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Library
The library is the window VLC Redesign opens on: your videos and music, the media you played last, your playlists and the network. It is VLC's media library: it reads the folders you add to it and keeps track of what you played, how far, and how often.
| Entry | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Home | Continue Watching, Listen Again, Frequently Visited Folders, Favorites, New Videos and New Music. |
| Videos | Every video of the library. |
| Music | The music of the library. While open, its pages are listed under it: Artists, Albums, Tracks, Genres, Playlists. |
| Network | Folders, this computer, devices and the shares of the local network. |
| Playlists | Every playlist, of videos and of songs. |
| Recent | The media played last, videos and songs together. |
| Add item (+) | Opens files to play (as Ctrl+O). |
- While the library reads its folders, a progress bar shows under the entries (Scanning …, Indexing Medias (40%)).
- Drag the edge of the sidebar to make it wider or narrower. In a small window it shows its icons only; a click on Music then opens its pages as a menu.
- Without the media library (Settings: Library), Home offers only Open File and Open Disc, and Videos, Music, Playlists and Recent have nothing to list.
Home lists what is recent, the newest first. Each section shows one row of cards (five rows in the list view); its arrow (›) opens all of it. A section with nothing in it is not shown.
| Section | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Continue Watching | Videos you started, the last played first, with how far you got (an accent line under the picture). |
| Listen Again | The songs you played, the last played first. |
| Frequently Visited Folders | The folders of the media you play, the most played first. A folder opens the videos of the library grouped by folder. |
| Favorites | The media you marked as favorite (the Favorite button of the player, or Favorite in a right-click menu). |
| New Videos | The videos added to the library last. |
| New Music | The songs added to the library last. |
The header shows how many media the library has (12 items) and Sort (Title A-Z, Title Z-A, and the duration up or down) for the cards of the sections. An empty library shows Open File and Open Disc instead.
All the videos of the library, as cards or as a list.
- A card shows the picture, the file name, and an accent line under the picture for how far you watched. A video played to the end at least once has its name dimmed.
- Sort: Title A-Z, Title Z-A, and the duration up or down.
- Group, in the same menu after the orders: Do not group videos, Group by name or Group by folder.
- The videos' Playlists are a tab of the page too.
| Page | What it lists | Sort |
|---|---|---|
| Artists | The artists; one opens its albums and songs. | Title, number of tracks |
| Albums | The albums; one opens its tracks. Play as Album plays one in order. | Title, duration, date, artist |
| Tracks | Every song, as a table: title, album, artist, duration... | Title, album, artist, duration, track number, disc number |
| Genres | The genres; one opens its albums and songs. | Title |
| Playlists | The playlists of songs. |
The pages of Music have a compact header: the page's name, then the list or grid view, Sort and Search.
The Network page lists Folders, Computer (the drives of this PC), Devices and Network (the shares found on the local network; No network shares found when there are none). A place opens as a folder, with a path of breadcrumbs. The header of a folder has Add to medialibrary, or Remove from medialibrary when it is in the library already.
To play a stream: ⋯ → Open Network Stream (Ctrl+N). Put one link per line to open several at once, optionally saved as a playlist. Only links and paths are taken; the dialog says which word is not one. Network access is set in Settings: Network.
Every playlist, of videos and of songs.
Make one: New playlist asks for a Playlist title (e.g., Favorite Videos), a thumbnail of your own (Choose a thumbnail) and files (Drag files into the box or click here to select files.). A playlist can be saved with its title alone and filled later. From anywhere in the library, Add to Playlist in a right-click menu adds media to a playlist.
A playlist's right-click menu: Play, Shuffle, Add to Queue, Favorite / Remove from Favorites, Rename, Export Playlist (to a playlist file), Properties & Metadata (its name, its media, their length and its file), Add Subtitle Tracks, Add Audio Tracks, Delete.
Opened, a playlist lists its media, with Add files, Move up / Move down, Remove Selected (or Delete) and Subtitles… for a media.
Removing media (Remove selected media from this playlist?) and deleting a playlist (Do you really want to delete the selected playlist?) are confirmed first while Show confirmation and error dialogs is on (Settings: General).
The media played last, videos and songs together, the last played first. What is remembered, and how to clear it, is in Settings: Privacy.
