VLC Media Player is one of the best ways to watch videos and listen to music. Not only can it play almost any media formats, from .MP4 to .FLV files, it can also play video and audio CDs and DVDs. VLC even lets you stream online videos. If you don’t want your videos opening in Windows Media Player or QuickTime anymore, here’s how to make VLC your default media player.
At the download page mentioned above, there are three file types which can be used to install VLC Media Player in your Windows Machine: An Exe Installer Package: A direct installing.exe file. Download this file, open it and the installation process begins. Jun 18, 2020. VideoLAN, VLC, VLC media player and x264 are trademarks internationally registered by the VideoLAN non-profit organization. VideoLAN software is licensed under various open-source licenses: use and distribution are defined by each software license. Online music and video services browser. Furthermore, just in case you're not one to keep a collection of music on your own Mac, VLC Media Player also comes with a built-in Internet music services browser, neatly tucked within its main window sidebar. Jun 06, 2019. If you need the previous version of VLC Media Player, check out the app's version history which includes all versions available to download. Download prior versions of VLC Media Player for Mac. All previous versions of VLC Media Player are virus-free and free to download at Uptodown.
If you do not already have VLC on your computer, you can download it for free here.
How to Make VLC the Default Player on a Mac
You can set VLC as your default player while you’re opening a video or song. Here’s how to do it:
- Right-click on the video or audio file you want to open. Right-clicking or control-clicking can be done by tapping the trackpad with two fingers on a laptop.
- Then select Get Info.
- Next, clickOpen with. A bar will appear showing the current default player and other available video players you have installed.
- Change the app to VLC.
- Finally, click Change All… A prompt will appear. Select Continue.
Note: This only sets VLC as the default player for the file format of the specific video or song you chose to open. If the video format is .mp4, other video files such as .mkv and .avi might still open with other players. You can repeat the steps above for other video and audio formats.
How to Make VLC the Default Player in Windows 10
There is more than one way to open your videos automatically on VLC. First, you can do it by going to Settings>Apps > DefaultApps. Then click the entry under Video Player and choose VLC. Or, you can also right-click the media file and select Other apps. Then choose VLC and tick the box next to “Always use this app…”
- Click the Start button. The Start button is the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
- Then click Settings. If you can’t find it, type “Settings” in the search bar and then click the result.
- Next, click Apps.
- Then click Default apps. You can find this in the left sidebar.
- Next, click the button under Video player. This might be labeled Movies & TV, or whatever your current default video player is.
- Select VLC from the list. You can also change your default audio player to VLC under Music player. The changes will be saved automatically .
Another way to do this is when opening a videoor audio file.
- Right-click on the file you want to open. If you are using a laptop, and right-click is not an option, tap the touchpad with two fingers or hold the Ctrl button while clicking.
- In the drop-down menu, hover your pointer over Open with, and select Choose another app.A list of apps will then appear.
- Choose VLC and tick the “Always use this app to open” box.
Note: This will only set VLC as the default player for the file format of the specific video or song you chose to open. If the video format is .mp4, other video files, such as .mkv and .avi files, will still open with other players. You can repeat the steps above for other video and audio formats.
If you like VLC, be sure to check out our list of the best Windows apps here.
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The VLC media player is a well-established application that can play almost all types of media files, such as videos, audio, images, and so on.
Also, VLC has more than 3 billion downloads all around the world.
The application was previously known as VideoLAN Client, and this is a free open source cross-platform media streaming software.
The VLC media player is available for both PC and Mobile.
Therefore, you can download the software for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Ios, iPad, Tizen, ChromeOS, Windows 10 Mobile, and Windows Phones.
What Is VLC Media Player?
The VLC media player is a simple video player application.
The application first came out as an academic project in 1996, and then it continued as a nonprofit organization.
So this is a free application that comes under the GNU General Public License.
You can download it from this page or any of the digital distribution platforms like Google Play Store, Apple App Store, Microsoft Store, and Amazon Fire Store.
