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The article explains how to fix VLC doesn’t work in the windows. One of the often used multimedia software programs on various devices is VLC Media Player. On Windows systems, it may be the best replacement for Windows Media Player. A VLC Media Player allows you to watch your favorite TV episodes, movies or private videos. However, there have been cases of VLC Media Player playing errors when launched on a Windows 11 PC.
The world’s leading free open source cross-platform media player is VLC. This media player offers features including high quality video, subtitle control and compatibility with other gadgets. However, several users have recently voiced their displeasure with VLC media player malfunctioning on Windows 11. Corrupted cache data is the main culprit for issues like this. But there are many additional reasons why users might get this issue. Learn how to fix VLC media player not working on Windows 11, keep reading this post. Here are the steps to fix VLC not working issue.
7 Ways to Fix VLC Not Working on Windows 11/10
Restart your PC and VLC media player
Sometimes the internal glitches and bugs start to cause various issues and have already been highlighted above these internal issues or bugs on your Windows that can result in the VLC media player application not working issue. So, in this situation, the quick fix that helps you to solve the problem is to restart your PC and VLC player to fix the problem. To restart the system, follow the instructions below:
Step 1: Go to windows
Step 2: Next, click on Power button and select the Restart option.
Follow the instructions below to restart the VLC media player:
Step 1: Press Ctrl+Alt+Del keys simultaneously to start the menu.
Step 2: Then select Task Manager from the displayed list.
Step 3: then go to Law Suit tab and search for VLC media player
Step 4: Once found, click on it and click on End Task button in the background.
Delete Corrupted VLC Cache
Another possible reason for VLC not working issue is corrupt or overloaded cache in VLC media player. If the app got overloaded with cache and over time they got corrupted then VLC might have a hard time working. Overloaded or corrupted cache develops internal issues within the application which later result in such issues occurring in the application. So, you need to delete the cache accumulated in VLC to get rid of the problem.
Step 1: Firstly, close the VLC media player application.
Step 2: Then press Ctrl + R keys at the same time to open the Run menu.
Step 3: Now type %AppData%VLC in the run dialog and press Enter. This will open the VLC cache folder.
Step 4: Here, delete all displayed folders by selecting them all at once.
Step 5: Once deleted, launch the VLC app and check if you can stream videos or music in VLC or go to the next solution.
Increase cache values
When playing heavy or large videos without keeping enough cache limit, you will end up facing various issues and VLC not working is one of them. So here you deal with the problem by increasing the cache value. Increase cache value in VLC media player by following below steps:
Step 1: Launch VLC on your Windows 11.
Step 2: Then click on Tools and visit preferences tab.
Step 3: Then select the Show Settings option and choose All in the lower left corner.
Step 4: Now select the option Input/ Codecs. Here, change the File Cache (ms) to 2000 or higher.
Step 5: Finally, tap on Save and restart VLC to check whether it is working or not.
update windows
Most of the time, outdated version of Windows creates this issue in VLC media player. The outdated version of Windows over time develops various issues that conflict with the other applications on Windows resulting in the creation of such issues. Therefore, it is recommended to update your Windows version to resolve the issue. If you are using the Home Windows 11 version, try to update it to the latest version available. You can check and update your Windows version by following the guided steps below:
Step 1: Go to the Windows Settings panel.
Step 2: Then select the option Update and security and in the Windows Update section check for updates accessible.
Step 3: Finally, download the update, if available, by clicking the Download & Install option.
Now wait until the process is completed, once done, restart your PC and launch VLC media player to check if it is working or not.
Update GPU Drivers
Another solution to resolve the VLC not working issue on Windows 11 is to update the GPU drivers to the latest available version. So if you have not updated your drivers for a long time then you will have to face this issue in VLC player. So if you have found outdated or old drivers as the culprit behind VLC media player not working then try to deal with the situation updating GPU drivers to the latest available version. You just need to follow the steps below as instructed to update the drivers:
Step 1: Open the Run menu by pressing Win + R keys completely.
Step 2: Then, in the Run dialog box, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter.
Step 3: Now, in Device Manager, expand the Display adapters section by double clicking on it and select the graphics driver from the list.
Step 4: Right-click the driver and tap update driver option.
Step 5: After that, wait for Windows to download the updated drivers.
Step 6: Once downloaded, follow the onscreen instructions to install the update.
Step 7: Finally, restart your PC and check if the issue still persists in VLC or not.
Change video output mode
Another potential solution to fix this issue in VLC is to change the video output mode. So if your VLC finds problems to work then try to solve the problem just by modifying the video output mode. For that, you just need to follow the steps below:
Step 1: Launch VLC on your Windows 11.
Step 2: Visit the Tools section and select the preferences tab.
Now, go to the Video section and check the boxes to Enable Video and Windows Decorations.
Step 1: Then expand the drop-down menu next to Output.
Step 2: Then choose DirectX Video Output (DirectDraw).
Step 3: Once selected, tap Save to keep the changes made and exit the VLC player.
Step 4: Finally, restart the VLC application and see if it is working or not.
Reinstall VLC
Sometimes corrupted installation files can trouble you with these issues. So if somehow while installing VLC media player your process gets interrupted or remains incomplete then you may encounter this issue in VLC. Here, in this scenario, try to deal with the issue by uninstalling the app and then reinstalling it to fix the issue. Follow the steps below to do this:
Step 1: Visit Windows Start and go to settings.
Step 2: Now select the apps and then applications and features.
Step 3: Locate the VLC application in the displayed list and right-click on it.
Step 4: Then click on the Uninstall option.
Step 5: Once uninstalled, visit the VLC installation folder to delete the remaining files. Follow the steps below guide to do it:
Step 6: Open Run by pressing Win + R keys completely.
When not deleting the remaining configuration files, download new VLC files from Microsoft Store. To do this, follow the instructions below:
Conclusion
Here they are final of the article how to fix VLC not working on Windows 11/10. A problem has been reported by several users when checking for updates in VLC. If something bothers you, read our page to find out how to resolve this. That’s all we have to say about how to fix VLC media player on Windows 11 at this time. Please let us know in the comments section below if this advice was helpful. The article is complete and now you know how to solve VLC not working issue on Windows 10/11.