file.wiki

Software

VLC media player

by VideoLAN · GPL-2.0

96/100how this is calculated

VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files, and various streaming protocols.

Getting the right VLC media player download

VideoLAN publishes VLC directly and it is free in both senses, with no paid version anywhere. That is worth stating plainly because paid "VLC" listings turn up regularly in app stores and search ads.

The .exe is the ordinary installer. There is also an .msi, which is the one to use for deployment because it takes standard Windows Installer switches.

VLC plays effectively everything without extra codecs, which is the whole reason to install it. If a site offers you a codec pack alongside a VLC download, that is a signal to leave.

Installing it does not make it the default player

On current Windows the default handler for each file type is a per-user setting the installer cannot force. You set it in Settings, Default apps, or by right-clicking a file once and choosing Always.

Record

Latest version
3.0.23
Release date
31 Dec 2025
Official page
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Minimum Windows
6.1.7600.0
Package identifier
VideoLAN.VLC
Command
vlc

Official downloads

These URLs are the ones VideoLAN declares in its own manifest. We do not proxy or shorten them, and we do not host a copy.

More than one architecture below. Check which one your Windows is if you are not sure.

Verify the file you downloaded

Run this against the file on disk. If the output does not match the hash below, the file is not what VideoLAN published. Delete it.

Windows · PowerShell

Get-FileHash "vlc-3.0.23-win64.exe" -Algorithm SHA256

macOS · Linux

shasum -a 256 "vlc-3.0.23-win64.exe"

Expected output

20ad191348684b470ddc4e05204316f3d8e39655f412b3e392a0eef97639daaf

Got a different hash, or one you cannot place? Paste it into the hash checker and it will tell you which program and version it belongs to, past releases included.

Install VLC media player silently

This installer is an MSI package, so it takes the standard Windows Installer switches. That is a property of MSI itself rather than something the publisher declared.

32-bit · machine scope · MSI convention

msiexec /i "vlc-3.0.23-win32.msi" /qn /norestart

64-bit · machine scope · MSI convention

msiexec /i "vlc-3.0.23-win64.msi" /qn /norestart

ARM64 · machine scope · MSI convention

msiexec /i "vlc-3.0.23-winarm64.msi" /qn /norestart

Deploying VLC media player properly

VideoLAN publishes an MSI alongside the ordinary .exe, and the MSI is the one to deploy: standard switches, predictable behaviour, no NSIS quirks.

The .exe is a Nullsoft installer and takes an uppercase /S, which matters because the lowercase /s does nothing at all. That single detail is behind most reports that VLC ignores its silent switch.

File associations are the part people forget. Deploying VLC does not make it the default player: on current Windows the default handler for a file type is set per user and cannot be forced by the installer, so it belongs in your user configuration rather than the install command.

Run it from the folder holding the downloaded file, in a terminal opened as administrator when the package installs for all users. Silent means no window and no prompts, so check the exit code rather than waiting for something to appear: 0 is success and 3010 means it worked but wants a reboot.

Silent install commands for every program we index · silent uninstall

Uninstall VLC media player cleanly

Every guide on this tells you to hunt for the product code with Get-WmiObject or in the registry. You do not need to: it is published in the installer manifest, and it is printed below.

Product code · 32-bit

{BB07A485-B145-41C5-B5AB-FDBDE0FBC69C}

Uninstall, with the usual prompts

msiexec /x {BB07A485-B145-41C5-B5AB-FDBDE0FBC69C}

Silent, for deployment

msiexec /x {BB07A485-B145-41C5-B5AB-FDBDE0FBC69C} /qn /norestart

Product code · 64-bit

{5DFCA3BF-178E-42E2-9CEF-37A44B9FF90A}

Uninstall, with the usual prompts

msiexec /x {5DFCA3BF-178E-42E2-9CEF-37A44B9FF90A}

Silent, for deployment

msiexec /x {5DFCA3BF-178E-42E2-9CEF-37A44B9FF90A} /qn /norestart

Product code · ARM64

{77F10EE3-FBC7-4631-B67C-7FBC67BAF9D4}

Uninstall, with the usual prompts

msiexec /x {77F10EE3-FBC7-4631-B67C-7FBC67BAF9D4}

Silent, for deployment

msiexec /x {77F10EE3-FBC7-4631-B67C-7FBC67BAF9D4} /qn /norestart

The product code changes with every version

The codes above belong to VLC media player 3.0.23, the version in our index. If you have an older release installed, its code is different and this command will report that the product is not installed. In that case run Get-Package -Name "VLC*" in PowerShell to read the code of what you actually have.

