Is a YouTube video scrolling down instead of pausing when you press the space bar?
If you’re watching Shorts, pressing the space bar is supposed to pause the video.
However, some users reported that it scrolls to the next Short instead.
Similarly, for regular videos, pressing the space bar will scroll down the page instead of pausing it.
This issue is annoying because you need to use your mouse to pause the video.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to fix the YouTube spacebar pause not working (it scrolls down the page instead) issue.
Why is the YouTube spacebar not working?
The YouTube spacebar is not working or pausing because the video is not in focus.
When the video is not in focus, pressing the space bar will scroll down the page instead of pausing the video.
This is because the focus is on the page instead of the video.
This can happen if you’ve accidentally clicked outside of the video.
How to fix YouTube spacebar pause not working
To fix the YouTube spacebar pause not working issue, you need to install the Tampermonkey extension, create a new script, and paste the DisableYoutubeScrolling.user.js code.
Another solution is instead of pressing the space bar button to pause the video, you can press the “K” button.
Fix 1: Use a Tampermonkey script
- Install the Tampermonkey extension on Chrome and pin it.
- Click on the Tampermonkey extension and select “Create a new script”.
- Highlight and delete the code on the script.
- Copy the code from this Github JavaScript file.
- Go back to the Tampermonkey script and paste the code.
- Click on “File” followed by “Save” and make sure that the script is enabled.
- Watch a video on YouTube and try pausing it by pressing the space bar!
Fix 2: Press the “K” button
- Instead of pressing the space bar button to pause the video, press the “K” button.
- The “K” button is an official YouTube keyboard shortcut by Google.
Further reading
How To Fix YouTube Video Scroll Down When You Press Space Bar
