WindowsFAQ-0.8.x

This page contains list of common questions and problems that Windows users have about VLC.

Video output related questions and problems

Why does VLC only give black, white or garbled video output?

Usually the problem lies in display adapter drivers. If you are too scared to update your display adapter drivers you can change VLC settings to make video work. If you are using Windows XP or older the easiest fix is usually to disable Overlay video output which can be found first opening Settings -> Preferences... and then choosing Video. After you have unticked the Overlay video output, press Save to save VLC settings and restart VLC after that to make sure changes are enabled. Image about Overlay video output setting

If disabling Overlay video output doesn't help the next step is to change video output module. Open Settings -> Preferences... and then choosing Video -> Output module (remember to tick Advanced options box). There are multiple output modules you can use. For Windows XP and younger you can try DirectX 3D, DirectX, OpenGL and Windows GDI video output modules. With Windows Vista DirectX and Windows GDI output modules will disable Aero so if you want to use Aero, please use DirectX 3D (should be default). Remember to press Save to save VLC settings and restart VLC after that to make sure changes are enabled. Image about video output modules setting

Direct3D video output is a bit blurry

This is known issue that has been fixed in latest Nightly builds.

Video shows green, blue or red lines

See Why does VLC only give black, white or garbled video output?

Audio output related questions and problems

Crackles, pops, hizzes and other audio anomalies

If you hear some unwanted audio problems you can try another audio output module to see if that solves the issue. Open Settings -> Preferences... and then choosing Audio -> Output module (remember to tick Advanced options box). There are multiple output modules you can use for audio. DirectX and Win32 waveOut should work in most cases. With ASIO only cards, you should try PORTAUDIO.

Crackles, pops, hizzes and other audio anomalies with SPDIF passthrough

SPDIF passthrough of Dolby Digital (AC3) and DTS audiotracks don't work with all soundcards. Win32 waveOut output module should work better with SPDIF and you can also try latest Nightly builds with Win32 waveOut.

I don't hear dialog, conversations etc. while playing 5.1 audio

Make sure you have select proper speaker setup from Windows audio settings or from soundcard control panel. If you have done so, make sure VLC also has right settings. Audio -> Audio Device to select proper speaker settings.

(Graphical) user interface related questions and problems

How can I separate playback controls from playback window?

Go to Settings -> Preferences and Interface -> Main interface -> wxWidgets and untick Embed video in interface selection. Remember to press Save to save VLC settings and restart VLC after that to make sure changes are enabled.

My remote control, media keys or special input device can't control VLC

Current VLC Hotkeys feature doesn't support special mediakeys so you have to bind keys to regular keyboard keys. Latest Nightly builds support mediakeys.

My remote control, media keys or special input device can't control VLC (nightlies)

Make sure you disable other software that might capture those keys while you set those keys in VLC (for example Winamp may cause issues).

Codec compatibility related questions and problems

How can I identify what codecs the file uses

With VLC, Open the file you want and open View -> Stream and Media Info and go to Advanced information tab.

VLC doesn't identify used codecs correctly or gives "undf" as codec or I want more information about specs

There are multiple video and audio identification tools, but one very useful is tool called Mediainfo.

H.264/MPEG-4 AVC playback is too slow

You can speed up the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC playback by disabling loop filter for H.264 decoding. To do this go to Settings -> Preferences and Input / Codecs -> Other codecs -> FFmpeg (remember to tick Advanced options box) and in the drop-down box for Skip the loop filter for H.264 decoding change it to All. Remember to press Save to save VLC settings and restart VLC after that to make sure changes are enabled.

Why can't VLC use CoreAVC, FFDshow, AC3filter codecs?

VLC only uses build in codecs so it doesn't support VfW or DirectShow APIs for codecs.

But you support DMO (Direct Media Object) module for WMV video and WMA audio

WMV and WMA are exceptions to this external codec support.

File and media format compatibility related questions and problems

Some DVD movies don't work at all or they crash/freeze to menu or playback

If you open DVD with DVD (menus) selection, try just plain DVD option (aka dvdsimple).

Some new DVD movies use copy protection mechanisms that VLC doesn't support. It might help if you rip that movie to hard drive using tools like DVDFab Decrypter or AnyDVD and start VLC playback from hard drive.

DVD movies don't playback smooth (they stutter, lag, etc.)

One thing that might help is increasing the VLC DVD cache. This can be done from Settings -> Preferences and Input / Codecs -> Access Modules -> DVD with menus (or DVD without menus if you use dvdsimple method for playback) (remember to tick Advanced options box) and increase Caching value in MS value to for example to 5000 or to 20000.

FLV (Flash Video) rewind doesn't work

This is known issue. It should be fixed in latest Nightly builds.

Some MP4 or 3GP files don't have audio at all

If those files have AMR audio they won't work with current stable VLC versios. You can try latest Nightly builds to see if they work better with AMR audio.

MP4 and MKV rewind time is equal to system uptime

This is known issue. It should be fixed in latest Nightly builds.

Subtitles related questions and problems

How can I select right subtitle track?

If your video has multiple subtitle tracks, you can select the one you would like to see from Video -> Subtitles Track.

Can I disable hardcoded or "burned" subtitles with VLC?

No.

Dragging and dropping the subtitles to VLC disables pause

This is known issue. It will be hopefully fixed in upcoming releases. Only solution is to either open subtitles from Use a subtitles file when you open file you want to watch or trust to Autodetect subtitle files and name the subtitles in same as the movie (for example, my_movie.avi and my_movie.srt).

SSA and ASS subtitles look horrible and don't support all styles

This is known issue. Support should be better in latest Nightly builds.

General problems

VLC crashes/freezes/BSODs my computer

VLC doesn't do that. Normal apps shouldn't be able to cause issues like these to operating systems. Culprit is usually bad device driver (for example display adapter driver, soundcard driver, chipset driver, network adapter driver etc.) or broken hardware.

How do I reset VLC settings?

If you can start VLC, go to Settings -> Preferences... and then press Reset All and Save to reset and save VLC settings. Remember to restart VLC after that to make sure changes are enabled.

If you can't start VLC, go to %appdata% folder and delete vlc folder from there.

VLC crashes on startup

This usually happens because VLC setting files have been corrupted.

I messed up my file associations or I want to modify them

Check this.