VLC media player support for almost all the types of audio compression file formats as well.
Therefore, you do not have to install multiple media player on your computer or mobile to play different types of file formats.
This player has the ability to stream media content over computer networks and to transcode multimedia files.
When you have the VLC player, you do not have to look for different proprietary plugins for encoding and decoding.
Because the default distribution of the player contains a number of free decoding and encoding libraries.
VLC media player usually uses its own muxers and demuxers. However, it can get many VLC’s codecs from the FFmpeg project libavcodec as well.
Further, VLC is the first media player to supports playback of encrypted DVDs on Linux and macOS.
Also, it uses the libdvdcss DVD decryption library to support encrypted DVD playback.
However, there are certain gray areas regarding the legality of this method. Therefore, it is not included in some software repositories and Linux distributions.
Application Package Information
Application Name | VLC Media Player |
File Size | 40.57 Mb |
Content Rating | 12+ |
Supported Platforms | Android, iOS, Firestick, Nvidia Shield, PC & Mac |
Supported Version | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, etc. |
Category | Entertainment |
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How to Download and Install VLC Media Player?
The downloading and installation process is so simple. Firstly, you have to be aware of your operating system and bit version (i.e., 32-bit or 64-bit).
After that select the downloading installation process as given below,
How to Download and Install VLC on Windows and Mac?
STEP 01
Download the .exe installer setup file from your Windows 10 PC.
STEP 02
Then double click on the downloaded setup file installer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.
STEP 03
Once completed, open the application.
How to Download and Install VLC Media player on Android?
STEP 01
Go to the “Settings” menu in your Android device and then enable apps from “Unknown sources.”
STEP 02
Then download the APK file.
STEP 03
After that, install the downloaded apk file in your Android device.
STEP 04
Once completed, you can find the installed app on your apps list.
How to Download and Install VLC Media player on iOS?
You can simply get the application from the Apple app store and install it on your iPhone.
How to Use the Different Features of the Application?
How to Install VLC Media Player Add-ons?
Installing add-ons with VLC is simple. You do not have to go through a lengthy installation process.
All you have to do is get the add-ons that you want from the official website.
STEP 01
Download your preferred add-ons in .lua file format form the official website.
STEP 02
Then copy that file and paste it in the following file location.
Program FilesVideoLANVLCluaextensions
STEP 03
After that, restart your application.
STEP 04
That’s all! You can now see the installed add-ons in the VLC media player.
How to apply a custom skin to VLC Media Player?
Please follow the below instructions to install custom skins on your media player.
As we mentioned in another section of this page, skin features do not work in macOS.
STEP 01
Open the VLC media player
STEP 02
Then go to the “Tools” tab and click on the “Preference” sub-menu.
STEP 03
After that, it will display a new window. There you have to select the “interface” option.
STEP 04
There you can find a subsection “Look and Feel.” In that check the “Use custom skin” option.
STEP 05
Then click on “Choose” to install and custom skin that you have already downloaded.
STEP 06
Now, Click on “Save“
STEP 07
Restart the media player. That’s it.
Why is VLC one of the Best Media Player?
As mentioned above, VLC supports many types of operating systems and different types of devices.
The VLC media player is designed with a modular programming technique. Therefore, you can integrate various types of plugins to the media player to get different features out of it.
More importantly, VLC does not display Ads on the player. The only way you can contribute to the development is by donating their official website.
You can have more than 380 different plugins for different purposes in the latest version of the media player.
Such features may include new file formats, codecs, interfaces, streaming methods, and so on.
Moreover, the main application has the ability to create its own modules for different purposes, depending on the situation.
As a result, you can consider everything that you see in the VLC media player as a module. So the interface of the player, controllers, audio, and video output features are all modules.
Further, the newer version includes some of the important features like,
- Chromecast output support
- local network drive browsing
- audio passthrough for HD audio codecs
- 4K and 8K playback
- hardware-accelerated decoding
- 360° video and 3D audio
- 10-bit and HDR playback
- Blu-ray Java menu support
The interface of the player has been developed based on different platforms depending on the operating system.
