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Cmus cheat sheet

cmus v2.10.0 Cheat Sheet

Views

Key View
1 Tree (artist / album)
2 Sorted library
3 Playlist
4 Queue (FIFO)
5 File browser
6 Filters
7 Settings & keybindings

Playback

Key Action
x Play / restart track
c Pause / resume
v Stop
b Next track
z Previous track
B Next album
Z Previous album
l / → Seek forward 5s
h / ← Seek backward 5s
. Seek forward 1 min
, Seek backward 1 min

Playback Modes

Key Action Status bar
C Toggle continue (auto-play next track) C
r Toggle repeat all R
Ctrl+r Toggle repeat current track —
s Cycle shuffle: off / albums / tracks / S / &
m Cycle AAA mode: all / artist / album —
M Toggle play from library vs playlist —
o Toggle play in sorted view order —
t Toggle remaining time display —
f Toggle follow (display tracks now playing) —

For sequential playback: C on, r off, s off.

Volume

Key Action
+ / = Volume up 10%
- Volume down 10%
] Right channel +1%
[ Left channel +1%
} Right channel -1%
{ Left channel -1%

Queue

The queue is temporary — tracks play next regardless of library order. For a permanent playlist use view 3 instead.

Key Action
4 Go to queue view
e Add selected track to bottom of queue
E Add selected track to top of queue
D / Del Remove selected track from queue
p / P Move track down / up in queue
:clear Clear the entire queue

Playlists

cmus supports multiple .m3u playlist files stored in ~/.config/cmus/playlists/.

Creating a playlist

Key / Command Action
3 Go to playlist view
:pl-create name Create and activate a new playlist
1 Go back to library to browse
y Add selected track to active playlist
Space Select / activate a playlist
:pl-switch name Switch to a different playlist
:pl-list List all playlists
:pl-import ~/path/file.m3u Import an existing .m3u file

Editing a playlist

Go to view 3, then:

Key Action
y Add selected track (from any view)
D / Del Remove selected track
p / P Move track down / up
:clear Remove all tracks from active playlist

Saving and exporting

Command Action
:pl-export ~/path/file.m3u Export active playlist to .m3u
:save Save playlist state manually

cmus auto-saves playlists to ~/.config/cmus/playlists/ on exit.

Deleting a playlist

Command Action
:pl-delete name Delete playlist called name (no undo)

Library Management

Key / Command Action
u Update metadata cache
:add ~/path Add file or directory to library
:update-cache -f Force refresh metadata cache
:clear Clear current view
Key Action
j / ↓ Move down
k / ↑ Move up
PgDn / PgUp Page down / up
Tab Switch between artist list and track list (view 1)
g / G Jump to top / bottom
i Jump to currently playing track
Space Expand / collapse artist in tree view
Key Action
/query Search forward (opens at bottom, type and press Enter)
?query Search backward
n Next search result
N Previous search result

Command Line

Command Action
: Enter command mode
Tab Autocomplete commands and parameters
Esc Cancel
:seek 1:30 Seek to absolute position
:seek +30 Seek forward 30s relatively
:set key=val Set a variable
:source ~/.config/cmus/rc Reload rc file
:quit Quit cmus

Your rc File (~/.config/cmus/rc)

Date of creation: 20-05-2026

Tags: LinuxMusicCmus