How to Fix VLC Not Working on Windows 11

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As soon as we think about playing videos inside our computer, with absolute immediacy the first program that comes to mind is VLC media player . However, being regarded as one of the best players for video playback doesn’t mean it’s perfect. In fact, during the last period many users, especially in possession of users who use Windows PCs with Windows 11 operating system, have encountered anomalies during use. In this post, we will discuss what are the causes of VLC not working problem on Windows 11 and what to do to overcome this problem.

The topics of the post [ hide ]

  • 1Possible causes that would lead VLC not to work on Windows 11
  • 2How to Fix VLC Not Working on Windows 11
    • 11] Disable hardware decoding
    • 22] Configure the video output settings
    • 33] Reset File Settings & Network Cache
    • 44] Reset VLC
    • 55] Update VLC Media Player
    • 66] Reinstalla VLC Media Player

Possible causes that would lead VLC not to work on Windows 11

VLC Media Player may stop working on Windows PC when your device encounters one or a combination of the following problems:

  • You have the VLC program downloaded from third party sites
  • Hardware decoding enabled
  • Automatic configuration of video outputs
  • Problems within files, disks and network

How to Fix VLC Not Working on Windows 11

Now that we have seen the possible causes that could lead to a malfunction of the VLC program inside your computer, you just have to follow one of the solutions listed to solve this problem.

Tip: If you have installed VLC from third party sites and it has stopped working or opening, it is best to install it by visiting its official site. This will prevent your device from becoming vulnerable to online threats or malware.

1] Disable hardware decoding

VLC player malfunction in Windows 11 sometimes occurs if you use hardware decoding or hardware acceleration on the media player. This happens because your system cannot properly process the request. To fix this, we are now going to disable hardware acceleration on VLC . Here’s how to do this:

  • Press Win + S and search for VLC in the text field.
  • Click on the best match result to launch VLC Media Player.
  • Go to Tools > Preferences and click on the All option . You can find this option in Show Settings, available in the lower left corner.
  • On the next screen, select the Input / Codec section .
  • Expand the Video Codec menu by clicking on the “ > ” available on the left side.
  • Select FFmpeg and move to the right side.
  • Scroll down to Hardware Decoding and using its drop-down menu, select Disable .
  • Click Save to confirm the previous changes and restart VLC.

2] Configure the video output settings

VLC Media Player automatically chooses the output device from those available. However, if after trying the first VLC method it still doesn’t work, I recommend that you set the output manually. Here’s how to manually configure the output settings on VLC:

  • Launch VLC first and go to Tools > Preferences .
  • Go to the next Video tab.
  • Use the drop-down menu available next to Output and select DirectX .
  • Click Save to confirm the latest changes and close VLC.
  • Now, check if this media player works efficiently.

3] Reset File Settings & Network Cache

Sometimes VLC media player may not work due to cache stored on file, disk or network. To work around this problem, you need to restore the default settings. Here’s how to do this:

  • Launch VLC Media Playerfirst .
  • Go to Tools > Preferences and select the All radio button available in “ Show settings ”.
  • Select the Input / Codec option in the left pane and go to the right pane.
  • Scroll down to the Advanced section and make the following changes:
  • Caching of files – 300
  • Disk caching – 300
  • Network caching – 1000
  • Click Save to confirm the above changes and restart the VLC media player.
  • Restart VLC and check if it starts working normally.

4] Reset VLC

If you have noticed that VLC has stopped working after you have made some changes to the program, what remains for you to do is to reset the media player to the initial settings.

Here’s how to restore VLC on Windows 11/10:

  • Open VLC and go to Tools > Preferences .
  • Under Privacy / Network Interaction , click Reset Preferences .
  • Wait for VLC to restore its default settings and close it.
  • Restart VLC and check if it works properly.
  • If the problem persists, update or uninstall / reinstall VLC again.

5] Update VLC Media Player

VLC regularly brings new patches to fix the problems that occur on it. If during the last period you have not checked if there were any updates to be made, it is best to try to update it.

Here’s how to check for updates on VLC and install them:

  • First of all, launch the VLC media player and go to the Help tab .
  • Click Check for Updates when the help menu expands.

Check for vlc updates

  • If there are any pending updates on your PC, the same will be displayed in a pop-up window.
  • Click Yes when prompted to download the latest version of VLC.
  • If there are any pending updates on your PC, the same will be displayed in a pop-up window.
  • Click Yes when prompted to download the latest version of VLC.

6] Reinstalla VLC Media Player

VLC is open source software and is available on several third party websites. When you get its installation file from there, you often end up installing bloatware. This happens because (third party sites) also include their own scripts, with the VLC installation file. While it will work, and you won’t notice anything abnormal at first, it may sometimes stop working for no reason.

If you remember downloading its installation file elsewhere, I suggest you visit its official site and download the latest updates from there. Make sure you download the 64-bit architecture version as Windows 11 only supports this and the ARM64 architecture on it. Do it and check if the problem is solved that way.

 

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