What happens when you stop watching a movie midway through and return to it later? Fast-forwarding to the exact spot you left off isn't always easy. Fortunately, VLC Media Player offers a nifty solution: bookmarks.

Bookmarks in VLC are used to remember the current playback position in a video and allow you to resume from that point at a later time. Several media players offer this feature, but VLC is unique in that it also lets you create custom bookmarks.

Resume Playback From Last Played Position in VLC

A certain VLC setting lets you to play the last 100 videos exactly from the last played position the last time those videos were opened:

  1. Open the VLC Player. Go to Tools > Preferences (or use the Ctrl + P shortcut).
  2. On the Interface screen, go down to the choices for Continue playback?
    Resume Playback in VLC
  3. Click the dropdown and select Always. Now, whenever you open a partially watched video, it will resume playback from the point you left off.

But what if you want to bookmark specific points in a media file?

How to Use Custom Bookmarks in VLC Player

VLC Media Player has a custom bookmark feature which you can use to save your chosen video positions in the player. You can then instantly go to these points and resume playback from there.

  1. Go to Playback > Custom Bookmarks > Manager. Alternatively, use the Ctrl + B shortcut key to open the Edit Bookmarks box.
  2. Click the Create button and an instant bookmark will be created for the position of the video file. You can create multiple bookmarks for different positions in a video. To resume playback, click on the bookmark in the box access it from the list displayed under Custom Bookmarks.
    Custom Bookmarks in VLC
  3. Click Delete and the bookmark will be erased. Clear removes all the bookmarks you have set for the video.

The only problem? Custom bookmarks are session specific. If you shut down the player, or the computer, then the custom bookmarks disappear. But thanks to the VideoLAN community, an extension called Moments' Tracker can solve this vexing issue. This extension is just one of the powerful ways to extend the utility of VLC Player.