Open VLC in background

Question

I have a program that opens VLC to play a sound, but I don't want that other people see the VLC player, since I mirror my screen on a TV. Is it possible that I can make VLC open in background or minimalized?

Answer 1

The command line parameter for opening VLC minimized(in system tray) is --qt-start-minimized. Example usage:

"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" --qt-start-minimized

Answer 2

On windows 10, using vlc 2.2.4:

Using vlc -I null --play-and-exit [arguments], vlc opens in the background without appearing in the taskbar or system tray.

However, it can be seen when 'more details' is clicked in task manager.

For example, when you want to play audio while vlc is hidden:

vlc -I null --play-and-exit "C:\Windows.old\Users\Public\Music\Sample Music\Kalimba.mp3"