VLC player supports most operating systems (Mac OS X, MS Windows, Linux, Solaris, etc.), read almost every media format (MPEG, MPG, AVI, MP3, MKV, DVD, etc.), provides excellent audio and video quality, it doesn't take much space and allows users to convert files too. If your VLC video freezes in between or is not responding, then you can just forcefully quit the application from running in the background. To do that, you can go to Finder and click on the 'Force Quit Applications' feature. Alternatively, you can press the Command + Option + Esc keys at the same time. How to Stop VLC Video Player From Freezing Or Crashing When Playing A Video?When VLC Video player stops, sometimes it's not possible to start it any more. Restart VLC Media player and see if the issue is now resolved. Disabling Hardware Acceleration on VLC Media Player. In case you’re still encountering frequent stuttering and crashing when you attempt to play.MKV files with VLC Media Player, move down to the next method below. If your VLC Player freezes at the very beginning of the video’s playback, then the cause could very much likely be the wrong output setting. The fix to this problem is easy. Just switch the output setting to another mode, which will also be introduced later in the article. Possible cause 3: Corrupted files or hardware configuration error.

The VLC media player is an open-source multimedia platform which is available in Operating system as well as in mobile such as iOS, Windows 10, Android, Linux and more. It was developed by the VideoLAN project in February (2001).

Though it’s an old app it still gives best movie quality but now Windows 10 users are encountering some issues such as VLC media player not working, VLC media player crashing, lagging, scrambled video, and more.

Well, these are pretty common issues that users are reporting in the forum thread.

If you are among those users that are troubled with VLC Media Player Problems then check out the working solutions mentioned below in this article on How to Fix VLC Media Player Problems.

Along with solutions also get to know why VLC player not working and what can be done to make it work.

VLC Media Player Problems

There are numerous problems in VLC media player that interrupts you from watching videos. Some of the common problems are stated below along with their solutions. Go ahead find which problem you are facing and solve it.

How to Fix VLC Media Player Problems?

Several ways are there to make your VLC work properly. Go through the solutions one by one to fix VLC not working properly Windows 10.

1: VLC Media Player Is Lagging/Shuttering

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If your VLC lagging then you can fix this issue by following the solutions given below:

Solution 1: Change the caching value

• Open the VLC player and press Ctrl + P to open Preference
• At the bottom of the page, you will see Show settings with two options, select All.

• Now, go to the Input/Codes section and search for File caching option.
• Change the value from 300 to 1000 and click on Save.

Solution 2: Try Disabling Hardware decoding

Some users have found saying that after disabling Hardware decoding their VLC player stuttering issue is solved. Follow the steps to disable hardware decoding:

• Open VLC player and press CTRL + P>show settings, select All
• Go to the Input/Codes section
• Navigate Hardware-accelerated decoding and Disable it

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After performing the above steps VLC player shuttering issue will be solved.

Solution 3: Change the Video Output Module

If you are facing Video lagging issue in VLC media player then simply change the output module by following the steps:

• • Open VLC player and press CTRL + P>show settings, select All
  • Go to the Video Output module
  • Select the output module one after the another till you find the one that will work for you.

2: Scrambled Video Playback In VLC Player

Solution 1: Turn Off Accelerated Video Output

• Open VLC player
• Press CRTL + P to open Preferences.
• Select ‘Video’
• Under ‘Display’ settings, turn off ‘Accelerated video output’
• Click on ‘Save’

Now, try playing the video file to see if the scrambling is gone.

Solution 2: Increase the Network Caching Rate

• Open VLC player
• Press CTRL +P
• Select ‘All’ under the ‘Show Settings’ at the bottom.

• Select the ‘Input/Codecs’
• Look for the ‘Advanced’ section and ‘Network Caching (ms)’.

• Increase the value of this caching and then try playing the video again.

This will take a minute trial but increasing the network caching rate will fix the scrambled video playback in VLC.

