View source for VLC HowTo/Play multiple instances

{{Howto|play multiple instances of VLC media player}}
In version 0.8.5 it was easy to have multiple instances of VLC playing each with its unique stream of data. 

== Graphical ==
=== Windows ===
In versions 2.1.x and 3.x.x playing multiple VLC instances and different streams in each is as easy as ''clicking'' '''Tools → Preferences...''' (or just ''press'' '''<kbd>Ctrl+P</kbd>'''): 
[[File:Play2instances.jpeg|framed|after ''unticking'' the two checkboxes it should look like this,then ''click'' on '''save''']]
*in the '''Interface''' tab ''scroll down'' to '''playlist and instances''' 
*''untick checkbox'' '''Allow only one instance'''
*''untick checkbox'' '''use only one instance when started from file manager'''
* ''Press'' '''Save'''.
::This allows users to use more than one VLC player at a time. Once you've done the above you should be able to play as many VLC instances and video or audio files as you like.

=== macOS ===
On the Mac, running multiple instances of VLC is not supported out of the box.

As a workaround, you can create a Droplet/App that does the following: 

* launch the VLC droplet/app to get a separate instance of VLC,
* drop one or more files onto VLC droplet/app, or
* associate your .mov, .avi, and other files directly with the VLC droplet/app, allowing you to simply click on the files to launch the files in a new standalone VLC session.

Paste the code below into a new AppleScript Editor script and save it as an application. 
<syntaxhighlight lang="applescript">on run
    do shell script "open -n /Applications/VLC.app"
    tell application "VLC" to activate
end run

on open theFiles
    repeat with theFile in theFiles
        do shell script "open -na /Applications/VLC.app " & quote & (POSIX path of theFile) & quote
    end repeat
    tell application "VLC" to activate
end open
</syntaxhighlight>

File Association with the Droplet/App can be done as follows: 
# ''Open'' '''Finder''' and find the video file of interest
# ''Right click'' on the file (assumes you have right click enabled)
# Choose '''Get Info'''
# Under '''Open with:''', click '''dropdown''' and select the VLC droplet/app
# ''Click'' '''Change All''' button
# If prompted "are you sure", ''select'' "Yes".

== Command-line ==
Use the option <code>--no-one-instance</code>.

On *nix systems you can create background jobs:
 {{Prompt|bash}} vlc --no-one-instance file1.ogg & vlc --no-one-instance file2.ogg
On Windows systems you might use [https://ss64.com/nt/start.html START]:
 {{Prompt|cmd}} START "VLC media player" {{Path to VLC|windows}} "--no-one-instance file1.ogg" && START "VLC media player" {{Path to VLC|windows}} "--no-one-instance file2.ogg"

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[[Category:How To]]