To play an MP3 file or any other kind of digital music file, you first need to add it to the Playlist. There are several methods to add files to the Playlist:
Use the 'Add Music' menu:
Click the Add button (#29 in the base skin), and then choose Add Files / Url.
If you don't see the Add button, or just for a shortcut: press the Insert key on your keyboard.
Find the folder containing the music files.
Select the file or files you want to load. To select more than one file, hold the Ctrl key while you select files. To select a range of files, use Shift-click.
To avoid loading files that you may already have in your Playlist, check Only add files that are not already in playlist.
Click Open.
Click the Play button in the QCD player to being playback of tracks in playlist.
To play a folder of music using the 'Add Music' menu:
Click the Add button (#29 in the base skin), and then choose Add Folder of Music.
Find the folder you want to load, and click OK. All supported audio files in the folder and its sub-folders will be loaded.
Click the Play button in the QCD player.
Tip: You can also access the 'Add Music' menu by right-clicking the Play button. This will also cause QCD to start playing the newly added files (if not already playing).
Playing audio files from Windows Explorer:
Use Windows Explorer right-click context menu:
Make sure 'Show "Add" and "Add and Play" on folder context menus in Windows Explorer' are enabled under Settings: Media Loading
Highlight the files or folder of files to play in Explorer.
Right-click the selected files and choose Play in QCD from the menu.
Drag and Drop files from Explorer onto QCD:
Drag a music file, a selected group or music files, or a folder containing music files from anywhere on your Windows system onto the QCD player.
Click the Play button in the QCD player to being playback of tracks in playlist.
Tip: If you drag and drop files onto QCD's Play button, the files will automatically play.
Drag and Drop files from Explorer onto the QCD icon:
Drag a music file, a selected group or music files, or a folder containing music files from anywhere on your Windows system onto the QCD icon (or shortcut).
This adds the files to the QCD Playlist. Playback will begin automatically.
For more details, see How To: Use the Playlist
For information about identification of music files, and editing the information, see Working with Audio Files.
To learn more about editing and tagging audio files, see How To: Use the Track Editor.