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mpv Cheatsheet

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Basic Playback

  • mpv <file> - Play a file
  • mpv <url> - Play from URL
  • mpv <file1> <file2> - Play multiple files
  • mpv --playlist=<file> - Play playlist
  • mpv --shuffle - Shuffle playlist
  • mpv --loop=<N> - Loop N times (0 = infinite)
  • mpv --loop-file=inf - Loop current file infinitely

Playback Controls

Space and Enter

  • Space - Pause/Resume
  • Enter - Pause/Resume (alternative)

Seeking

  • ← - Seek backward 5 seconds
  • → - Seek forward 5 seconds
  • ↑ - Seek forward 60 seconds
  • ↓ - Seek backward 60 seconds
  • Ctrl+← - Seek backward 1 second
  • Ctrl+→ - Seek forward 1 second
  • [ - Decrease playback speed
  • ] - Increase playback speed
  • { - Halve playback speed
  • } - Double playback speed
  • Backspace - Reset playback speed
  • , - Step backward frame
  • . - Step forward frame

Volume

  • - - Decrease volume
  • + or = - Increase volume
  • 9 - Decrease volume
  • 0 - Increase volume
  • m - Mute/Unmute

Playlist Navigation

  • > - Next file in playlist
  • < - Previous file in playlist
  • p - Previous file in playlist (alternative)
  • n - Next file in playlist (alternative)
  • P - Show playlist
  • j - Next entry in playlist
  • J - Previous entry in playlist

Video

  • f - Toggle fullscreen
  • T - Toggle stay-on-top
  • t - Toggle subtitle visibility
  • s - Cycle through subtitles
  • S - Cycle through subtitles (backward)
  • v - Toggle subtitle visibility
  • V - Toggle subtitle visibility (alternative)
  • z - Adjust subtitle delay backward
  • x - Adjust subtitle delay forward
  • c - Cycle through audio tracks
  • # - Cycle through audio tracks (alternative)
  • b - Cycle through video tracks
  • Ctrl+ - Cycle through video tracks (alternative)

Advanced Controls

  • i - Show file information (press again for extended info)
  • I - Show extended file information
  • o - Show on-screen display (OSD)
  • O - Show OSD (alternative)
  • P - Show progress bar
  • d - Cycle through deinterlacing modes
  • D - Cycle through deinterlacing modes (backward)
  • r - Cycle through aspect ratio
  • A - Cycle through aspect ratio (backward)
  • Ctrl+ - Cycle through video filters
  • Ctrl+ - Cycle through video filters (backward)

Screenshots

  • s - Take screenshot (with subtitles)
  • S - Take screenshot (without subtitles)
  • Ctrl+s - Take screenshot (with subtitles, alternative)
  • Ctrl+S - Take screenshot (without subtitles, alternative)

Audio

  • 1 - Decrease audio delay
  • 2 - Increase audio delay
  • Ctrl+ - Cycle through audio filters
  • Ctrl+ - Cycle through audio filters (backward)

Window Management

  • q - Quit mpv
  • Q - Quit mpv (save position)
  • ESC - Quit mpv
  • Ctrl+q - Force quit
  • w - Toggle window decorations
  • W - Toggle window decorations (alternative)

Command Line Options

Playback

  • --start=<time> - Start at specific time (e.g., --start=30 or --start=0:30)
  • --end=<time> - End at specific time
  • --length=<time> - Play for specific duration
  • --speed=<factor> - Set playback speed (e.g., --speed=1.5)
  • --volume=<0-100> - Set initial volume
  • --mute - Start muted
  • --fullscreen or -fs - Start in fullscreen
  • --no-fullscreen - Don't allow fullscreen

Video

  • --vo=<driver> - Video output driver (e.g., --vo=gpu, --vo=xv)
  • --vf=<filter> - Video filter (e.g., --vf=scale=1920:1080)
  • --hwdec=<api> - Hardware decoding (e.g., --hwdec=vaapi, --hwdec=nvdec)
  • --no-video - Disable video output
  • --video-aspect=<ratio> - Set aspect ratio (e.g., --video-aspect=16:9)

Audio

  • --ao=<driver> - Audio output driver
  • --af=<filter> - Audio filter
  • --no-audio - Disable audio
  • --audio-channels=<channels> - Set audio channels

Subtitles

  • --sub-file=<file> - Load subtitle file
  • --sub-delay=<sec> - Subtitle delay in seconds
  • --sub-scale=<factor> - Subtitle scale factor
  • --sub-pos=<0-100> - Subtitle position (0=top, 100=bottom)
  • --sub-color=<color> - Subtitle color
  • --sub-font=<font> - Subtitle font

Playlist

  • --playlist-start=<index> - Start at playlist index
  • --shuffle - Shuffle playlist
  • --loop-file=<N> - Loop file N times
  • --loop-playlist=<N> - Loop playlist N times

Advanced

  • --config-dir=<path> - Use custom config directory
  • --input-conf=<file> - Use custom input config
  • --script=<file> - Load Lua script
  • --ytdl-format=<format> - YouTube-DL format selection
  • --cache=<size> - Cache size in KB
  • --no-cache - Disable cache
  • --profile=<name> - Use profile from config

Configuration

Config File Location

  • ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf (main config)
  • ~/.config/mpv/input.conf (input bindings)

Common Settings

# Video
vo=gpu
hwdec=vaapi

# Audio
audio-device=auto

# Subtitles
sub-auto=fuzzy
sub-file-paths=subs:subtitles

# Playback
save-position-on-quit
watch-later-options=start

# Interface
osd-level=1
osd-duration=2000

# Performance
cache=yes
cache-secs=60

Example Key Bindings

# Custom seek
LEFT seek -5
RIGHT seek 5
UP seek 60
DOWN seek -60

# Custom volume
KP0 add volume -2
KP1 add volume 2

# Custom playlist
Ctrl+LEFT playlist-prev
Ctrl+RIGHT playlist-next

Tips

  • Use mpv --list-options to see all available options
  • Use mpv --list-properties to see all properties
  • Use mpv --input-conf=<file> to test input configs
  • Use mpv --profile=<name> for different use cases
  • Use mpv --ytdl-format=best for YouTube videos
  • Use mpv --no-video for audio-only playback
  • Use mpv --loop=inf for continuous playback
  • Use mpv --shuffle with playlists for random order

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