This removes the program as the publisher packaged it. Settings and files created after installation, typically under AppData, are deliberately left behind by the uninstaller and have to be deleted by hand if you want them gone.

Reinstalling and hitting error 1638? That is this same product code, and the command above is the fix.

Product codes for every program we index, with the msiexec switches and how to read the code off your own machine.

Download VLC media player for Mac

The macOS build as Homebrew declares it, with the same treatment as the Windows side: the publisher's own URL and a hash to check it against.

Version on Homebrew
3.0.23
File name
vlc-3.0.23-arm64.dmg
Download URL
https://get.videolan.org/vlc/3.0.23/macosx/vlc-3.0.23-arm64.dmg
SHA-256
fc6fac08d87f538517d44aca0c5e7a244b67c8c4cb589bf478363a7315fd5e0d
Install with Homebrew
brew install --cask vlc

How we scored this 96 out of 100

SignalFindingPoints
SHA-256 hash published9 of 9 installers ship a SHA-256 hashWithout a published hash there is no way to prove the file you downloaded is the file the publisher built.30 / 30
Binary provenance9 on the publisher's own domainThe strongest signal against a repackaged installer: the file should come from the publisher, not from a mirror nobody vouches for.35 / 35
Served over HTTPS9 of 9 over HTTPSAn installer fetched over plain HTTP can be modified in transit.15 / 15
Release recencylast release about 8 months agoSoftware that has not shipped in years accumulates unpatched vulnerabilities.11 / 15
Licence declaredGPL-2.0A declared licence tells you what you are actually allowed to do with the software.5 / 5

Opens 140 file types

Extensions VLC media player registers itself to handle.

Is VLC media player safe to download?

Yes, in the sense we can actually verify: the installer downloads from videolan.org, which is a domain we have tied to VideoLAN.

Every one of the 9 installers on this page comes with the SHA-256 VideoLAN declared, so you do not have to take our word for it: hash the file you downloaded and compare.

What this does not tell you is whether the software itself is any good, or whether you want what it does once installed. A publisher can ship something you would rather not run and the download is still authentic. We answer the question we can measure and leave the other one to you.

If Windows says “Windows protected your PC” when you run it, that is SmartScreen reporting reputation, not a malware verdict — it shows up on perfectly legitimate software from small publishers and on releases that are simply new. The reverse matters more: no warning does not mean the file was checked.

How the 96/100 score is calculated · why the source matters more than the reputation

Install VLC media player with winget

Windows ships with a package manager, and this program is in it. The identifier below is the one Microsoft's repository uses, which is also where the download URL and hash on this page come from.

Install

winget install --id VideoLAN.VLC --exact

Upgrade later

winget upgrade --id VideoLAN.VLC

Why --exact: without it winget matches on name as well as identifier, and a search that returns more than one package makes it stop and ask rather than install. Pinning the identifier is what makes the command safe to put in a script.

Not installing anything, or getting an error back? The commands that actually come up covers upgrading everything at once, what --include-unknown is for, and why winget can be missing from a machine that should have it.

Old versions of VLC media player13 with hashes

The version history of VLC media player, each release with the download URL the publisher declared at the time and the SHA-256 to check it against. Useful when an update breaks something and you need to downgrade to a build that worked.

We do not host any of these files and never re-upload them, which is the difference between this and an old-version download site.