Solution 3: Play the Media from different Local Drive

If you are playing a video file from a network drive or an external or network drive or Windows 10 DVD, then try copying it to your desktop and then play it.

This will work if the file that is played without any difficulties suddenly starts stuttering while playback. Sometimes, drives go into a sleep state and VLC stops working properly. So, it will be beneficial for you if move your media to local storage.

This way scrambled video playback in VLC issue will be solved and moreover, the issue won’t occur anymore.

3: VLC Media Player Keeps Crashing

VLC media keeps crashing because of several reasons like unrecognized data including the problem with the pre-loading of MKV files.

If you are facing VLC player keeps crashing then follow the below-given solutions to fix crashing issue.

Solution 1: Fix Corrupt Files

• Exit VLC
• Double click on This PC/My Computer
• Click on the View tab and check for Hidden files
• Open the directory:

C:UserUser_NameAppDataRoamingVLC

• Right-click on the file named vlcrc and Rename it

Solution 2: Compatibility Settings

Compatibility settings in Windows will allow you to run the programs in the current version of Windows. Run VLC in compatibility mode to fix VLC keeps crashing windows 10.

Follow the steps:

• Open File Explorer
• Navigate the Directory:

Windows 64 bit: C:Program Files (x86)VideoLANVLC

Windows 32-bit: C:Program FilesVideoLANVLC

• Right-click on exe and select properties
• Click on the compatibility tab
• Check on the Run this program in compatibility mode for and select Windows previous version

• Click on OK

Solution 3: Try Disabling Pre-loading MKV Files

Some Windows users have fixed there VLC media player keeps crashing issue by disabling the pre-loading MKV files. Follow the steps to do so:

• Open VLC media player
• Press CTRL + P to open preferences
• At the bottom of the page select All>show settings

• Expand the nodes given below:

Input/ Codecs

Demuxers

Matroska

• Un-tick the Pre-load MKV files
• Click Save.

Solution 4: Reinstall VLC player

If your VLC media player keeps crashing issue is not solved by any of the above-given solutions then try reinstalling VLC player to fix this issue.

Follow the steps to uninstall and reinstall VLC:

• Press Windows + X key
• Select Apps and Features
• Select VLC media player and uninstall it
• Reboot your computer
• Re-install the VLC setup from the official website
• Double-click on the installer and follow the instructions on the screen

Or you can try Revo Uninstaller that will help you to uninstall programs.

Get Revo Uninstaller to Uninstall Programs Completely

4: VLC Not Working Properly

Many users are asking the same question why is my VLC player not working? To solve this issue, go through the solutions provided below.

Solution 1: Alter Power Settings

To reduce power consumption if your PC is in Battery Saver mode, your usage of hardware is reduced. For the smooth playing of HD, video hardware demands more power.

High performances power consumes access to power which drains battery life. So, to keep power supply at medium and also to have an HD video player you need to change power settings in order to extend battery life in Windows 10.

Follow the steps to do so:

• Go to the Control Panel and click on the Power Options.
• Click on the radio button with High performance

Now adjust it according to your PC.

Solution 2: Alter FFmpeg audio/video decoder

If you facing lagging issue in VLC media player with MKV file, then change the number of FFmpeg threads that are used for transcoding multimedia files to the value 2.

Follow the steps to change the settings:

• Open the VLC media player and click on the Tools.
• From Tools drop-down menu, go to the Preference from the tools drop-down menu or press CTRL + P to open
• At the bottom of the page select All under show settings
• Click on the Input/ Codecs section
• Go to the Video codecs
• Expand the Video codecs and click on the FFmpeg.

• Search for Threads option and change its value to 2.
• Click on Save to apply the changes.

Check your Windows PC/Laptop Health

If your system is not responding well, gets freezes or crashing in between any task then it is advised you to scan your PC/Laptop with PC Repair Tool.

