User Guide: How to Turn Your Cell Phone into an Offline Music Hub with VLC

User Guide

You’ve just acquired a massive music library and are ready to take full control. With VLC for Android, you can transform your phone into a powerful, offline music player that saves data and battery life. Forget streaming subscriptions and annoying ads.

This quick guide will walk you through the simple steps of managing your music library directly from your phone.

Step 1: Organize Your Music Folders

Before you begin, make sure your music files are properly organized in a specific folder on your phone or SD card. Using a file manager app, create a main folder like My Music. Inside, create a sub-folder for each album.

Example of folder organization on your phone:

Internal Storage/
└── My Music/
    ├── Album 1/
    │   ├── 01 - Track Name.mp3
    │   └── 02 - Track Name.mp3
    ├── Album 2/
    │   ├── 01 - Track Name.mp3
    │   └── 02 - Track Name.mp3
    └── ...

Step 2: Set VLC to Use Only Your Music Folder

By default, VLC scans all audio files on your device. To focus only on your personal collection, you need to change a simple setting.

1. Open the VLC for Android app.
2. Tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner.
3. Go to Settings.
4. Select Media Library folders.
5. From the list, uncheck all the folders you don’t want VLC to scan (e.g., WhatsApp Audio, Ringtones, Podcasts).
6. Make sure your My Music folder is checked.

Now, VLC will only show the music you’ve added to that specific folder, giving you a clean and organized library.

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Step 3: Create and Manage Your Playlists

Now that your songs are in the VLC library, you can create custom playlists.

1. Navigate to the Albums or Artists tab in the main VLC menu to see your organized music.
2. Tap the three vertical dots next to a song you want to add.
3. Select Add to playlist.
4. From the list, you can choose an existing playlist or select + New playlist to create one.
5. Give your new playlist a name and tap OK.

With these simple steps, your phone becomes a dedicated music device. You can enjoy your entire discography in high-quality sound, free from interruptions, and without a data connection.