadowing and display, all rebindable. There is a Language Reactor preset, and reserved keys are refused out loud." url: "https://noalingua.com/answers/keyboard-shortcuts-while-watching/" language: "en" modified: "2026-09-09" license: "CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" --- Answer # NoaLingua keyboard shortcuts, and how to change them Thirteen rebindable keys, the ones YouTube will not give up, and a Language Reactor layout Thirteen single keys control the player — R repeat, P previous, N next, A auto-pause, S save the sentence, X slow replay, V reveal, Y say it back, H shadow the line, B bookmark, Z focus, D display, E speak. All are rebindable, and a Language Reactor layout preset is included. Short answer Thirteen rebindable single keys, plus a Language Reactor layout preset for fingers that already know one. Step by step ## Doing it with NoaLingua - 1 ### See the whole map in place Quick menu → Keyboard shortcuts, inside the player. It is split into the keys that cannot change and the keys that can, with the layout preset above and Reset to defaults below. - 2 ### Press Edit on the row you want to move The row reads "Press a key…". Press the key you want; Escape cancels. While the Edit button has focus, a keypress is a binding rather than an action, so rebinding N does not also skip a sentence. - 3 ### Or switch the whole layout at once The preset selector offers the NoaLingua default — mnemonic: r repeat, p previous, n next, s save — and a Language Reactor layout, where s is replay, a and d switch lines and q is auto-pause. Custom is not a preset but a state: it appears as soon as you change anything. [Add to Chrome — Free Add to Chrome](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ocimolffhgpeeoifjpjhgikgfbnmlkdh) Opens the Chrome Web Store listing **NoaLingua — beyond dual subs: video, web, PDF** — free, no account, Chrome 138 or newer. Two other refusals exist for the same reason. A key already bound to something says which action has it. A bare modifier says "Pick a letter or number key", because Shift on its own binds nothing useful. ### The keys that cannot be rebound, and where they work Ctrl+H starts whole-video shadowing on YouTube. Alt+L turns NoaLingua on or off for whatever site you are on — anywhere, including a tab that was open before the extension was installed or updated. Alt+Shift+W highlights every word on the page you have never met. Alt+click translates one paragraph in place. Escape closes a card or a selection box. These are fixed because each is either a modifier combination, a Chrome-level command, or belongs to a surface rather than to the player. The single-key table maps single keys; the rest are a different mechanism. ### What happens if the binding table gets damaged If the stored table is corrupt, missing or clashing keys are restored to their defaults individually rather than the whole table being reset. One broken row must not leave somebody with no shortcuts at all. Every button under the subtitle box does the same job as its key, and its tooltip shows your current binding — including when you have changed it. The buttons exist so the keys are discoverable rather than as an alternative to them. Get NoaLingua — free, and every feature included Dual subtitles on YouTube and Netflix, clickable words on any page and in any PDF, shadowing and spaced review — 28 languages, no account, and your deck stays on your own machine. [Add to Chrome — Free Add to Chrome](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ocimolffhgpeeoifjpjhgikgfbnmlkdh) Opens the Chrome Web Store listing **NoaLingua — beyond dual subs: video, web, PDF** — free, no account, Chrome 138 or newer. - **Free** — every feature, not a trial - **No account** — nothing to sign up for - **Two dropdowns** — that is the whole setup ## More questions people ask NoaLingua Do the keys fire while I am typing in a comment box? No. They are ignored while focus is in an input field, which is the difference between a single-key shortcut that is convenient and one that is a hazard. Can I turn all the shortcuts off? Yes — "Enable keyboard shortcuts in the player" in Settings → General is the master switch for the whole single-key layer. Why is Alt+L worth knowing? It is the fastest way to turn NoaLingua off on a page where it is in your way, without leaving the page to find a setting. It works on every site, and it can be changed in Chrome's own extension shortcuts page. ## Where this is documented on NoaLingua [The full shortcut reference Every key, both tables, and what each one does.](https://noalingua.com/docs/keyboard-shortcuts/)[Pause after each sentence What A does, and why the pause lands exactly on the boundary.](https://noalingua.com/features/auto-pause/)[Shadowing and say-it-back What Ctrl+H, H and Y each do differently.](https://noalingua.com/features/shadowing/) ### Related NoaLingua answers - [How do I loop a sentence or a section on YouTube?](https://noalingua.com/answers/loop-a-sentence-on-youtube/) - [Can I change the size, colour and position of the subtitles?](https://noalingua.com/answers/customise-the-subtitle-box/) - [How do I watch YouTube without the recommendations and comments?](https://noalingua.com/answers/watch-youtube-without-distractions/) ## Try it on the next thing you were going to watch anyway. Free, with every feature. No account, nothing to cancel, and your deck stays on your machine. [Add to Chrome — Free Add to Chrome](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ocimolffhgpeeoifjpjhgikgfbnmlkdh) Opens the Chrome Web Store listing **NoaLingua — beyond dual subs: video, web, PDF** — free, no account, Chrome 138 or newer. - [Free, and not a trial Every feature on the free plan — both PDF modes, shadowing, all 30 practice formats.](https://noalingua.com/pricing/) - [No account, no email Nothing to sign up for and nothing to cancel. There is no login screen at all.](https://noalingua.com/privacy/) - [Two dropdowns to set up Pick what you are learning and what you want translations in. That is the whole setup.](https://noalingua.com/getting-started/) - [Your words stay yours Export to Anki, CSV, a spreadsheet or a full JSON profile — free on every plan.](https://noalingua.com/docs/export-import/) [What happens after you install](https://noalingua.com/getting-started/) · [Pricing](https://noalingua.com/pricing/) · [What it cannot do](https://noalingua.com/limits/)