> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/mpv-player/mpv/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Keyboard Controls

> Default key bindings for controlling mpv playback

mpv has a fully configurable, command-driven control layer. The default bindings listed here are hardcoded into the mpv binary. You can add or override them in `~/.config/mpv/input.conf`.

<Note>
  The listings below are not exhaustive. The authoritative source is
  `etc/input.conf` in the mpv source tree. You can also view active bindings
  interactively with the `?` key (see [Viewing bindings](#viewing-bindings)).
</Note>

## Seeking

| Key                    | Action                                                   |
| ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| `Right`                | Seek forward 5 seconds (keyframe-limited)                |
| `Left`                 | Seek backward 5 seconds (keyframe-limited)               |
| `Up`                   | Seek forward 1 minute (keyframe-limited)                 |
| `Down`                 | Seek backward 1 minute (keyframe-limited)                |
| `Shift+Right`          | Seek forward exactly 1 second                            |
| `Shift+Left`           | Seek backward exactly 1 second                           |
| `Shift+Up`             | Seek forward exactly 5 seconds                           |
| `Shift+Down`           | Seek backward exactly 5 seconds                          |
| `Ctrl+Right`           | Seek to the next subtitle                                |
| `Ctrl+Left`            | Seek to the previous subtitle                            |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Right`     | Adjust subtitle delay so the next subtitle shows now     |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Left`      | Adjust subtitle delay so the previous subtitle shows now |
| `Home`                 | Seek to the beginning of the file                        |
| `Page Up`              | Seek to the beginning of the next chapter                |
| `Page Down`            | Seek to the beginning of the previous chapter            |
| `Shift+Page Up`        | Seek forward 10 minutes                                  |
| `Shift+Page Down`      | Seek backward 10 minutes                                 |
| `Shift+Backspace`      | Undo the last seek (only within the same playlist entry) |
| `Shift+Ctrl+Backspace` | Mark current position for `Shift+Backspace` to return to |

## Playback control

| Key            | Action                                              |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `p` / `Space`  | Toggle pause / unpause                              |
| `.`            | Step forward one frame, then pause                  |
| `,`            | Step backward one frame, then pause                 |
| `q` / `Ctrl+w` | Stop playback and quit                              |
| `Q`            | Quit and save current position for later resumption |
| `Ctrl+c`       | Quit with exit code 4                               |
| `ESC`          | Exit fullscreen; no other effect in windowed mode   |

## Playback speed

| Key         | Action                         |
| ----------- | ------------------------------ |
| `[`         | Decrease playback speed by 10% |
| `]`         | Increase playback speed by 10% |
| `{`         | Halve playback speed           |
| `}`         | Double playback speed          |
| `Backspace` | Reset playback speed to 1×     |

## Volume and audio

| Key       | Action                                   |
| --------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| `9` / `/` | Decrease volume                          |
| `0` / `*` | Increase volume                          |
| `m`       | Toggle mute                              |
| `#`       | Cycle through available audio tracks     |
| `Ctrl++`  | Increase audio delay (A/V sync) by 0.1 s |
| `Ctrl+-`  | Decrease audio delay (A/V sync) by 0.1 s |

## Video

| Key                      | Action                                    |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------- |
| `f`                      | Toggle fullscreen                         |
| `ESC`                    | Leave fullscreen                          |
| `T`                      | Toggle always-on-top                      |
| `_`                      | Cycle through available video tracks      |
| `A`                      | Cycle aspect ratio override               |
| `w` / `W`                | Decrease/increase pan-and-scan range      |
| `b`                      | Toggle debanding filter                   |
| `d`                      | Cycle deinterlacing filter                |
| `E`                      | Cycle through available editions          |
| `Ctrl+h`                 | Toggle hardware video decoding            |
| `Alt+Left/Right/Up/Down` | Pan the video                             |
| `Alt++` / `Alt+-`        | Zoom in/out                               |
| `Alt+Backspace`          | Reset pan and zoom                        |
| `Alt+0`                  | Resize window to half its original size   |
| `Alt+1`                  | Resize window to its original size        |
| `Alt+2`                  | Resize window to double its original size |

### Color adjustments

These keys are only effective when the video output supports the corresponding adjustment:

| Key       | Action            |
| --------- | ----------------- |
| `1` / `2` | Adjust contrast   |
| `3` / `4` | Adjust brightness |
| `5` / `6` | Adjust gamma      |
| `7` / `8` | Adjust saturation |

## Subtitles

| Key       | Action                                                                            |
| --------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `j`       | Cycle forward through subtitle tracks                                             |
| `J`       | Cycle backward through subtitle tracks                                            |
| `v`       | Toggle subtitle visibility                                                        |
| `Alt+v`   | Toggle secondary subtitle visibility                                              |
| `z` / `Z` | Shift subtitle timing −/+ 0.1 seconds                                             |
| `r` / `R` | Move subtitles up/down                                                            |
| `G` / `F` | Increase/decrease subtitle font size by 10%                                       |
| `u`       | Toggle subtitle style override (apply `--sub-ass-*` overrides vs. override fully) |
| `V`       | Cycle which video data is used for ASS rendering                                  |

