Video player that remembers last position on Windows 11: VLC and alternatives
VLC Media Player remembers the last position on Windows 11 out of the box: when you reopen a local file you stopped partway through, it offers to continue playback. Set Tools > Preferences > All > Interface > Main interfaces > Qt > "Continue playback?" to "Always" and it resumes without asking. MPC-HC, mpv and SMPlayer are free alternatives that resume as well.
This guide shows how to switch on automatic resume in each of these four players, why VLC sometimes does not offer to continue, and how to use VLC bookmarks when you want to save more than one spot in a file.
Which video players remember the last position on Windows 11?
These free Windows 11 video players can resume a file where you stopped it: VLC Media Player, MPC-HC, mpv and SMPlayer. They store the position differently, so the right choice depends on whether you want a prompt, silent resume or full control through a config file.
| Player | How resume works | Where to change it |
|---|---|---|
| VLC Media Player | Asks "Continue playback?" by default; can be set to always resume | Tools > Preferences > All > Interface > Main interfaces > Qt |
| MPC-HC | Remembers recent files and their playback position | Options > Player > History |
| mpv | Saves the position when you quit with Shift+Q, or on every quit with a config option | mpv.conf: save-position-on-quit |
| SMPlayer | Remembers settings and the time position of every file you play | Preferences > General > Remember settings for all files |
Any resume feature works because the player keeps a history of the files you opened. If that is a privacy concern on a shared PC, check the history options of the player you pick; for VLC, see how to disable the Open Recent Media list in VLC.
How to make VLC always resume where you left off
VLC Media Player resumes automatically once you change the "Continue playback?" setting from "Ask" to "Always". The option sits in the advanced preferences, so you need to switch the preferences window to show all settings first.
- Open VLC and select Tools > Preferences (or press Ctrl+P).
- Under "Show settings" in the bottom left corner, select "All".
- Type "Continue playback" into the search field, or go to Interface > Main interfaces > Qt.
- Set "Continue playback?" to "Always". "Ask" shows the prompt, "Never" always starts files from the beginning.
- Click Save.
With "Ask" selected, VLC shows a small "Continue playback?" bar when you reopen a file and resumes only if you confirm it. "Always" skips that step, which is the better choice for series, lectures and long films. If you also tune playback, our guide to GPU accelerated decoding in VLC covers the hardware settings.
Why VLC does not offer to continue playback
VLC skips the resume prompt when the file or the saved position does not meet its rules, or when the setting is not active in the interface you use. Work through this checklist if VLC keeps starting videos from the beginning:
- Play a local file: a VideoLAN developer explained on the official forum that, in the macOS version, resume needs a file on your drive, not a stream.
- Use files longer than a few minutes: the same developer named a minimum length of 3 minutes.
- Stop between the start and the end: positions very close to the beginning or end (outside roughly 5 to 95 percent) are not offered.
- Check the interface module: users on Windows fixed a missing prompt by setting the interface to Qt in the preferences and "Continue playback?" to "Always".
- Close VLC normally so it can save its settings and history, and keep "Continue playback?" set to "Ask" or "Always", not "Never".
The developer described these thresholds for the macOS version and noted that resume is implemented separately for Windows, so the Windows rules can differ. If colors look off after you resume a file, that is a separate renderer issue covered in the washed-out colors fix for VLC.
How to save several positions with VLC bookmarks
VLC bookmarks save any number of positions in a file, which is useful for tutorials, recordings or music sets where you want to jump to specific moments rather than the last stop.
- Start playing the file.
- Press Ctrl+B, or select Playback > Custom Bookmarks > Manage, to open the bookmarks window.
- Click Create to save the current position. Repeat for every spot you want to keep.
- Load a bookmark later through Playback > Custom Bookmarks > the saved bookmark.
Bookmarks belong to the file they were created for. When you open a different file, its own bookmarks appear instead, so treat them as markers rather than a replacement for automatic resume.
How MPC-HC, mpv and SMPlayer resume playback
MPC-HC, mpv and SMPlayer each remember the position with one setting, and mpv lets you choose between manual and automatic saving.
MPC-HC (the maintained clsid2 build) stores recently played files with their position, so reopening a file continues where you stopped. The options live under Options > Player > History. Version 2.8.0 added a Show History dialog in the recent files menu to search the history, remove entries and reset saved positions, according to the MPC-HC 2.8.0 release notes.
mpv saves the position when you quit with Shift+Q instead of q; playing the same file later resumes at that point. To save on every exit, add the line save-position-on-quit to mpv.conf. Both are documented in the "Resuming Playback" section of the mpv manual.
