Default Play Pause Button To Spotify For Mac

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Spotify revolutionized the music streaming market. The company’s innovative features and cross-platform availability made it the top choice among the users. It’s no surprise why Spotify is leading a rapidly growing music streaming market with a comfortable margin. Unlike its rivals, who mostly offer a web version on the desktop, Spotify delivers a native experience with Windows and Mac apps. Whether you opt for the Free plan or have upgraded to Spotify Premium, you can use the official app like a pro with the Spotify keyboard shortcuts.

Spotify has over two dozen keyboard shortcuts, which let you navigate through and manage your library with just a few buttons on your Mac or PC. Spotify moved the action icons for like, play and download onto a central bar of the screen. The row gives users one-handed access to pretty much anything you’d want to do while browsing for new.

You can always use the keyboard media controls to play/pause or forward/backward songs, but when you are in the Spotify app, you can opt for Spotify keyboard shortcuts to improve the listening experience.

I have a MacBook Air and yesterday the pause and skip buttons stopped working for Spotify on the keyboard. I've tried contacting Spotify via email as well as searching on the cummunity support section of the Spotify website. Spotify is a digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs. We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes.

Besides, I have always found the Spotify media controls and other buttons such as shuffle, repeat, search, mute/unmute tiny in size to my liking. Using keyboard shortcuts solves the issue and allows you to access those functions on the fly. In this post, we will talk about eleven best Spotify keyboard shortcuts on Windows and Mac. Let’s get started.

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1. Create New Playlist

A playlist is an integral part of any music service. A hardcore Spotify user relies on playlists for a different kind of music. If you want to create a playlist while listening to a song, the standard steps are tap on the three-dot menu > Add to Playlist > Create a new playlist. You can skip all those steps by using the Ctrl + N on Windows or Command + N keys on Mac.

2. Play/Pause Music

This is fairly standard and works across most music/video streaming services. Are you listening to music and received a call? Instead of finding that pause button in the Spotify app, you can quickly use the spacebar to pause the music. That said, the Spotify app must be active on the screen. It won't work if you've minimized it or playing it from the Taskbar.

3. Switch to Next/Previous Track

Not a fan of current playing music? You can change tracks using the media controls on the keyboard or opt for the tiny forward/backward buttons in the Spotify app. We have a better solution than that. Use Ctrl + Left/Right arrow on Windows or Command + Left/Right arrow on Mac to forward or backward the song.

4. Volume Up/Down

You can quickly turn up or down the volume in the Spotify app. se Ctrl + Up/Down on Windows or Command + Up/Down on Mac to increase or decrease Spotify's volume.

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5. Mute or Set Volume to Maximum

Spotify offers a quick way to mute the current playing song. You can also set the volume level to maximum using keyboard shortcuts. Use Ctrl + Up/Down for Windows or Command + Up/Down on Mac to mute the song or set volume to maximum.

6. Search for a Song

Spotify search bar is one of the most used aspects of any user. After all, you need to search for new songs continuously on the platform to discover the latest music. You can use the Ctrl + L on Windows or Command + L on Mac to access the Spotify search bar.

7. Browse Forward/Backward

That is handy in the Spotify app. At any point, you can usethe Alt + Left/Right on Windows or Command + [ / ] keyboard shortcut on Mac to go forward or backward in the Spotify app.

8. Toggle Shuffle Mode

Shuffle mode is one of the important functions of any music app. The problem with Spotify is, it offers a tiny shuffle button on the player screen. You should use Ctrl + S on Windows or Command + S on Mac to trigger the shuffle mode on Spotify.

9. Use Filter Menu in Playlists

The filter menu is an essential part of the music experience. Using that, you can quickly jump to the song that you are looking for. Try to use Ctrl + F on Windows or Command + F on Mac to access the filter menu.

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10. Set Current Playlist or Song on Repeat

We all have been through that phase. Some songs clickwith us, and we continuously want to listen to it. On Spotify, you can use Ctrl + R or Command + R on Mac to play songs in a repetitive mode.

Default Play Pause Button To Spotify For Mac

11. Access Spotify Preferences

Spotify offers a ton of settings options to modify your music listening experience. You can access these settings from the Spotify Preference menu. Use Ctrl + P on Windows or Command +, on Mac to open the Spotify Preference menu.

The keyboard shortcuts mentioned above only work when Spotify is your current focus app. If you keep the app in the background or have something else in focus, you can't use the convenient shortcuts to play/pause, skip a track, or access other functions.

