How to Disable Hardware Decoding in mpv?

This article provides a straightforward guide on how to entirely disable hardware-accelerated video decoding in the mpv media player, forcing it to use software rendering instead. While hardware decoding can save CPU cycles, it occasionally causes playback artifacts, stuttering, or compatibility issues with certain video codecs and graphics drivers. Below, you will find the precise configuration changes and command-line arguments needed to ensure mpv relies solely on your CPU for video decoding.

Modifying the Configuration File

The most permanent way to disable hardware decoding is by editing your mpv.conf file. Depending on your operating system, this file is located in one of the following directories:

To force software rendering, open the file in a text editor and add or modify the following line:

hwdec=no

Setting hwdec=no explicitly instructs mpv to turn off all hardware acceleration APIs (such as NVDEC, VA-API, or DXVA2) and use the CPU-bound FFmpeg software decoders instead.

Using the Command Line

If you only want to disable hardware decoding for a specific video or a single session without changing your global settings, you can pass the option directly through your terminal or command prompt:

mpv --hwdec=no video.mp4

Verifying the Change

To confirm that mpv is successfully utilizing software rendering during playback, press the I key (uppercase ‘i’) on your keyboard. This toggles an on-screen statistics display. Look for the Decoder field in the video section; if hardware decoding is successfully disabled, it will list a software decoder (such as h264 or hevc) rather than a hardware-accelerated counterpart (such as h264-nvdec or hevc-vaapi).