This tool is skilled in fixing various PC related issues, recover damaged/corrupt files, scan for viruses and others. It is easy to use and improves Windows performances.

Get PC Repair Tool to Fix Errors and Enhance PC Performances

Conclusion

Well, that’s all about VLC media player not working issue. Above provided solutions will help you to fix all VLC related issues.

Apply the solutions one by one to get rid of VLC keeps crashing Windows 10.

Hope this article helped you in solving your VLC related issues such as crashing, lagging, scrambled video and more.

However, if you have any suggestion or questions regarding this article then feel free to share it in the below-given comment section.

Neha Kumari

Being a professional badminton player, Neha has won many awards in school and college level. During her college days, she also developed a passion for computer-related stuff which lead her to become a technical writer indeed. She writes so that other people can benefit from her acquired knowledge.

VLC users may always find themselves running into many kinds of glitch during video playback, and the 'VLC freezes during playback' problem is the most commonly seen one. Why does VLC freeze? How to fix VLC freezing during playback? Well, read on and I'm sure this article will help.

Part 1: Why Does VLC Freeze

To help you get a better understanding of why your VLC freezes during playback, I have listed several possible causes for your reference. Take a look at the possible causes below, check them one by one and determine which one the reason is caused the freezing glitch for your VLC Player so that you can move on and apply the corresponding solution to fix the problem.

Possible cause 1: System running out of memory

When playing a video, VLC Player uses a certain amount of your computer’s memory or RAM to preload the video content so that you can get smooth video playback. VLC takes a certain portion of the video from the hard drive, and temporarily save it in your computer’s memory, and from there, the player accesses it and plays it. When the memory of your computer is not sufficient for the player to preload the video, your VLC player may freeze.

This may happen mostly when you are playing an HD video because HD videos usually need more RAM to preload. If you are playing an online streaming video with VLC, insufficient cache space could also cause the player freezing. If you realize that the playback always freezes after about the same amount of time of playing, then this might be the case. You can try assigning more RAM for VLC to cache the video to fix the problem. The detailed steps on how to do that will be introduced later in this article.

Possible cause 2: Wrong output setting

VLC is an all-inclusive media player, meaning it can play various kinds of video material. Sometimes different video formats need different output methods to be decoded and played properly. If you are using a wrong decode or output setting to play the video, then VLC could freeze when the playback starts.

If your VLC Player freezes at the very beginning of the video’s playback, then the cause could very much likely be the wrong output setting. The fix to this problem is easy. Just switch the output setting to another mode, which will also be introduced later in the article.

Possible cause 3: Corrupted files or hardware configuration error

A corrupted video file could also lead to the VLC freezing problem. If you find your video always freezing at the same time point, then the problem might have nothing to do with the player, but the file itself. Use another player or try to play the file on some other devices. If the problem remains, it means your file is corrupted or damaged, and there’s not much you can do about it.

When VLC video freezes audio continues, then it might be the hardware acceleration error. In this case, you either change your graphics card and use a card that has HEVC hardware acceleration support or disable the hardware acceleration function and try to play the video again.

Part 2: How to Solve VLC Freezing Issue

After figuring out why VLC freezes, you can start to try fixing the problem according to the nature of your glitch. Here are some fixes that usually work on the VLC freezing glitches.

Fix 1: Increase Cache values.

If you think the VLC freezing problem is caused by the insufficient cache space or system memory, like mentioned in the last part, you can try changing the cache value and assigning more memory space for the video playback. Here is how to do it.

Step 1: Launch VLC Player. In the toolbar, click “Tools”, and then choose “Preferences”.

Step 2: In the preference settings window, some of the advanced options are hidden by default. To show all the options, select “All” in the “Show settings” area.

