While it may take some time, resolving this will be faster than downloading and setting up a new media player. If you are in the same situation, read on to find out how you can fix the VLC media player on Windows 11.
1. Check the File Format
VLC media player is compatible with a lot of video formats, but not all of them. If you try to play an unsupported video format on VLC, it will throw a black screen or an error message. You can visit VLC’s official features webpage to learn about the different file formats it supports.
If VLC does not support your chosen video format, you can use an online video converter to turn it into the one you want.
2. Turn Off Hardware Acceleration on VLC
VLC comes with hardware acceleration that speeds up the encoding and decoding process of certain video types. However, it can cause compatibility issues on some computers, particularly those with buggy hardware drivers.
So, if you’re having trouble playing video in VLC, turning off hardware acceleration may be a good solution. To disable this feature, follow the below steps:
Open VLC media player. Click on Tools and select Preferences from the context menu. You can also press Ctrl + P hotkeys to open the VLC Preferences window. Switch to the Input / Codes tab. Under the Codecs section, click on the drop-down arrow next to Hardware-accelerated decoding, and choose Disable. Click on Save.
Now, relaunch the VLC media player and check if you can play any video or not. If not, try the next solution on the list.
3. Change the File Catching and Network Catching Values
While streaming over the internet, VLC caches a small amount of content on the system, which helps it offer continued playback even if the connection gets interrupted. If VLC is unable to play an online video, it might say that the current network cache size is not big enough for the video. This situation mainly arises when you try to stream a large video.
The solution, in this case, is to increase the network cache size. To increase the network cache size in VLC, follow the below instructions.
Open the Preferences window of the VLC media player. Switch to Input / Codecs tab. Click on the All button under the Show settings section. Choose Input / Codecs from the left panel. In the right panel of the window, locate Network caching (ms). It’ll be under the Advanced section. Change the Network caching value to 1500. Click on Save.
A similar issue can also arise with videos stored on your local hard drive. If the video you are trying to play is hefty (over 15 GB) VLC will struggle to load it and cause the problem at hand. The situation mainly arises when other programs or OS use most of the available disk space.
To solve this, you will have to raise the File caching size on VLC. Here’s how to do it:
Preferences > Input / Codecs > All button > Input / Codecs. Choose Input / Codecs from the left panel. In the screen’s right panel, locate File caching (ms). Change the File caching value to 2000. Click on Save.
That’s it. Check if the issue has been fixed or not.
4. Choose DirectX (DirectDraw) as the Default Video Output Mode
By default, VLC keeps the video output mode on OpenGL video output for Windows. But sometimes, this output mode can fail to play certain types of videos. The solution, in this situation, is to set the output mode to DirectX (DirectDraw). To do this, follow the below steps.
Open the Preferences window, and switch to the Video tab. Click on the drop-down icon next to Output and choose DirectX (DirectDraw) Video Output Mode from the context menu. Checkmark the box before Accelerated video output (Overlay) and Use hardware YUV -> RGB conversions options. Click on Save.
5. Reset the VLC Preferences
The preferences file stores all the important settings for VLC. If it has been corrupt for some reason, VLC will start to behave abnormally. It may not play videos or certain commands will not work as expected.
Fortunately, you can quickly bring VLC back to its original, healthy state by resetting the preferences file. To do this, open the preferences window and click on Reset Preferences at the bottom of the screen. Confirm your selection by clicking on the OK button from the prompt that appears.
Next, restart the VLC media player and check if you are able to play video or not.
6. Download the Latest VLC Update
VLC regularly receives updates to fix bugs, add features, and more. If VLC is unable to play videos because of an in-app bug, downloading the latest update can prove to be an effective solution.
Here’s how to update the VLC media player:
Open VLC and click on the Help button at the top bar. Choose Check for Updates from the context menu.
VLC will now look for and download any available updates.
7. Reinstall VLC Media Player
If none of the solutions were helpful, probably there’s something wrong with the installation files. As a solution, you will have to reinstall the VLC media player. To do this, open the Control Panel, and choose Uninstall a program. Locate, right-click on the VLC media player, and choose Uninstall from the context menu.
Now, visit VLC’s official website and download the latest application version.
Play Any Video Format on VLC Media Player
VLC is one of the best media players available for Windows. On it, you can play videos of almost all the available formats, raise the volume by over 100%, and add various effects and filters to the media.
However, like any other application, it can run into issues from time to time. If the VLC media player is unable to play videos on Windows, try the above solutions to troubleshoot the problem quickly.