SMPlayer remembers the settings of every file you play and resumes "at the same point you left it", as the SMPlayer feature page puts it. If it does not, check Preferences > General > Remember settings for all files > Remember time position.
Related: Enable hardware decoding in VLC, VLC offline AI subtitles, Turn off VLC's recent media list
Blue:
Thanks for the tip on AlShow. Nice player and now I can set and use bookmarks.
Though VLC has some uses, I prefer the ALShow (formally known as ALPlayer) by ALTools a division of ESTsoft. It has all the same player functions and more than VLC does in a sleeker package. The player in a window look is oh so 80’s retro it isn’t even remotely funny anymore. ALShow opens in a sleek borderless window and the only thing showing other than the top bar is the display area.
The onscreen controls can be locked visible or left invisible. We can easily fast forward/backward, jump forward/backward, or leap forward/backward with easy keyboard short cuts. As well as control volume, subtitle display/hide, font size (controls characters per screen), picture (position, eschew, colour, contrast, brightness etc…), Also it can capture a screenshot, video clip, and audio clip. And the bookmark ability is something we can easily switch on or off (plays from last position known) even several months later.
I asked the author where does it save this information, and how large of a file is it. According to the author, it is a tiny single file which saves the last known position and even if I were to view millions of files, it would not exceed one megabyte in size. I’ve watched some files, and some even weeks and months later. As long as the file remains on the hard drive, its last known position is saved even if I move the file to another drive. But if I move the file to an external drive or burn it to disk the position will not be saved. So how it does this is a mystery to me, but I know if I stop watching a file and pickup where I left off months later it will playback from where it left off quite easily.
http://www.altools.com/ALTools/ALShow.aspx
The thing about VLC is it is open sourced and cross platform, and many programs and applications refer to it. ALShow is not open nor cross platformed but it is free to use for ALL users and no ADs or malware. Built in codec’s and has it’s own codec update server it can connect to. The company has several other free tools including, “ALSong” (audio media player), “ALZip” (file archiver), “ALSee” (photo viewer), ALFTP (easy FTP client) and more, all for free (ALZip, ALSee, and ALFTP were originally paid software but recently released with a free unlock code under the Purchase menu).
(Off topic) ESTsoft’s main income source is are two free to play popular MMORPG’s with in game purchasing credits for special gear. I know I was one of them and it was addictive and I found myself buying my characters funny hats and outfits as well as powerful gear every once in a while lol…. But like many popular MMORPG’s, they can easily be ruined by BOT’s… Though it is a sad reality, the truth is, if a game isn’t popular or any good, it wouldn’t have BOT’s.
P.s. I don’t play anymore. Though it was low in price, it was an addiction that was easily fed. I ended up selling my character and actually made some money back because the gear I had on them was, ‘special’.. and hard to come by.
Opened same file, still no saved bookmarks.
This is how VLC has always “worked” for me, meaning the bookmark function hasn’t ever worked. This over many years and at least 5 different computers on win xp/7/8. The feature isn’t working properly.
Bookmarks stay saved as long as the file is open. Close the file, open the same file again -> no bookmarks.
That’s strange. Are you running a cleanup operation, e.g. removing information on exit or something?
When I follow the procedure you outline above, then close and reopen the file there is no bookmark saved. Any idea what step I am missing. Thanks
You need to open the same file again, did you do so? Bookmarks are file-specific.
you can also try this:
http://addons.videolan.org/content/show.php/Resume+Media+V2?content=165231
Martin, I tested the linked Plugin a few month ago and installed it anew right now to see if my memory was playing me for a fool. I have to dissent, it works on my Win 7 SP1 x64 PC with VLC 2.1.3 x86 in use.
I just copied libsrpos2186_plugin.dll into C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\plugins
After opening and closing a file there’s a file named srpos.ini in %AppData%/vlc which stores the current time of the video files.
Strange, it is not working on my system.
Well that’s odd.
VLC hasn’t ever remembered these “bookmarks” for me longer than the session is kept open. If I close the player the bookmarks are forgotten. Useless feature.
on Android MX Player can remember where you left and will ask you to resume or start over VLC folks need to try harder if they want to keep up to Android market I know the article is about desktop version but this is just my 5 cents :)
I much prefer Daum Pot Player it remembers even after 10 reboots or whatever you throw at it. It also plays all videos in a group automatically.