Vibration control, especially in cracked rotors, is an important factor that can prevent the occurrence of disastrous failures. In this paper, vibrational control of a cracked rotor with an electromagnetic actuator has been studied with a continuous model of flexural vibration of cracked rotors. The governing equation of motion for the rotor under the external excitation of the electromagnetic actuator, gravity, and unbalanced forces is presented. A control law for the optimal control method to minimize the vibration of the rotor or stress at the crack section was obtained. To this aim, two cost functions have been introduced, based on the overall vibration of the rotor and the maximum stress at the crack section. The results of these two strategies are compared with each other and their performances are discussed. © 2016, © The Author(s) 2016.