{"id":172946,"date":"2021-06-18T12:10:12","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T10:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=172946"},"modified":"2025-07-01T21:03:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T04:03:49","slug":"how-to-fix-3-problems-with-the-vlc-media-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/how-to-fix-3-problems-with-the-vlc-media-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Easily fix 3 problems with VLC Media Player"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>VLC Media Player is one of the most powerful and capable media player tools available for Windows. This utility is usually the utility of choice when it comes to formats of video playback files that Windows Media Player simply doesn\u2019t support. In fact, many users end up <a href=\"https:\/\/vlc-media-player.en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-make-vlc-media-player-default-in-2-easy-ways\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" title=\"making VLC Media PLayer their default media player\">making VLC Media PLayer their default media player<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"VLC Media Player\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-logo-xl,f_auto\/p\/c78b1e6e-96bf-11e6-9f04-00163ed833e7\/4072507636\/vlc-media-player-logo.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">VLC Media Player<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/vlc-media-player.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DOWNLOAD<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/vlc-media-player.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>While VLC Media Player usually delivers outstanding quality playback of various video and audio formats, the tool is not completely exempt from error.&nbsp;In the article below, we\u2019ll highlight the three most prevalent issues that you may encounter while using VLC Media Player. We\u2019ll also show you how to fix them and prevent them from happening again in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 3 most prevalent VLC Media Player Issues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It would be pointless to give you a guide on how to fix the various issues we\u2019ve found with VLC Media Player without first giving you an overview of <strong>what those issues are<\/strong>. We won\u2019t spend long on this section, though.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All three of these issues may present themselves while you\u2019re trying to play a media file, which makes them even more frustrating. The three issues are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>VLC Media Player causing media files to lag, skip, or stutter.<\/li><li>Media files in VLC Media Player becoming scrambled.<\/li><li>VLC Media Player crashing during playback or simply not starting at all.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Below, we\u2019ll take a look at how to fix these issues and ensure that they never plague your VLC Media Player playback experience again. We\u2019ve got<strong> multiple solutions<\/strong> for each failure, so if one doesn\u2019t work, just go ahead and try the others. You should find at least one solution that works for whichever instance of failure you\u2019re experiencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to fix these 3 VLC Media Player problems<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"howto_container schema-howto-acf-block\"><ol><li><div class=\"howto_item\"><h2>Stuttering, Lagging and Skipping<\/h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/How-to-Fix-3-Problems-With-VLC-Media-Player-1.jpg\" alt=\"How to Fix 3 Problems With VLC Media Player\" width=\"450\" height=\"269\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; First solution:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Look for the File Caching option in Settings under Input\/Codecs. Change the value from 300 to 1000 and save.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Second solution: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open the VLC media player, press CTRL + P to show Settings. Select All. Go to <\/span><b>Input\/Codecs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Disable <\/span><b>hardware-accelerated decoding<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Third solution: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open the VLC player, press CTRL + P to show Settings. Go to the <\/span><b>Video Output module <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and try the options until you find one you like.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li><li><div class=\"howto_item\"><h2>If Video Playback is Scrambled<\/h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/How-to-Fix-3-Problems-With-VLC-Media-Player-2.jpg\" alt=\"How to Fix 3 Problems With VLC Media Player\" width=\"512\" height=\"294\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; First solution: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the VLC media player and press CTRL + P to open Preferences. Select Video. Under Display turn off Accelerated video output and save.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Second solution: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open the VLC player, press CTRL + P to show Settings. Select <\/span><b>Input\/Codecs. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find <\/span><b>Advanced <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>Network Caching<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Increase the caching value.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Third solution: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of playing the video from a network drive or DVD, copy it onto your desktop. This often works if nothing else will.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li><li><div class=\"howto_item\"><h2>The VLC Player Crashes<\/h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/How-to-Fix-3-Problems-With-VLC-Media-Player-3.jpg\" alt=\"How to Fix 3 Problems With VLC Media Player\" width=\"512\" height=\"355\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; First solution: Exit the VLC. Double click This PC\/My Computer. Click View and Check for Hidden files. Open C:\\User\\User_Name\\AppData\\Roaming\\VLC. Right-click VLCC and rename it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Solution 2: In File Explorer in Windows 10, find the right 64-bit or 32-bit Program File, click on exe, select Properties and run it in Compatibility Mode.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Solution 3: Try Disabling Pre-loading MKV Files. If that fails, reinstall the VLC player. Uninstall it in Apps and Features, reboot your computer and reinstall the VLC setup from the official website.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li><\/ol><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t.howto_container {\n\t  margin: 0 auto;\n\t}\n\t.howto_container img {\n\t\theight: 100%;\n\t\tmargin-bottom: 30px;\n\t}\n\t\n\t\t  .howto_container h2 {\n\t\t\t  clear: none !important;\n\t\t  }\n\t\t  .howto_container ol {\n\t\t\t  list-style: none !important;\n\t\t  }\t\n\t.howto_container ol li::before {\n\t\tcolor: #ffffff !important;\n\t\tbackground:#0073aa !important;\n\t}\n<\/style>\n\n\t\t\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Keep Your VLC Player Operating Smoothly<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>VLC Media Player has become somewhat of a staple for people who need a tool that can play various media formats. Even though the tool works well most of the time, it has been known to present users with issues every now and again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite this, VLC Media Player has been around for quite a while and is still one of the most reliable such programs for Windows. You can even <a href=\"https:\/\/vlc-media-player.en.softonic.com\/articles\/recording-with-vlc-media-player-in-9-easy-steps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" title=\"record with VLC Media Player these days\">record with VLC Media Player these days<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you run into any issues, try the solutions we\u2019ve outlined above, and you should be good to go again. If you\u2019re looking for other guides for VLC Media Player usage, try our guide on how to edit videos within VLC Media Player.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"How to Edit Video in VLC Media Player\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/t_articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/How-to-Change-the-Background-on-Microsoft-Teams.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">How to Edit Video in VLC Media Player<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/vlc-media-player.en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-edit-video-in-vlc-media-player\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">READ MORE<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/vlc-media-player.en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-edit-video-in-vlc-media-player\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VLC Media Player is one of the most powerful and capable media player tools available for Windows. This utility is usually the utility of choice when it comes to formats of video playback files that Windows Media Player simply doesn\u2019t support. In fact, many users end up making VLC Media PLayer their default media player. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/how-to-fix-3-problems-with-the-vlc-media-player\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Easily fix 3 problems with VLC Media Player&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9222,"featured_media":202782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":1},"categories":[2441],"tags":[2321],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-172946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionvlc-media-player"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172946"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324680,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172946\/revisions\/324680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172946"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=172946"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=172946"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=172946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}