Winamp's Command line Options

There a few ways in which you can control Winamp via the command line though to get more there are plugins/applications available to expand on what is provided. Check out the plugin section to see what is out there since the options here are limited.


/ADD: If Winamp is already running then this will add C:\mp3\whatever.mp3 to the end of the playlist of the currently running Winamp. If Winamp is not running then this will open Winamp and start playing the file.

C:\Program Files\Winamp\winamp.exe /ADD C:\mp3\whatever.mp3


/NEW: This will start a new instance of Winamp even if Winamp is already running

C:\Program Files\Winamp\winamp.exe /NEW


C:\Program Files\Winamp\winamp.exe C:\mp3\file.mp3
(Plays the file C:\mp3\file.mp3, regardless of whether or not Winamp is open)


/CLASS: This will open Winamp with a different Window Class name, "myclassname" instead of the default ("Winamp v1.x")

C:\Program Files\Winamp\winamp.exe /CLASS="myclassname"


Despite the options available via the command line being rather limited, it is really easy to get started with though. Something else to take note of is that you are able to specify multiple files and/or directories on the command line, such as:

C:\Program Files\Winamp\winamp.exe /NEW "C:\my mp3s\" "C:\bigplaylist.pls" "C:\download\new song.mp3"


by Darren Owen aka DrO (30/07/2004)
(based on the original information from NSDN ... and archived here and here)