NoaLingua Documentation
Every keyboard shortcut, and how to change them
Thirteen single-key shortcuts work while a video has focus and can all be rebound. A handful of modifier combinations are fixed because they belong to Chrome or to a surface other than the player. None of them fire while you are typing in an input field.
Player keys — all rebindable
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| R | Repeat this sentence |
| P | Previous sentence |
| N | Next sentence |
| A | Auto-pause on/off |
| S | Save this sentence |
| D | Cycle original / both / translation |
| X | Replay this sentence slowly |
| V | Show the hidden translation |
| E | Say this sentence out loud |
| B | Bookmark this moment |
| Z | Focus mode on/off |
| Y | Say this sentence back |
| H | Shadow this sentence |
Fixed shortcuts
These cannot be changed: each is either a modifier combination, a Chrome-level command, or belongs to a surface other than the player.
| Keys | Where | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + H | YouTube | Shadow the whole video — stops after every line |
| Alt + L | Anywhere | Turn NoaLingua on or off for that site |
| Alt + Shift + W | Any page | Highlight every word you have not met |
| Alt + click | Any page | Translate that paragraph in place |
| Esc | Anywhere | Close the popup or the selection box |
| 1 – 4 | Learn | Answer the question |
| Enter | Learn | Next card |
| Space / Enter | Review screen | Reveal the answer before grading |
Changing a shortcut
While Edit has focus a keypress is a binding rather than an action, so pressing N during rebinding does not also skip a sentence.
Alt + L is a Chrome-level command rather than a NoaLingua one, so it is changed at chrome://extensions/shortcuts instead.
- Open the quick menu from the NoaLingua button in the player control bar, then Keyboard shortcuts.
- Press Edit on the row you want. It reads “Press a key…”.
- Press the key you want. Esc cancels.
Keys it will refuse, and why it says so
| Message | Reason |
|---|---|
| “X is YouTube’s own shortcut.” | Space, K, J, L, F, M, C, I, T, the arrow keys and 0–9 are reserved. Binding one would fire both actions at once and look like a broken page. |
| “X is already [action].” | It collides with an existing NoaLingua shortcut. |
| “Pick a letter or number key.” | A bare modifier binds nothing useful. |
Layout presets
NoaLingua (default) is mnemonic: r repeat, p previous, n next, s save.
Language Reactor layout is for fingers that already know that one: s replay, a and d for lines, q for auto-pause; save moves to w and the display toggle to g.
Custom is not a preset but a state — it appears the moment you change anything. Reset to defaults restores the NoaLingua layout, and if the stored table is ever damaged only the missing or colliding keys are restored individually, so one broken row cannot leave you with no shortcuts at all.