To open media stored locally on your system click media open :menuselection:`Media --> Open File` and navigate your local files or press :kbd:`control +o` on the keyboard to open files stored locally on your machine. If you wish to open media from somewhere on the internet on :menuselection:`Media --> Open Network Stream` or press :kbd:`Control + N`. To open a whole directory use :menuselection:`Media --> Open Directory` or press :kbd:`control +F`. VLC also keeps track of recently opened media in case you want to view media again in :menuselection:`Media --> Open Recent Media --> file name`. If you have copied a path in your clipboard or something you can press :kbd:`Control +V` or :menuselection:`Media --> Open Location from clipboard`.
..image:: vlc-networkopen.png
To pause playback of a file press the button that look like two vertical lines or :menuselection:`Playback --> Pause`. To resume playback press the right playback button. To toggle fullscreen press the button which has the four corners of the screen or :menuselection:`Video --> Fullscreen` to make it fullscreen and the four screens to have it back into windowed mode. To have vlc always on top :menuselection:`View --> Always on top` and check the checkbox in the menu.
On the bottom right of vlc there is a bar that gets wider for volume. Click farther to the right to increase volume within vlc or press :kbd:`Up arrow` to increase volume or :kbd:`Down arrow` to decrease volume. Or hover the cursor over this bar and use the mousewheel to control volume. The button that looks like a speaker next to this toggles mute in vlc. Another way to mute the volume is to :menuselection:`Audio --> Mute`.
