Video Speed Controller for YouTube and HTML5 Video

Play every video at the speed you choose, from 0.25× to 2×

A video speed controller is a browser tool that changes the playback rate of an HTML5 video, so it plays faster or slower than the website's default. The free Turn Off the Lights browser extension builds this controller directly into every HTML5 video player you open, on YouTube, Vimeo, Twitch, Facebook, news sites, and online course platforms. One click on the on-screen speed panel is all it takes: no menus, no digging through a player's hidden settings.

How the Video Speed Controller works

When the feature is enabled, a small speed panel is added to the current HTML5 video player. It gives you two kinds of control in one place:

• Playback-rate buttons, tap a preset to play the video at 0.25×, 0.5×, 0.75×, 1×, 1.25×, 1.5×, or 2× speed. The new rate applies instantly, so you can speed up a lecture to 2× or slow a tutorial down to half speed and keep up with every step.
• Jump-back buttons, the minus buttons rewind the video by a fixed amount (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25, 1.5, or 2 steps back), handy when you missed a sentence and want to hear it again without hunting on the progress bar.

The feature uses the standard HTMLMediaElement playbackRate property, so it works on the same video technology every modern browser already supports. Because the panel sits inside the video player itself, it also stays available while you watch with the rest of the page dimmed, alongside the Mousewheel Volume Control and the Audio Visualization tools on the same toolbar.

Set a default playback speed

Watching everything faster? Open the Turn Off the Lights Options page and set your default playback speed anywhere between 0 and 10, in steps of 0.25. From then on, every video starts at that rate automatically. A daily 30-minute watch at 1.5× finishes in 20 minutes, over a year that is more than 60 hours returned to you, without skipping a single second of content.

How to enable the Video Speed Controller

1. Install the free Turn Off the Lights extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Safari, or your favorite browser.
2. Right-click the gray lamp button in your browser toolbar and choose Options.
3. Open the Video Toolbar section and enable Show the playback toolbar in the current video player.
4. Open any HTML5 video and click a speed button on the toolbar, the rate applies immediately.

Frequently asked questions

How do I speed up a YouTube video beyond 2×?

The on-video toolbar in Turn Off the Lights offers one-click presets from 0.25× to 2×. For a different default, open the Options page and set any playback speed between 0 and 10 in 0.25 steps, which is then applied automatically to every video.

Does the Video Speed Controller work on websites other than YouTube?

Yes. The speed toolbar appears on standard HTML5 video players, so it works on sites such as Vimeo, Twitch, Facebook, news sites, and online course platforms that use HTML5 video.

Can I slow down a video as well as speed it up?

Yes. The toolbar includes playback rates below normal speed, down to 0.25×. Slowing a video is useful for following tutorials, studying sports footage, or reading on-screen text frame by frame.

Is the Video Speed Controller free?

Yes. It is included in the free and Open-Source Turn Off the Lights browser extension, with no in-app purchases or subscriptions, on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Safari, and other supported browsers. You can read the code yourself on GitHub.

It's the ultimate tool for your web browser to control your web and video experience, made for video lovers like you. Download Turn Off the Lights today and play every video at exactly the speed you want.