3.0.22

released 27 Nov 2025
  • vlc-3.0.22-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    ACF41F6C3C16278CC2F4849930FD3886EC88DFB8C883641ABF7928A8DB2309AE

  • vlc-3.0.22-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    2B0FD78DB01144FF9467A9FD6F8AF680DBD9AA20653878E156081DC809F1F9DE

  • vlc-3.0.22-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    01E670ABDE72D37062B3B0F005B0963F7FD460D2C410E39AE52E53FC74034835

  • vlc-3.0.22-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    48D357C0676A263B0354C555CDB118D228B109A0FC8410374F0E9B437C056495

3.0.21

  • vlc-3.0.21-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    9742689A50E96DDC04D80CEFF046B28DA2BEEFD617BE18166F8C5E715EC60C59

  • vlc-3.0.21-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    4BD03202B6633F9611B3FC8757880A9B2B38C7C0C40ED6BCBEFEC71C0099D493

3.0.20

  • vlc-3.0.20-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    CE1FE655B7CD8E11A55DDE25502F42E0BF0A9D3BC0556583B6A841FA37E88F02

  • vlc-3.0.20-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    4391855E389032D7E65B111E14484A22CAB475016029E98ECF6F701425781EBC

  • vlc-3.0.20-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    D8055B6643651CA5B9AD58C438692A481483657F3F31624CDFA68B92E8394A57

  • vlc-3.0.20-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    E197583514FA600F24A3B88CF6B24102C5C09DC39BAD6AC9626BD55F23FF9DEF

3.0.19

  • vlc-3.0.19-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    376B5D74ED5B12036C4B32A6D84D59D5DE0A33C69C3D7AC52BD4B520BD3913E4

  • vlc-3.0.19-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    334A82ADCC6C3DC0C77110B48F85746AB35259B9716A3E9BCCB8F606385F3FBD

  • vlc-3.0.19-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    409E0CB6F80C840AEFA6F7F48D168B3CCE63EB1BB1A67B44929F6D6DD1BC8FE5

  • vlc-3.0.19-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    B23B848C1B32CF253F44FEF55EB9AACFC118D172111B3F193704135525190BF6

3.0.18

released 08 Nov 2022
  • vlc-3.0.18-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    A618D66B2F753343402200AD17D92EB6D4AB10DB0DD1A098402E2968AA3114C4

  • vlc-3.0.18-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    72EB05D21A4159450DBB39F2A09C5ED7C8370C9B4CAD75CE36A1A71B9F8A7D11

  • vlc-3.0.18-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    BA575F153D357EAF3FDBF446B9B93A12CED87C35887CDD83AD4281733EB86602

  • vlc-3.0.18-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    F4BAAA8135E0F9A993F0258A4D095DB475096896BD3ADB48369F1F70C1F0D9D4

3.0.17.4

released 19 Apr 2022
  • vlc-3.0.17.4-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    4407681247ED74D7B42DC9D622FC345C5FDB19897BD162448EF4578E628EE269

  • vlc-3.0.17.4-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    A8067928FBD2EED35E7EEDB19D8C867E58E79A9BD1F92D1B3339151ECD5A4779

  • vlc-3.0.17.4-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    FDA8CBF2EE876BE4EB14D7AFFCA3A0746EF4AE78341DBB589CBDDDCF912DB85C

  • vlc-3.0.17.4-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    514B0BF5AC82E7132ECAC31DA64C38FC85CD0FF76E2DCBCF904B6E2028C6749F

3.0.16

released 18 Jun 2021
  • vlc-3.0.16-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    76C7A962A9AFA77830684AFC3B94211E8BACC1E6E70C4BE3D5E3807C32B19C60

  • vlc-3.0.16-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    9EF29157A106CE299207A5A2D1369B9C0B549871BEE103CF8D34B00D8A8C7389

  • vlc-3.0.16-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    0CFF2D41A69D72DE30607B8FC09DA90E352393E154A342EFCDDB91E06B3A2147

  • vlc-3.0.16-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    4599F5D504C127F7E2EE391F06725461B9B761492C72AC2EB98F2429F04EF5C1

3.0.15

  • vlc-3.0.15-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    FEA4D7E4E972214BA04D8933EF4960BDAD847E083CC04697D0164849FDC6CF78

  • vlc-3.0.15-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    DF91AB6A5FBC64D1FD36F17D23E662A291D5AF69F12BAEF7C0B1BED2BED37140

  • vlc-3.0.15-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    C73A881B4025FB26ED8CB070F06AF994AC0CCDA8A34781E0FBD2A7275D7652AC