Also, don't forget about the media keys on your keyboard. All Mac keyboards and many Windows keyboards have keys that allow you to adjust the volume, play/pause, and change tracks. They're the quickest way to make a quick change without jumping back to Spotify.

Master Spotify Keyboard Shortcuts

I don’t use trackpad or mouse while navigating Spotify on my Mac. I mostly opt for the keyboard shortcut to navigate the app smoothly. You can switch to that routine too. Memorize the keyboard shortcuts mentioned above and implement them in your daily workflow.

Next up:Amazon bundles Prime Music service with the Prime subscription. Read the comparison post with Spotify to choose a better music streaming service for you.


The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextSpotify vs Amazon Music: Which Music Streaming Service Is BetterAlso See#Lists #keyboard

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In November 2017, an Amazon Echo device in Germany started playing music on its own at two in the morning.

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I don’t live in the US but I listen to music via Spotify’s web app when I’m writing or just browsing the net. I use the free ad-supported tier because I don’t need access to premium mobile features (podcasts FTW) and it’s better than blatant piracy.

MacCool Tip: I use Hola Unblocker Chrome extension to mask my real location in Spotify’s web player. That’s also how I made the Spotify account.

The reason I don’t use Spotify’s stellar Mac app is because every week or so I get kicked off for “not being in a supported country”. I need to reinstall the app and wait for the game of cat and mouse to begin again. So eventually I just gave up and settled on the web player. I don’t get support for plugins but that’s OK.

One thing I sorely miss on the Mac app is access to Mac’s built in Play/Pause, Next, and Previous keys. When you’re listening to music on Spotify/Pandora/Rdio on the web, the tab is usually in the background. I hate going hunting for it every time I need to pause playback.

Which is why I’m glad to share with you a simple Mac menubar utility that lets you control more than a dozen web based music/media player sites using your Mac’s media keys. All you need to do is use a keyboard shortcut to set the current tab as active and just like that Mac’s media keys will take over the tab’s playback.

How To Install BeardedSpice

Download the zipped file from the website, use Mac’s built in Archive Utility to unzip it, and drag the unzipped app to the Applications folder. The first time you open the app, Mac will give a default warning. Just click Open.

Hello YouTube: BeardedSpice supports video sites like YouTube and Vimeo as well with no issues in performance. Scroll to the last section for the entire list of supported services.

Now you’ll see the BeardedSpice logo in the menubar. As the name suggests, the logo is a beard and a mustache.

How To Use And Configure BeardedSpice

Now that BeardedSpice is up and running, go to any of the supported web based media players. Click the menubar utility and you’ll see the media tab listed.

Click on a web page to activate it. A checkmark beside the selected site will show up.

Configuring Keyboard Shortcuts

To make the activation process for web based players as quick as possible, BeardedSpice supports keyboard shortcuts. The default shortcut to activate BeardedSpice is Cmd+F8. F8 is conveniently also the Play/Pause key.

Default Play Pause Button To Spotify For Macbook

But for some reason I found this shortcut to be buggy. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. Thankfully, you can change the keyboard shortcut.

Click the BeardedSpice menubar utility and go to Preferences. Here click on the space beside Set active tab and type in your preferred shortcut. I have mine set to Cmd+8 as it’s right below the Play/Pause button.

Enable/Disable Supported Services

From the same Preferences menu you can decide which web players you don’t want BeardedSpice to interact with.

Here’s the entire list of supported web players:

Default Play Pause Button To Spotify For Mac Os

  • 8Tracks
  • Amazon Music
  • BandCamp
  • BeatsMusic
  • Bop.fm
  • Google Music
  • GrooveShark
  • HypeMachine
  • Last.fm
  • Mixcloud
  • Music Unlimited
  • Pandora
  • Rdio
  • Shuffler.fm
  • Slacker
  • Songza
  • SoundCloud
  • Spotify (Web)
  • Synology
  • XboxMusic
  • YouTube
  • VK (“My Music” from vk.com)
  • Vimeo

Where Do You Plan On Using BeardedSpice?

What services do you plan on using BeardedSpice with? Do you wish that it supported more players like Netflix.com? Let us know in the comments below.

Default Play Pause Button To Spotify For Macbook Pro


The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Also See#music #spotify

Did You Know

Since its launch, Shazam has been used more than 30 billion times to identify songs.

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