Track selection

Select audio, video, and subtitle tracks by language, ID, or default rules

mpv can play files with multiple audio, video, and subtitle tracks. These options let you specify which tracks to use — by language preference, numeric ID, or automatic rules.

Track selection behavior has evolved across mpv releases. Since 0.33.0, selecting a track by number strictly selects that track; if it doesn’t exist, the option resets to auto rather than falling back to defaults.

Language preferences

Use IETF language tags (e.g. en, eng, pt-BR, jpn) to express a prioritized list. mpv selects the first match; a track matching more subtags wins over one matching fewer.

--alang · string list

Prioritized list of audio languages. Equivalent ISO 639-1 (two-letter) and ISO 639-2 (three-letter) codes are treated the same.

mpv dvd://1 --alang=hu,en           # Hungarian audio, fall back to English
mpv --alang=jpn example.mkv         # Japanese audio track

This is a string list option — use --alang-append to add languages without replacing the list.

--slang · string list

Prioritized list of subtitle languages. Same matching logic as --alang.

mpv dvd://1 --slang=hu,en           # Hungarian subs, fall back to English
mpv --slang=pt-BR example.mkv       # Brazilian Portuguese; falls back to any Portuguese
mpv --slang=jpn example.mkv         # Japanese subtitles

--vlang · string list

Prioritized list of video track languages. Same as --alang and --slang but for video tracks.

Track ID selection

--aid · ID|auto|no · default: "auto"

Select the audio track by numeric ID. auto selects the default track; no disables audio.

--audio is an alias for --aid.

mpv --aid=2 file.mkv    # select audio track 2
mpv --aid=no file.mkv   # disable audio (same as --audio=no)
mpv --aid=auto file.mkv # use default selection (same as omitting the option)

--sid · ID|auto|no · default: "auto"

Select the subtitle track by numeric ID. auto selects the default; no disables subtitles.

--sub is an alias for --sid.

mpv --sid=1 file.mkv    # select subtitle track 1
mpv --sid=no file.mkv   # disable subtitles

--vid · ID|auto|no · default: "auto"

Select the video track by numeric ID. auto selects the default; no disables video.

--video is an alias for --vid.

mpv --vid=no file.mkv   # audio-only playback

When video is disabled while streaming with yt-dlp/youtube-dl, mpv sets the format to bestaudio/best to save bandwidth.

Subtitle auto-selection rules

These options control how mpv picks subtitle tracks automatically when --slang is not set or produces no match.

--sub-forced-only · auto|yes|no · default: "auto"

Controls whether forced-only subtitle tracks are preferred.

• auto — use forced tracks when the subtitle language matches the audio language
• yes — only show forced subtitle tracks
• no — treat forced and non-forced tracks equally

--subs-with-matching-audio · yes|forced|no · default: "yes"

When autoselecting subtitles, whether to select a track whose language matches the audio track’s language.

• yes — select a matching subtitle track even if it matches the audio language
• no — never autoselect subtitles matching the audio language
• forced — only autoselect forced subtitle tracks when audio and subtitle language match

--subs-match-os-language · yes|no · default: "yes"

When no --slang is set, autoselect subtitles that match the OS language, if the audio stream is in a different language. Ignored when --slang is set.

--subs-fallback · yes|default|no · default: "default"

When no subtitle track matches your preferred languages, whether to fall back to a full (non-forced) track in any language.

• yes — always fall back to any track
• default — only fall back to tracks flagged as default
• no — do not fall back; show no subtitles

--subs-fallback-forced · yes|no|always · default: "yes"

Controls behavior of forced subtitle tracks in the fallback selection.

• yes — prefer forced tracks if language matches audio and preferred languages
• always — only use forced tracks, never fall back to regular tracks
• no — never select forced subtitle tracks automatically

Audio cover art display

--audio-display · no|embedded-first|external-first · default: "embedded-first"

Whether to show cover art when playing audio files, and which source takes priority.

• no — disable video display entirely for audio-only files
• embedded-first — show embedded cover art before external image files
• external-first — prefer external cover art files (e.g. cover.jpg in the same directory)

This option has no effect when the file has a real video track.

mpv --audio-display=no song.flac         # terminal-only audio playback
mpv --audio-display=external-first album.mp3

Matroska edition selection

--edition · ID|auto · default: "auto"

For Matroska files with multiple editions (chapter sets), select the edition by zero-based index. auto picks the edition flagged as default, or the first edition if none is flagged.

mpv --edition=0 file.mkv   # first edition
mpv --edition=1 file.mkv   # second edition

Auto-selection control

--track-auto-selection · yes|no · default: "yes"

Enable or disable automatic track selection based on --aid, --alang, and similar options. When disabled, no tracks are selected and playback waits (similar to a paused state) rather than exiting if no tracks are selected.

Useful with --lavfi-complex for setting up filter graphs that select tracks at runtime.

Track properties vs. options

Track selection options also exist as runtime properties. The property value during playback reflects the effective selection — not necessarily the option value:

# Outside playback: aid property returns "auto"
# During playback of a file with 2 audio tracks: aid property may return "2"

To change the active track at runtime (via console or input.conf):

set aid 2        # switch to audio track 2
cycle sub        # cycle through subtitle tracks

Running mpv --aid=2 file1.mkv file2.mkv selects track 2 for file1; if file2 only has one audio track, the aid option resets to auto for that file (behavior since mpv 0.33.0).

Common examples

DVD playback

# Hungarian audio with English fallback, Hungarian subs
mpv dvd://1 --alang=hu,en --slang=hu,en