By Kavita Mistry 
Windows 11 has a default Media Player to play audio and video files. However, it lacks the capability to play different kinds of audio and video formats like FLAC. There arises the need for a better media player with capabilities to play all kinds of audio and video files as well as features to customize the playback.
VLC is a popular media player that almost everyone uses to play media files. VLC needs to use most of your system resources to play some video file formats. Playing the highest quality on your PC, like 4K resolution, requires a great deal of your system resources. It can slow down your PC, too.
So, we need a media player that does not put pressure on system resources, has the capabilities to play all kinds of media files, and is highly customizable. In that case, the MPV player is highly reliable. This guide explains how the MPV player is a better media player and how you can install and configure it to suit your needs.
What Is MPV Player?
MPV player is an extremely minimal media player that can play a wide range of audio and video formats. It is a cross-platform media player with open-source code. You can configure the MPV player as much as you want and make it work with the config file.
Installing and configuring the MPV player seems very complicated at first. That stops us from trying it. But, once you install and understand the configuration, there is no going back.
MPV player uses your little system resources and plays high-quality video and audio output without slowing down your PC. MPV player has a lot of users worldwide, and you can find those user scripts on GitHub that can be used to customize the media player.
The player is always in active development, which brings new features and capabilities. The only downside of the MPV player is it is hard to understand the configuration as it does not come with a customizable GUI. You need to edit the configuration file to make changes to the player.
Let’s see how you can install and customize the MPV player on Windows 11.
How to Install MPV Player on Windows 11
Installing the MPV player is simple. It does not come packaged in an executable file. To install the MPV player, download the portable Zip file from GitHub. MPV.io, the official website, provides two different builds for Windows PCs. They are Zhongfly, and shinchiro builds. Both builds give the same experience when using the MPV player.
The main difference between the two builds is that Zhongfly is regularly updated with new features and may not be stable. The Shinchiro build, on the other hand, focuses more on stability. It is also updated regularly but is very stable.
Download the Zhongfly build if you need new features regularly, even without stability, or download the Shinchiro build for stability and new features. You will find many .7z potable files. Download the file that suits your processor.
To find out your processor type, open the Settings app, select System from the left-hand panel, and click the About tab. Under the Device specifications, you will see System type, where you can find if your PC is a 64-bit operating system or something else.
Download the mpv portable zip file accordingly and unzip it on your PC using 7-zip or other zip programs. After extracting the files to the mpv folder, right-click on the mpv-install batch file and select Run as administrator.
It will install the MPV player. You will see all kinds of media formats it adds to your PC for playing.
That’s it. After you are done with the installation, it opens the Settings app to set defaults. You may ignore it and manually set the MPV player as the default while you play media.
Unlike other applications you install on your PC, the MPV player does not create a folder in the Program files folder. Wherever you have extracted the .7z file, the extracted folder is the location for the MPV player on your PC. For convenience and to avoid deleting it by mistake, you can move it to the Program files folder or some other location using cut-and-paste options. You have to move the entire extracted folder so as not to break the player.
How to Set MPV As Default Media Player on Windows 11
When you want to play a media file with mpv by default, right-click on the media file and select Properties. It opens the file properties window. Click on Change beside the Open with option. On the Select a default app for .flac files or any file type you select, click on mpv from the options and the Set default button.
This way, by default, you can set the MPV player for the media file types you want to play.
How to Customize MPV Player on Windows 11
Generally, the MPV player’s configuration file is located in the MPV folder, named mpv.conf, in the following path.
C:\users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\mpv\mpv.conf
However, many users cannot find the file there. To bypass this and get a new config file, download the official MPV configuration file from GitHub. On the GitHub website, click on the download button.
Since the configuration file is an official one, you do not need to worry about privacy. Now, open the MPV player folder, create a new folder, and name it portable_config.
Move the downloaded mpv.conf file to the portable_config folder.
It allows you to customize the MPV player however you want. To make customizations, open the mpv.config file with Notepad.
Some of the basic customizations you can do to know the configuration process are as follows.
Set a default volume level when you open a media file on the MPV player.
volume=60
You can set any volume level by replacing the number 60 with any level you choose.
Similarly, you can configure the player and change its behavior by changing the configuration file. You can find the syntax or commands you need to customize on GitHub. It enables you to change anything from keyboard shortcuts to mouse behavior on the MPV player.
How to Install User Scripts for MPV on Windows 11
User scripts are settings configured by other mpv player users to get the best out of it. They upload the configuration scripts to GitHub. You can find awesome user scripts on GitHub that might interest you.
To install user scripts for the MPV player, create a new folder in the portable_config folder. Rename the new folder as script-opts. Download the scripts that interest you. Extract if the script is in zip format and paste the files into the script-opts folder.
The changes the user scripts make apply automatically to the player when you play a media file.
How to Update MPV Player on Windows 11
You can update the MPV player with the updater batch file in the MPV player folder. Right-click on the updater batch file and select Run as administrator.
Ensure your PC is connected to the internet so the player can update to the latest version. The updater batch file will run in Command Prompt, and the latest MPV build will be downloaded and installed automatically.
You may see new features that the updater file asks you to confirm installing based on your processor. Install them accordingly. Installing updates does not remove your previous configurations.
How to Play YouTube Videos on MPV Player
To play YouTube videos on an MPV player, you need to have YT-DLP, a command line-based audio-video downloader, installed with your MPV player. When you run the updater batch file, it asks if you want to add YT-DLP to the MPV player. Install it to add YouTube video streaming capabilities to your MPV player.
You will see YT-DLP in the MPV player folder after the successful installation.
Now, you can play the videos on the MPV player just by dragging the YouTube links to the MPV player. After a few seconds, the MPV player will start playing the video from the link you have just dragged onto it.
Similarly, you can play YouTube playlists on the MPV player. Open the YouTube playlist on your web browser and hover over the playlist’s title to get the playlist link. Then, drag the playlist title onto the MPV player.
The MPV player will start playing the YouTube playlist in a few moments. You can skip to any video in the playlist using the controls at the bottom of the MPV player.
Just drag the link and enjoy streaming YouTube on the MPV player.
Keyboard Shortcuts for MPV Player on Windows
S – Take screenshots without subtitles
s – Take screenshots with subtitles
m – mute the audio
[ – decrease playback speed
] – increase playback speed
f – change to full screen or exit fullscreen
Spacebar – pause or play the media
Up and down buttons – Increase or decrease volume
Left and right buttons – Seek backward or forward
Install and Customize MPV Player on Windows
MPV player might seem nerdy at first glance. But when you install and use it with the customizations you need, no other media player can beat the experience. Whatever your system configurations are, the MPV player works the best in playing the media files. The minimalistic approach with all the customizations is made through configuration files; this is one of the best media players to install and use on Windows.