Make Multimedia Keys Smarter on Linux Mint: Control the Last Active Media App with Playerctld
Introduction
Multimedia keys are meant to simplify our workflow — a quick tap on Play/Pause or Next should control the music or video you’re enjoying. But on Linux Mint (and many other Linux distributions), multimedia keys often seem unpredictable. Instead of controlling the media you’re actively using, they may respond to a different application that happens to be open.
For example, you might be listening to Spotify, but pressing Pause does nothing because your browser — with a paused YouTube tab — has silently taken over control.
The good news is: there’s a fix. By using Playerctl and its companion daemon Playerctld, you can configure Linux so that multimedia keys always control the last application where you interacted with media. This setup mimics the behavior many users know from Windows, bringing consistency and flexibility back to your media keys.
Why Multimedia Keys Misbehave on Linux
On Linux, multimedia key handling is built on MPRIS (Media Player Remote Interfacing Specification). This is a standardized interface that any app can use to register itself as a media player.
That includes Spotify, VLC, and browsers like Brave or Chrome. The problem is that Linux Mint doesn’t provide a native way to choose which app “wins” when multiple are active. Whichever app last registered itself with MPRIS often becomes the target — which may not be the app you’re actually listening to.
The result: pressing Play/Pause can feel like a gamble.
The Solution: Playerctl and Playerctld
Playerctl is a command-line tool designed to control MPRIS-compatible media players. With it, you can send commands like play, pause, next, or previous to specific apps — or let it figure out which app is active.
Playerctld is the real game-changer. It runs as a background daemon and keeps track of the last application where media was interacted with. This means your multimedia keys now behave intuitively:
- Start music on Spotify → keys control Spotify.
- Pause Spotify, then play a YouTube video in Brave → keys now control Brave.
- Switch back to Spotify → keys follow automatically.
This simple logic restores sanity to multimedia key handling on Linux.
Installing Playerctl
Playerctl is available directly in the Linux Mint repositories, so installation is quick and easy. You can install it in two ways:
Option 1: Install via Software Manager (for beginners)
- Open Software Manager from the Mint menu.
- Search for Playerctl.
- Select it from the results and click Install.
Option 2: Install via Terminal (for advanced users)
sudo apt update sudo apt install playerctl
Both methods give you the same result: the playerctl utility and its companion daemon playerctld.
Starting the Playerctld Daemon
To enable the smarter key handling, run:
playerctld daemon
This launches playerctld as a background process. From now on, any media command will be routed to the last active app instead of whichever app grabbed control first.
Configuring Multimedia Keys in Linux Mint
By default, Cinnamon already assigns multimedia keys to the system, but we want them to use playerctl through playerctld. To do that, we’ll create new shortcuts and rebind the keys.
- Open System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts.
- Scroll down and click Add custom shortcut.
- For each command, enter:
- Play/Pause
- Name: Media Play/Pause
- Command: playerctl play-pause
- Next
- Name: Media Next
- Command: playerctl next
- Previous
- Name: Media Previous
- Command: playerctl previous
- Play/Pause
- After creating each shortcut, click on the Unassigned binding field.
- Press your actual keyboard media key (Play/Pause, Next, Previous).
- Mint will warn you that the key is already assigned — choose Reassign.
Making Playerctld Persistent
To avoid running the daemon manually after every reboot, you can make it autostart.
- Open Startup Applications in Linux Mint.
- Add a new entry:
- Name: playerctld
- Command: playerctld daemon
- Comment: Media key manager
- Save and exit.
Now playerctld will always be running in the background when you log in.
Common Issues and Fixes
- Keys still go to the wrong app: Check which app was last interacted with. If Brave has a paused video, hitting play there will re-prioritize it.
- Daemon not running after reboot: Ensure you added it to Startup Applications or systemd correctly.
- App not responding: Not all apps support MPRIS. Spotify, VLC, and most modern browsers do, but check your app’s documentation if unsure.
Conclusion
On Linux Mint, multimedia keys don’t have to be unreliable. With Playerctl and Playerctld, you can make them smarter: instead of blindly sending commands to any registered app, your keys will always control the last media app you interacted with.
This flexible approach is the closest Linux comes to Windows’ intuitive media key behavior. Whether you’re streaming music on Spotify, watching videos on YouTube, or juggling multiple apps in a professional environment, your multimedia keys will always follow you.
Set it up once, add it to autostart, and enjoy seamless media control across your Linux desktop.