Frameless mode
Press Ctrl+Shift+S to switch between framed and frameless windows.
The fast, keyboard-first video player for Windows.
Open local videos quickly, scrub smoothly, and control playback without fighting the interface. FastPlay keeps the focus on your footage.
New in v0.4.6: frameless windows and better portrait video
Switch between framed and frameless windows, keep your preferred style, and open rotated phone videos at the right shape.
Your choice remembered
New FastPlay windows open in the window style you last selected.
Better portrait video
Rotated phone videos now open in a correctly sized portrait window.
Keyboard controls
Every action has a keybind
Hold H in the player to see the full controls overlay.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause / resume / replay |
| Left / Right | Seek 5s, hold for 15s steps |
| Ctrl+F / Ctrl+B | Move one frame forward / backward |
| Ctrl+O (letter O) | Open media file |
| Ctrl+Shift+O (letter O) | Recent files overlay |
| PageUp / PageDown | Previous / next file in the play queue |
| Ctrl+S | Save screenshot |
| Ctrl+Shift+S | Toggle framed/frameless windowed mode |
| [ / ] | Decrease / increase playback speed |
| \ | Reset speed to 1x |
| I / O | Set in-point / out-point |
| Shift+I / Shift+O | Clear in-point / out-point |
| R | Toggle loop range or auto-replay |
| S | Toggle subtitles |
| Mouse wheel | Volume |
| Ctrl+Mouse wheel | Zoom at cursor |
| Ctrl+Drag | Pan when zoomed |
| Ctrl+0 (zero) | Reset zoom, pan, rotation |
| Ctrl+R / Ctrl+E | Rotate CW / CCW |
| Ctrl+H | Borderless fullscreen |
| Esc | Exit fullscreen |
| Ctrl+W | Fit window to video |
| Ctrl+Q | Half-resolution window |
| Backspace | Cancel scrub |
| H (hold) | Show controls overlay |
| ` | Toggle HW/SW decode mode in title bar |
Lightweight app. Serious playback path.
Built for the frame in front of you.
full-cadence playback on high-refresh displays
native HDR output or careful SDR tone mapping
hardware decode with a GPU-resident video path
local files, local resume, no media cloud
Local files stay local
Your player does not need a cloud.
FastPlay opens media from your machine and keeps its lightweight resume state there. There is no account, hosted library, or upload step.
- No account or subscription
- No permanent media-library workflow
- Free and open source under the MIT License
Current release · v0.4.6
Video playback that just works.
Reliable every day
Open one video or a dozen.
FastPlay stays responsive and closes cleanly, even when you have several videos open.
- Open multiple videos without slowing down Windows
- Close every player without leftover processes
- Tested with 12 videos open at once
Smooth seeking
Jump anywhere without getting stuck.
Skip forward, go back, or drag through a video without leaving the picture frozen while the audio keeps playing.
- Move through videos quickly
- Playback recovers if a video has trouble
- Picture and audio stay together
FastPlay is free for Windows 10 and 11.
FastPlay guides
Playback with fewer surprises.
HDR & Color
Play HDR video on Windows
What HDR video needs to play correctly on Windows, why HDR files often look wrong, and how FastPlay chooses native HDR output or SDR tone mapping.
Formats & CodecsMOV file not playing on Windows
Why .MOV files fail to open or play badly on Windows: container versus codec, HEVC and HDR recordings from phones and cameras, and practical fixes.
Formats & CodecsPlay HEVC (H.265) on Windows
Why HEVC (H.265) video often refuses to play on Windows, how hardware decode support works, and how FastPlay plays HEVC without codec-pack setup.
Playback PerformanceFix stuttering video playback
Why video stutters or drops frames on Windows: software decode of heavy codecs, slow drives, display judder, background load, and the fixes that work.
HDR & ColorHDR looks washed out
The real reasons HDR footage looks gray or faded on Windows: missing tone mapping, the Windows HDR toggle, and display limits, plus how to tell them apart.
WorkflowFaster video review workflow
A keyboard-first workflow for reviewing long recordings on Windows: frame stepping, in/out loop ranges, speed control, screenshots, and per-file resume.
FAQ
FastPlay questions.
What is FastPlay?
FastPlay is a fast, lightweight native Windows video player built for local video playback, responsive seeking, hardware-accelerated decode, and simple controls.
Is FastPlay a VLC alternative?
FastPlay can be used as a lightweight VLC alternative for Windows users who mainly want simple local file playback, fast startup, smooth scrubbing, and responsive controls. VLC is still better for advanced streaming, disc playback, filters, plugins, and cross-platform use.
What platforms does FastPlay support?
FastPlay is built for Windows 10 and later, 64-bit.
Is FastPlay free?
Yes. FastPlay is free and open source under the MIT License.
What makes FastPlay fast?
FastPlay is built around native Windows playback, FFmpeg demux and decode, D3D11 hardware decode, DXGI presentation, bounded queues, stale-work dropping during seek, and WASAPI audio.
Does FastPlay support subtitles?
FastPlay supports external sidecar .srt subtitle files placed next to the media file. Embedded subtitle tracks and other subtitle formats are not loaded, and styling is intentionally minimal.
Is FastPlay the fastest video player?
FastPlay is designed for fast local playback, but fastest claims require benchmark data. The benchmark page covers planned startup, seek, resume, memory, and playback comparisons.
Ready when you are
Open fast.
Stay in the moment.
Download FastPlay v0.4.6 for 64-bit Windows 10 or later.