Jump List Tricks for Windows Media Player in Windows 7

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:45:00 GMT

Back in June, I blogged the first of 6 blog posts dedicated to tips and/or tricks for Windows Media Player in Windows 7. I had originally intended to post the remaining 5 blog posts over the course of 3 weeks. However, that didn’t quite happen. I intend to post the remaining posts, starting today with the 2^nd blog post, but won’t commit to any specific timeline.

Windows 7 introduces Jump Lists as one of the many enhancements to the Windows Taskbar. And Windows Media Player takes advantage of this feature for quick access to your digital media.

Here are a few tips for working with the Jump List for Windows Media Player:

You can drag most items off of the Windows Media Player Jump List and onto the desktop to create a shortcut that can be used on any computer to do that query and return local items.
Doing a search on a view and double clicking one of the result items will log the search query to the Jump List. For example, can go to all songs and search for ‘NOT genre:Christmas’ and you’ll get a Jump List item of all your music with no Christmas music (see above screenshot).
You can pin any file Windows Media Player will play in the Jump List by directly dragging and dropping the file onto the Windows Media Player icon on the Windows Taskbar.
Clicking “Play All” or playing a stack view from File Explorer will log to the Jump List.
If you go to Organize, then Options, and then Player - the last option in Player settings “Save recently used to the Jump List instead of frequently used” toggles what shows on your Jump List.

Hope you enjoyed these Jump List tips for Windows Media Player!

Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows Media Player in Windows 7

Brandon LeBlanc — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:43:10 GMT

In Windows 7, we’ve improved how people can play and manage their digital media content (like music and videos) through Windows Media Player. Not only did we give Windows Media Player a face lift, it also takes advantage of key Windows 7 features such as the new Windows Taskbar, HomeGroup and Jump Lists. With all the new stuff packed into Windows Media Player, I thought it might be a good idea to highlight some tips for using Windows Media Player.

Starting today, I plan to do a series of 6 blog posts over the course of the next 3 weeks, each dedicated to a single tip for Windows Media Player.

Today’s Tip: Keyboard Shortcuts!

Below is a list of keyboard shortcuts you can use for a variety of activities in Windows Media Player ranging from switching to Player Mode to turning on or off shuffle to shifting between play speeds. If you’re a keyboard fiend – this list is a must-have.

Shortcut	Action	State
Ctrl + 1	Switches to library mode	From any mode
Ctrl + 2	Switches to skin mode	From any mode
Ctrl + 3	Switches to player mode	From any mode except full screen
Ctrl + 7	Add to Play	In library mode
Ctrl + 8	Add to Burn	In library mode
Ctrl + 9	Add to Sync	In library mode
Ctrl + A	Selects everything in a list	In the library or list
Ctrl + B	Previous (Item or Chapter)	With content playing
Ctrl + E	Focus on Search text box and switch to library mode if not there
Ctrl + F	Next (Item or Chapter)	With content playing
Ctrl + H	Turn on/off shuffle mode
Ctrl + J	Eject	In any mode
Ctrl + M	Toggle menu bar in library	In any mode
Ctrl + N	Create playlist	In library mode
Ctrl + O	Shows Open Dialog	In any mode
Ctrl + P	Play/Pause Toggle	With content queued up
Ctrl + Q	Adds selected track to open list	Default is Play list
Ctrl + S	Stops Playback	With content playing
Ctrl + T	Turn on/off repeat mode	In any mode
Ctrl + U	Shows Open URL Dialog	In any mode
Ctrl + W	Stops playback	With content playing or paused
Ctrl + Shift + B	Rewinds playing content	With DVD playing
Ctrl + Shift + C	Caption On/Off Toggle	Playing content which has captions
Ctrl + Shift + F	Fast forwards playing content	With content playing
Ctrl + Shift + G	Play Speed Fast	With content playing
Ctrl + Shift + N	Play Speed Normal	With content playing
Ctrl + Shift + S	Play Speed Slow	With content playing
Ctrl + Right Arrow	Next playlist in playlist history	Focus not on Seek bar
Ctrl + Left Arrow	Previous playlist in playlist history	Focus not on Seek bar
Ctrl + Right Arrow	Skip forward (large increment)	Focus on Seek bar
Ctrl + Left Arrow	Skip backward (large increment)	Focus on Seek bar
Shift + Right Arrow	Skip forward (small increment)	Focus on Seek bar
Shift + Left Arrow	Skip backward (small increment)	Focus on Seek bar
Right Arrow	Skip forward	Focus on Seek bar
Left Arrow	Skip backward	Focus on Seek bar
Ctrl + Click	Resize player to image	In Now Playing mode
Escape	Return to Now Playing	Full Screen Mode
F1	Opens Help file	In any mode
F2	Edit meta data column	In library mode with an item selected
F4	Switch view mode	In library mode, focus in list view
F5	Refresh screen	Focus on library or in online services
F6	Increases album art	Focus in list view
Shift + F6	Decreases album art	Focus in list view
F7	Mutes sound	In any mode
F8	Decrease sound volume	In any mode
F9	Increases sound volume	In any mode
F10	Show menu bar in library	From any mode
Shift + F10	Context menu shortcut	In any mode
Alt + 1	Video Size 50%	In Now Playing or skin mode, with a video playing
Alt + 2	Video Size 100%	In Now Playing or skin mode, with a video playing
Alt + 3	Video Size 200%	In Now Playing or skin mode, with a video playing
Alt + Enter	Full Screen Toggle	In Now Playing, skin, or full screen mode

Stay tuned – I’ll have another tip for Windows Media Player coming up soon!

NOTE: These tips are for Windows Media Player in Windows 7 only.

Windows Experience Blog : Windows Media Player

Jump List Tricks for Windows Media Player in Windows 7

Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows Media Player in Windows 7