## Screenshots

| Key      | Action                                                       |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `s`      | Screenshot at original resolution, with subtitles            |
| `S`      | Screenshot at original resolution, without subtitles         |
| `Ctrl+s` | Screenshot of the window as displayed (with OSD and scaling) |
| `Alt+s`  | Screenshot every frame (press again to stop)                 |

## Playlist navigation

| Key          | Action                                      |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------- |
| `>`          | Go to the next playlist entry               |
| `<`          | Go to the previous playlist entry           |
| `Enter`      | Go to the next playlist entry               |
| `Shift+Home` | Jump to the first playlist entry            |
| `Shift+End`  | Jump to the last playlist entry             |
| `l`          | Set or clear A-B loop points                |
| `L`          | Toggle infinite looping of the current file |
| `F8`         | Show the playlist and current position      |

## OSD and info

| Key       | Action                                                |
| --------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| `o` / `P` | Show progress bar, elapsed time, and total duration   |
| `O`       | Toggle OSD between normal and always-on playback time |
| `i`       | Show playback statistics overlay                      |
| `I`       | Toggle statistics overlay                             |
| `?`       | Toggle key bindings overlay                           |
| `` ` ``   | Open the console                                      |
| `F9`      | Show the list of audio, video, and subtitle tracks    |
| `DEL`     | Cycle OSC visibility: never / auto / always           |

## Interactive track and playlist selection (g- prefix)

These bindings open an interactive menu in the console for selecting from a list:

| Key              | Action                                                                 |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `g-p`            | Select a playlist entry                                                |
| `g-s`            | Select a subtitle track                                                |
| `g-S`            | Select a secondary subtitle track                                      |
| `g-a`            | Select an audio track                                                  |
| `g-v`            | Select a video track                                                   |
| `g-t`            | Select a track of any type                                             |
| `g-c`            | Select a chapter                                                       |
| `g-e`            | Select an MKV edition or DVD/Blu-ray title                             |
| `g-l`            | Select a subtitle line to seek to (requires `ffmpeg` in PATH)          |
| `g-d`            | Select an audio device                                                 |
| `g-h`            | Select a file from the watch history (requires `--save-watch-history`) |
| `g-w`            | Select a file from watch-later config files to resume                  |
| `g-b`            | Select a defined input binding                                         |
| `g-r`            | Show all property values                                               |
| `g-m` / `Ctrl+p` | Open the miscellaneous menu                                            |

Navigate the menu with `Down`/`Ctrl+n` (down), `Up`/`Ctrl+p` (up), `Page Down`/`Ctrl+f` (page down), `Page Up`/`Ctrl+b` (page up). Selecting the active track in a track menu disables it.

## Multimedia keys

| Key                         | Action                         |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| `Pause`                     | Pause                          |
| `Stop`                      | Stop and quit                  |
| `Previous` / `Next`         | Seek backward/forward 1 minute |
| `Volume Up` / `Volume Down` | Adjust volume                  |
| `Mute`                      | Toggle mute                    |

## Context menu

| Key                  | Action                |
| -------------------- | --------------------- |
| `MENU` / `Shift+F10` | Open the context menu |

## Mouse controls

| Action                    | Effect                                                    |
| ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Left double-click         | Toggle fullscreen                                         |
| Right click               | Toggle pause                                              |
| Scroll wheel up/down      | Adjust volume                                             |
| Scroll wheel left/right   | Seek backward/forward 10 seconds                          |
| Ctrl+scroll wheel up/down | Zoom in/out, keeping the hovered position fixed           |
| Forward/Back buttons      | Next/previous playlist entry                              |
| Ctrl+left click and drag  | Pan the video, keeping the clicked point under the cursor |

## Viewing bindings

Press `?` during playback to toggle an overlay showing all currently active key bindings. This is provided by the built-in `stats` script.

You can also run mpv in binding test mode to inspect what any key does:

```bash theme={null}
mpv --input-test --force-window --idle
```

Press any key in the window and mpv prints the binding details to the terminal.

## Custom bindings in input.conf

Create or edit `~/.config/mpv/input.conf` to add or override bindings. Each line has the form:

```
KEY COMMAND [# comment]
```

<CodeGroup>
  ```ini ~/.config/mpv/input.conf theme={null}
  # Increase/decrease volume with +/-
  +  add volume  5
  -  add volume -5

  # Jump forward/backward 90 seconds with Ctrl+arrow
  Ctrl+RIGHT seek  90
  Ctrl+LEFT  seek -90

  # Toggle hardware decoding
  h cycle-values hwdec no auto

  # Bind SHARP (#) to toggle mute (SHARP is the literal key name for #)
  SHARP cycle mute

  # Ignore the g key so the g-* bindings still work without triggering anything
  g ignore
  ```
</CodeGroup>

<Tip>
  Use `ignore` to fully unbind a key: `ctrl+a ignore`. Disable all default
  bindings with `--no-input-default-bindings` and define everything yourself.
</Tip>

Key modifier names are `Shift`, `Ctrl`, `Alt`, and `Meta`. Combine them with `+`, for example `Ctrl+Alt+x`.