Essential MPlayer Keyboard Shortcuts
MPlayer is largely unmaintained; mpv is the actively developed fork that handles 95% of these commands with compatible bindings. That said, if you’re still running MPlayer or need legacy support, here’s what you need to know.
MPlayer uses a fully configurable keyboard control layer. Most of these shortcuts work in mpv as well, though some have been renamed or require filter syntax adjustments. Check the mpv manual for mpv-specific details.
Playback Control
p or space
: Pause/unpause playback.
q or esc
: Stop and quit.
u
: Stop playback (quit only if -idle not set).
. (period)
: Frame-by-frame stepping. First press pauses; each subsequent press advances one frame. Any other key unpauses.
Seeking
← → (left/right arrow)
: Seek backward/forward 10 seconds.
↑ ↓ (up/down arrow)
: Seek forward/backward 1 minute.
Page Up / Page Down
: Seek forward/backward 10 minutes.
! @
: Seek to beginning of previous/next chapter.
Playback Speed
[ ]
: Decrease/increase playback speed by 10%.
{ }
: Halve/double playback speed.
backspace
: Reset to normal speed.
Playlist Navigation
< >
: Previous/next file in playlist.
Enter
: Next file (continues past end of playlist).
Home / End
: Next/previous entry in parent playtree list.
Volume and Audio
**/ * or 9 0**
: Decrease/increase volume.
m
: Toggle mute.
( )
: Adjust audio balance (favor left or right channel).
+ –
: Adjust audio delay by ±0.1 seconds.
Audio and Subtitle Tracks
# (DVDs, MPEG, Matroska, AVI)
: Cycle available audio tracks.
_ (MPEG-TS, AVI, libavformat)
: Cycle available video tracks.
v
: Toggle subtitle visibility.
j
: Cycle through available subtitles.
y g
: Step forward/backward in subtitle list.
a
: Toggle subtitle alignment (top/middle/bottom).
x z
: Adjust subtitle delay by ±0.1 seconds.
r t
: Move subtitles up/down.
f
: Toggle “forced subtitles” display.
Display and Video
f
: Toggle fullscreen.
t
: Toggle always-on-top window.
o
: Cycle OSD states (none → seek indicator → seek + timer → seek + timer + total time).
d
: Cycle frame dropping (none → skip display → skip decoding).
w e
: Decrease/increase pan-and-scan range.
i
: Show filename on OSD.
s (requires -vf screenshot)
: Take screenshot or start/stop continuous screenshot mode.
d (hardware video output: xvmc, vdpau, or software filters: yadif, kerndeint)
: Activate/deactivate deinterlacer.
a (DVD playback)
: Cycle through available DVD angles.
Hardware-Accelerated Video Output
The following apply when using hardware acceleration (xv, vidix, mga) or software filters (-vf eq, -vf eq2, -vf hue):
1 2
: Adjust contrast.
3 4
: Adjust brightness.
5 6
: Adjust hue.
7 8
: Adjust saturation.
Legacy GUI Mode
If MPlayer was compiled with GUI support, these keys take precedence:
Enter
: Start playback.
Esc
: Stop playback.
l
: Load file.
t
: Load subtitle.
c
: Open skin browser.
p
: Open playlist.
r
: Open preferences.
Modern Alternative: mpv
If starting fresh, use mpv instead. It’s faster, better maintained, and most keybindings are identical. The main differences:
- Screenshot: s (built-in, no filter needed)
- Cycle tracks: # for audio, _ for video (same as MPlayer)
- Speed adjustment: [ ] or { } (same syntax)
- Deinterlacing: d toggles the
yadiffilter automatically
For full details, consult the MPlayer manual or mpv documentation.
2 Comments