However, the ultimate navigation and visualization are the same for all the versions.
Also, you can use many types of customizable skins with VLC media player. However, skins do not support for macOS.
Further, you can install the application on an external device like a USB flash drive and run the application on it.
VLC Media Player Features
The VLC media player can play any type of video file as the VLC is a packet-based media player.
Therefore, you can even play some of the video files even if they have issues such as damaged, incomplete, unfinished, still downloading, etc.
Further, you can play m2t MPEG transport streams files as well even while they are still in the completion process from an HDV camera through Firewire cable.
You can also play the video files included in a.ISO files as the VLC can access such data using libcdio.
Not only Video files, but VLC also supports any type of audio file format.
One of the other unique features of the VLC media player is that it has different types of video filters that you can use them on top of any video.
So that it allows you to rotate, split, distort any video files.
Further, you can also display a playing video as desktop wallpaper on a computer. So that there is no wallpaper in the background, and there is a video playing instead.
However, this feature is available only for Windows PCs.
Moreover, you can stream live videos using VLC player by connecting a Firewire from a cable box to a computer.
Similarly, you can use a webcam as well for live streaming through VLC.
Also, you can use the VLC player as a screen recorder and save the recorded video file on your computer.
Therefore, you will not have to install separate software for such functions that are available in the VLC player.
Further, if you are using Microsoft Windows, you can use Direct Media Objects (DMO) frameworks as well with the support of the VLC player.
Latest Improvements
The VLC browser plugin is the latest addition to the media player, and by using that, you play any audio and video files embedded in websites via the VLC media player.
This feature supports all the popular web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and so on.
So when you go to websites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc., you can directly play the videos and media files embedded in them via VLC without downloading the.
Further, it can play media files that are stored in other devices such as USB flash drives.
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Nowadays, many people use online media streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Cinema APK, Disney, CyberFlix TV, and so on.
So, you can use VLC media player easily on these platforms as well.
The user interface of the newer version is so attractive, and it is easy to navigate. You can also use this media player as a single platform to play around all your media files.
Also, one of the most used features in the VLC media player is its subtitle feature. So it allows you to integrate subtitles from any language.
All you have to do is drag and drop the .srt file to the medial player.
Further, the music and audio equalizer feature allows you to customize the audio on different parameters and set it to your preferred levels.
When it comes to security, VLC does not collect any cookies or browsing data for any other purpose, and the developers respect data privacy.
Unlike other media players, VLC uses all the applicable hardware features in your PC or Mobile to get better decoding.
As a result, you can watch all your movies at their best quality.
Further, the media player supports many languages, and the number is continually growing.
Downsides of the application
Why do Heavy Videos get Stuck?
VLC can decode video files so faster.
However, there could be videos file types like AVI files where some of the video clips are massive in terms of the file size, but the video length is low.
So, in that case, your PC to process that video, and it might use a lot of memory to do that.
Therefore, video files with those characteristics might take an extended time to open and play with VLC media player.
It might happen with any other player as well.
As we all know, for you to play high-quality videos on online platforms, you have to have a faster internet connection.
Otherwise, you will face the video buffering issues.
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Finally, VLC media players can read almost all types of file formats, unlike other similar applications.
VLC Media Player Alternatives
There are some other players that you can find out there which provide similar features to VLC.
Some of those applications are Winamp, Pot player, Kodi, Mplayer, MX player, and so on.
When you compare VLC with those applications, VLC has its own unique features that other apps do not have.
Also, Players like Winamp are well-established and have been there for decades with their own user base.
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So different users prefer different media players according to their desired purposes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Update vlc media player update?You will get VLC software update notifications on the player dashboard. you can also check this page for latest updates
Is vlc media player safe?Yes. we have tested the media player application with VirusTotal technology.