Step 3: In Advanced settings, click on the parent option marked “Input / Codecs”. On the right window, find the “Advanced” area, and then change the values for “File caching (ms)” from 300 to a higher value like 1000 or 2000. To fix disc and online streaming playback problems, you can also do some altering to the “Disc caching (ms)” and “Network caching (ms)”

Fix 2: Change Video Output Setting

As introduced above, if your VLC freezing problem happens at the very beginning of the video playback, then it could be the wrong video output setting that caused the problem. To change video output setting, follow the instructions below.

Step 1: Launch VLC Player. In the toolbar, click on “Tools”, and then “Preferences”.

Step 2: Find “Video” from the presented options and click on it.

Step 3: In Video Settings, under “Output” there is a dropdown box. Change the value in that box to switch output settings. If the value was “DirectX”, change it to “OpenGL” and vice versa. Also try “Automatic” as well.

Fix 3: Check the media file and hardware configuration

Sometimes the VLC freezing problem may not be caused by the player software, but the hardware or the file itself. Like suggested in the last part, double-check the video file to see whether it’s damaged, or try using an HDMI cable to connect your monitor to your computer as it provides better transmission quality for media signals

Part 3: Alternative Player for Your Computer - Leawo Blu-ray Player

The above would be the most possible causes and most practical solutions to the VLC freezing problem. If trying all of the solutions doesn't solve your problem, then it’s highly recommended that you use a VLC alternative player to play your video. Leawo Blu-ray Player, for example, is a good replacement when VLC does not serve you properly.

Leawo Blu-ray Player is widely considered one of the best VLC Player alternatives. Like VLC, Leawo Blu-ray Player is also capable of playing almost all of the popular video formats you can possibly have. Besides that, as the name suggests, you can play all kinds of Blu-ray materials and DVD materials easily as well. Leawo Blu-ray Player has many unique features that are hard to be found in any other similar programs, like completely free 4K playback, useful power manager, custom skin / language / background options, and the ability to play Blu-ray across region. With Leawo Blu-ray Player, you can freely play any digital or physical video materials without worrying about the player freezing problem because another feature of Leawo Blu-ray Player is that the player is very stable and compatible in general.

Part 4: Comparison between VLC and Leawo Blu-ray Player

Leawo Blu-ray Player is a nice replacement when you are having problem with VLC Player. To let you have a better understanding of the Leawo Blu-ray Player, let’s have a simple comparison between Leawo Blu-ray Player and VLC Player.

Firstly, VLC Player has indeed captured a ton of loyal users by its powerful decoding ability and great word of mouth. VLC Player was firstly released in 2011 and has accumulated a lot of experience for the media playing technology in these years. However, after years of evolution, VLC still keeps the same old look and the same old glitches like freezing during playback, which may not be a great deal, but still could be annoying for some users. However, Leawo Blu-ray Player, on the other hand, is more stable, more compatible and has a more user-friendly software design that would make most of the users like this software in the first sight. So, I guess in general, you can say VLC and Leawo Blu-ray Player each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Secondly, because Leawo Blu-ray Player was developed later than VLC Player, it has a lot of advanced technologies applied in the first place. 4K lossless playback, region-free Blu-ray support, dedicated Virtual Remote Controller for disc menus, all of the functions and features are like the frosting on the cake, making Leawo Blu-ray Player a handier, more practical and more modern Blu-ray/DVD and digital video player program.

Part 5: Conclusion

Today with this article, we discussed something about the VLC freezing glitch, including why VLC freezes, how to solve the problem when VLC freezes during playback, and ultimately, the best VLC alternative when you can’t fix the problem and decide to go with another replacement program.

As you can see, the VLC freezing problem is a very commonly seen glitch for the player. As long as you can determine what the cause is, it’s actually not hard to fix the glitch. But in case you want to try a more stable and more modern video player, Leawo Blu-ray Player definitely deserves to be your first choice as it is just as good as VLC Player, and has even more practical functions. With the solid software quality, Leawo Blu-ray Player can definitely make your video or Blu-ray/DVD playback more convenient and more enjoyable.