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Play your first file

Open a terminal and pass a file path or URL to mpv:
1

Play a local file

mpv video.mkv
mpv auto-detects the best video and audio output for your system. The video opens in a window; the terminal shows playback status.
2

Play a URL or stream

mpv accepts HTTP/HTTPS URLs, HLS streams, and other network sources directly:
mpv https://example.com/video.mp4
mpv reads from stdin too. Pipe media data with mpv - to play without a file on disk.
3

Play audio only

Pass an audio file the same way — mpv opens in audio-only mode with no video window:
mpv music.flac

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Essential keyboard shortcuts

Once mpv is playing, use the keyboard to control it. The control layer is fully configurable; these are the defaults.

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Playback

KeyAction
Space or pToggle pause
qStop and quit
QQuit and save position for later resumption
Left / RightSeek backward/forward 5 seconds
Up / DownSeek forward/backward 1 minute
Shift+Left / Shift+RightExact seek ±1 second
< / >Go backward/forward in the playlist
[ / ]Decrease/increase playback speed by 10%
BackspaceReset playback speed to normal

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Volume and display

KeyAction
9 / 0Decrease/increase volume
mToggle mute
fToggle fullscreen
ESCExit fullscreen
sTake a screenshot (with subtitles)
STake a screenshot (without subtitles)

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Subtitles and tracks

KeyAction
vToggle subtitle visibility
j / JCycle through available subtitle tracks
#Cycle through available audio tracks
_Cycle through available video tracks

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Stats and debugging

KeyAction
iToggle statistics overlay (codec, framerate, dropped frames, etc.)
?Toggle active key bindings overlay
Press ? at any time while mpv is running to see all active key bindings in the video window.

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Common command-line options

Pass options as --option=value after the filename or before it: 
# Open in fullscreen
mpv --fs video.mkv

# Start at a specific time (2 minutes 30 seconds in)
mpv --start=2:30 video.mkv

# Force a specific audio track
mpv --aid=2 video.mkv

# Enable hardware decoding
mpv --hwdec=auto video.mkv

# Loop the file indefinitely
mpv --loop video.mkv

# Set volume (0–100, default is 100)
mpv --volume=80 video.mkv

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Set up a config file

Rather than typing options on every invocation, write them to ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf. Options in this file are applied on every run.
1

Create the config directory

mkdir -p ~/.config/mpv
2

Create mpv.conf

touch ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf
3

Add your preferred settings

Open ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf in a text editor and add options — one per line, without the leading --:
# Use the modern GPU video output driver
vo=gpu-next

# Enable safe hardware decoding when available
hwdec=auto-safe

# Load external subtitle files automatically (fuzzy filename match)
sub-auto=fuzzy

# Start at 80% volume
volume=80
On Windows, the config file is at %APPDATA%\mpv\mpv.conf (for example, C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\mpv\mpv.conf).

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Video output

The default high-quality video output driver is gpu-next, built on libplacebo. It uses shaders for scaling and rendering rather than fixed GPU hardware functions. 
# Recommended: modern GPU output via libplacebo
vo=gpu-next
On low-power or integrated GPUs where you experience stuttering or tearing, use the fast profile: 
mpv --profile=fast video.mkv

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Next steps

Keyboard controls

Full default key binding reference and how to customize them.

Configuration

All mpv.conf options and how to tune mpv for your setup.

Video output

Configure GPU-accelerated rendering, scaling, and HDR.

Scripting

Extend mpv with Lua or JavaScript scripts.

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