Settings Interface

Settings: Interface

⋯ → Settings → Interface (Ctrl+P; the header reads Interface Settings). The main window, the playback controls, notifications and the tray icon, the play queue as a tree, the player bar, text contrast, and VLC's classic skins. Every row applies when the Settings window closes, except Use a custom skin. See how the Settings window works.

Skin

Shown only in builds that include VLC's skins2 interface. A skin replaces this interface entirely: VLC starts with one or the other.

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Use a custom skin	Toggle. Default: off.	Starts VLC with the skin chosen below instead of this interface. Shows Applies the next time VLC starts once changed. Turning it off brings back the default interface.	intf (on = skins2)
Skin file	Path field with Browse (Choose a skin, filter Skin files (*.vlt *.wsz *.xml)). Default: empty.	The skin the skins interface opens.	skins2-last

To come back from a skin, start VLC once with --intf=qt (for example from a shortcut), open Settings and turn Use a custom skin off.

Window

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Play video inside main window	Toggle. Default: on.	On: the video plays inside the main window. Off: each video opens in a separate window. Applies to the next video.	embedded-video
Resize window to fit video	Dropdown: Never / Always. Default: Never.	Always: the window resizes to the video's own size when a video starts (never larger than the screen). Never: the window keeps the size you gave it and the video fits in it.	qt-video-autoresize
Remember window size and position	Toggle. Default: on.	Opens the window where it was, at the size it had, when VLC was last closed.	redesign/remember-window-geometry (interface setting)
Keep window above other windows	Toggle. Default: off.	Keeps the VLC window on top of every other window.	video-on-top
Show window decorations	Toggle. Default: off on Windows (on elsewhere).	On: the system's title bar and frame. Off: no system title bar; the window buttons are drawn in the interface (client-side decoration), as in the design.	qt-titlebar
Show the file name in the title bar	Toggle. Default: on.	Shows the name of the playing song or video in the window title (and the taskbar).	qt-name-in-title
Open fullscreen on	Dropdown: Current screen, then Screen 1 (name), Screen 2 (name)… Default: Current screen.	The monitor used for fullscreen video. Current screen uses the screen the window is on. A screen that is no longer connected stays listed as Screen N.	qt-fullscreen-screennumber (−1, 0, 1…)

Playback Controls

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Start in compact mode	Toggle. Default: off.	Opens VLC in the compact (minimal) view. Changing it also switches the view at once.	qt-minimal-view
Auto-hide the controls	Dropdown: Always / In fullscreen only. Default: In fullscreen only.	In fullscreen only: in a window, the bars sit above and below the video and stay; they only hide in fullscreen. Always: the bars float over the video and hide in a window too.	qt-pin-controls (In fullscreen only = on)
Hide after	Slider 0 s to 10 s, in steps of 0.5 s (labels 0 s, 5 s, 10s). Default: 1 s.	How long the mouse must stay still before the pointer and the controls hide.	mouse-hide-timeout (ms)
Show controls in fullscreen	Toggle. Default: on.	On: moving the mouse in fullscreen shows the controls. Off: only the keyboard shows them (I). Skins read it for their fullscreen controller too.	qt-fs-controller

Notifications and System Tray

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Show a system tray icon	Toggle. Default: on.	A VLC icon in the notification area of the taskbar, with a menu for basic playback control. It appears or goes at once.	qt-system-tray
Start minimized to the tray	Toggle. Default: off.	VLC starts with only its tray icon, without showing its window.	qt-start-minimized
Show a popup when the track changes	Dropdown: Never / When minimized / Always. Default: When minimized.	A notification with the artist and title when the playing item changes. When minimized: only while the window is minimized or hidden. Needs the tray icon.	qt-notification (0, 1, 2)
Popup duration	Slider 0 s to 10 s, in steps of 0.5 s. Default: 3 s.	How long the track-change popup stays on screen.	redesign/notification-duration (interface setting, ms)

Playlist

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Show the playlist as a tree	Toggle. Default: off.	The play queue shows its media under the folder (or the website) they come from, as headings. Rows still move, select and drop as before.	playlist-tree

Player Bar

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Always show the player bar	Toggle. Default: off.	Keeps the player bar at the bottom of Home and the library while nothing plays (its times read --:--). Its Play button starts the play queue, or opens files when the queue is empty; its cover opens the empty player.	redesign/always-show-player-bar (interface setting)

Accessibility

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Increase text contrast	Toggle. Default: off.	Draws the dim texts of the design (hints, descriptions, watched items) brighter in the dark theme (#8A8A8A) and darker in the light theme (#333333), to the 4.5:1 contrast of WCAG AA. The (i) icons get at least 3:1. See Colours and themes.	redesign/increase-contrast (interface setting)

Advanced Options

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Window opacity	Slider 10 % to 100 %. Default: 100 %.	The opacity of the main window. Applies at once.	qt-opacity (0.1 to 1)
Pause video when window is minimized	Toggle. Default: off.	Pauses playback when the window is minimized.	qt-pause-minimized
Bring VLC to the front when playback starts	Dropdown: Never / Video / Audio / Audio and video. Default: Video.	Shows and raises the window when that kind of media starts playing.	qt-auto-raise (0 to 3)
Show cover art in the window when playing audio	Toggle. Default: on.	Shows the cover art of the playing audio in the player (the cone in the compact view). Off: a plain placeholder takes its place, which also avoids screen burn-in.	qt-bgcone
Show the file browser inside the open dialog	Toggle. Default: off.	The Open dialog shows VLC's own file browser instead of the Windows file dialog.	qt-embedded-open
Allow the app icon to change	Toggle. Default: on.	Lets the interface change its icon on some occasions (the seasonal cone at the end of the year).	qt-icon-change
Fullscreen controls opacity	Slider 10 % to 100 %. Default: 80 %.	The opacity of the controls shown in fullscreen.	qt-fs-opacity (0.1 to 1)
Fullscreen controls sensitivity	Slider Low / Medium / High. Default: Medium.	How far the mouse must move before the fullscreen controls appear: Low = 12 pixels, Medium = 3, High = 1. Dimmed while Show controls in fullscreen is off.	qt-fs-sensitivity (pixels)

Good to know

• Controls keep hiding the subtitles or the picture? Keep Auto-hide the controls on In fullscreen only: in a window the bars then sit outside the video.
• The controls pop up when the mouse is merely touched in fullscreen: set Fullscreen controls sensitivity to Low, or raise Hide after.
• No track-change popups: they need Show a system tray icon on; with When minimized they only show while the window is minimized or hidden.
• Two monitors: Open fullscreen on sends fullscreen video to the other screen while you keep working on this one.
• A skin and nothing else: after Use a custom skin, VLC starts with the skin only; this Settings window is not part of the skin.

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