  • vlc-3.0.15-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    4B834EEC9D62BD042F0D3B9E95DE5CBF9F2CD0EDBBC5F04679CB4E5E425501EA

3.0.14

  • vlc-3.0.14-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    2244FDBA295EE082147413EFBC2FC8621ED448BFC9A7D32B312836A36C328AC0

  • vlc-3.0.14-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    B4E876C059946462C141765A9DC1C8C2435462F81A3F0F4BB1E76E2997D49EBF

  • vlc-3.0.14-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    CF43144BCBBBC5932A1647F4632B533BA52B8A3663B1F18885F000875770536A

  • vlc-3.0.14-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    65FF4C92A821DC52609BF2A276045C1B7AB79AE38217BC8A950E27915C881B43

3.0.13

  • vlc-3.0.13-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    4A028279754341A0FB334804BC64FA26F6B782A247035EA2D3ED75E469626521

  • vlc-3.0.13-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    BC12DE13CBD0747B6DD1D91085EECDFA5A80676FF597B282C4E535F1232E8F4C

3.0.12

  • vlc-3.0.12-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    99A5D0252304FBCD6BA5FFDF7C11A5CCC4F8439A328B2957A83BD21DCB39DE55

  • vlc-3.0.12-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    F47B7E09CB5573FAE33ACECAEA6A0BF0ADBFDC579FCD144CCA25E3B269304874

3.0.11

  • vlc-3.0.11-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    923F2F859BFCCCB4FF46AC27BC52920B57D2DFE33FFE3875A239D73A1DE96B70

  • vlc-3.0.11-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    86A95690916F9F5B86593EF3F146C101D11F5D5E55670613BF88211CA3036ACA

  • vlc-3.0.11-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    2E41F1959AD77C34746715DA5027C5ED554C35361397C9984A9EF78BC0B5E937

  • vlc-3.0.11-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    2A6579E149A6420178DB198E536EA25C385AC7D996BB7958B9BEED2BAFFF4664

3.0.10

  • vlc-3.0.10-win64.exe64-bitofficial URL

    E0A0883CD6C29AEE23ECFC63573BC09E09F78DE0DA78A6F55AB13FAB1C65850B

  • vlc-3.0.10-win64.msi64-bitofficial URL

    B15A8B8BBF0027542AFE060CD00C6105D34A311A7E06DB028B62BB500B3DDD8E

  • vlc-3.0.10-win32.msi32-bitofficial URL

    5EB9D9D182399C79E89DCF2A2E82852638A8757CB3313844D61AD6036448924F

  • vlc-3.0.10-win32.exe32-bitofficial URL

    CCFB91146CBA92A3EC5274FEE90D2CEE35CFDA7FD38240B3F65DA26D53D28A0B

Publishers take old builds offline without warning, so a link here can stop working even though the hash stays correct forever. If you already have the file, the hash is what matters: it tells you whether what you have is what they published.

Every version on record14

Every VLC media player version with a published manifest, newest first. The most recent ones are listed above with their file names and hashes.

  • 3.0.23
  • 3.0.22
  • 3.0.21
  • 3.0.20
  • 3.0.19
  • 3.0.18
  • 3.0.17.4
  • 3.0.16
  • 3.0.15
  • 3.0.14
  • 3.0.13
  • 3.0.12
  • 3.0.11
  • 3.0.10

Common questions

Is VLC free?
Yes. It is open source under the GPL, published by the non-profit VideoLAN, with no paid edition and no bundled software. Anything charging for VLC itself is reselling something you can get for nothing.
Do I need a codec pack with VLC?
No, and installing one is usually a step backwards. VLC carries its own decoders, which is precisely why it opens files other players refuse.

Similar programs we index

Matched on the categories VideoLAN and others declare in their own manifests, so the grouping is theirs rather than ours. Each one has its official URL and hash on the same terms as this page.

More programs we index

Not related to VLC media player — just other entries, each with its own official URL and published hash.

Where our data comes from

Windows manifest
github.com/microsoft/winget-pkgs/tree/master/manifests/v/VideoLAN/VLC/3.0.23
macOS cask
formulae.brew.sh/cask/vlc