A right-click on a video, a song, an album, a folder or a file opens the menu card of the design. Depending on what it is:
| Row | What it does |
|---|---|
| Play, Play as Audio, Play as Album | Plays it (a video without its picture, an album in order). |
| Add to Queue, Add Album to Queue | Adds it to the end of the play queue. |
| Add to Playlist | Adds it to a playlist (also Add to a Video-only Playlist, Add to an Audio-only Playlist). |
| Favorite / Remove from Favorites | Marks it as a favorite (Home › Favorites). |
| Mark as Watched / Mark as Unwatched | Changes what Continue Watching and the dimmed titles show. |
| Show in File Explorer | Opens its folder in Windows, the file selected. |
| Go to Source | Opens the folder of the library it was found in. |
| Information, Properties & Metadata | Its details, and the media information window. |
| Add Subtitle Tracks, Add Audio Tracks | Attaches subtitle or audio files to it for good (see Subtitles). |
| Convert, Stream | VLC's Convert / Save and Stream windows. |
| Delete File From System | Deletes the file from the disk, after Are you sure you want to delete this file? |
Home, Videos, Network, Playlists, Recent and the folders share one header:
- Back and Next arrows, then the address of the page as breadcrumbs (each part opens its place).
- The count of items (42 items).
- Sort: the orders of the page, named as the design names them: Title A-Z / Title Z-A, Newest First / Oldest First, Watched First / Unwatched First (in a folder), Album A-Z, Artist A-Z, Track Number Ascending, Disc Number Ascending, URI Ascending...; an order without a name of the design (the duration) shows an arrow up or down. The library starts on Title A-Z; Home's sections keep the newest first. An order you pick stays.
- List/Grid: Grid View or List View.
- Search: looks through the page as you type. / or Ctrl+K opens it. No media matches the search when nothing does.
- ⋯ (more): Open media — File…, Folder…, Disc…, Network stream…, Capture device…, Convert…, Stream… — and Add folder to library…. In a folder, Add File and Add Folder come first.
In a narrow window, the count, Sort, the view, Search and ⋯ move under the address.
The library holds the media of the folders you add to it:
- the media folder chosen in the first-run setup (Choose a Media Folder to get started with);
- ⋯ → Add folder to library… in the header of any page;
- Add to medialibrary in the header of a folder of the Network page; Remove from medialibrary takes it out again.
The library reads the new files of its folders by itself; Rescan library (in the More menu of the library next to the video) reads them again. The list of folders, how files open and what VLC reads about them (metadata, artwork) are in Settings: Library.
While something plays and the library shows, it stays at hand:
- A video goes on in a small player over the library (picture in picture): drag it anywhere, click to pause, double-click to go back to the player.
- The mini player card shows the picture or the cover, a seek bar, the title and the controls. Show queue opens the queue on the card: drag a row by its handle to move it, − removes the selected row, + adds files.
- The player bar at the bottom: the cover and title (a click opens the player), the controls of the profile (Shuffle, Previous, Play, Next, Repeat in Default), the volume and Switch Player. With Always show the player bar (Settings: Interface) it stays while nothing plays.
See The player. The buttons of the player bar change with the profile: see Customize the player.
In the player, Library (top bar) or L opens a compact library over the left of the video:
- Home with the sections of Home (See all lists a whole section), Videos and its folders, Music (Songs, Albums, Artists, Genres; songs read title - artist), Network (Add Network Stream, the services of the network), Playlists (Create playlist) and Recent.
- Each place has its Search, Sort (Title A-Z, Title Z-A, Newest First, Oldest First), the grid or list View, Play all, Add all to queue, Up one folder in a folder, and a More menu (Rescan library, Add folder to library…, Add network stream…).
- Open in the library leaves the player for the same place in the library window.
- A video is missing. Its folder is not in the library: add it with ⋯ → Add folder to library…, or wait for the scan to end (the progress bar under the sidebar).
- A video is listed with its file name. The library shows the file name of a video, extension included.
- Watched or not. Mark as Watched / Mark as Unwatched in the right-click menu set the dimmed title of a video by hand, for several selected videos at once too.
- The library's title bar reads VLC Media Player; it no longer keeps the name of the last song after playback stops.
- The theme and the accent colour of the library: Colours and themes.
The player · Subtitles · Settings: Library · Colours and themes · Home