Fix VLC No Video on Mac/Windows 10 When Playing MP4 MKV AVI etc Files

Written by Kaylee Wood | Last updated: April 30, 2020

Is there only sound but no video when playing media files via VLC media player? Is VLC no video but a plain black screen on Mac or Windows 10? It seems that VLC no video issue has never stopped flooding the forums, though various workarounds has been put forward. Whatever reason causes the VLC no video problem, you'd better take actions immediately to prevent yourself from an unhappy media playing experience with VLC.

To solve VLC not showing videos on Mac and Windows 10, the first thing you should make sure is that the video you play in VLC media player is not corrupted or destroyed. Then, follow the below guides to find possible solutions to VLC no video problem.

1. Download VLC media player from official site

"I had installed VLC media player from the Ubuntu Software Center recently. It worked for some time, but then instead of the video, only a blank screen was displayed with the audio. Uninstalled and reinstalled. Even the same videos that could be played before did not work."

This user has informed us that he/she downloaded the VLC media player from third-party site, maybe this VLC is a fake player that causes the VLC no video problem. So, make sure the VLC media player you download is from the official site.

2. Make sure the necessary component of VLC has been installed

Someone said that he accidently deleted libavcodec, and VLC no video issue happened. When reinstalled the package, the problem was fixed. So, you can try to reinstall your VLC media player to get the component again.

3. Make sure you have not disabled the video in your VLC media player.

Windows: Click on Tools on VLC > Preferences > Video and check the "Enable video".
Mac: Click on VLC on the top left corner of Mac > Preferences > Video > check "Enable video".

4. Reset the Preferences

Someone had solved the VLC no video only audio issue by resetting the Preferences. However, this option will erase all your settings to videos you set before. So, do the reset if you do not mind that.

Windows: Tools > Preferences > Video and choose Reset Preferences.
Mac: Click on VLC on the top left corner of Mac > Preferences > Video and choose Reset All.

5. Change video output mode to fix VLC no video only sound

Someone had solved the VLC no video only audio issue by resetting the Preferences. However, this option will erase all your settings to videos you set before. So, do the reset if you do not mind that.

Windows: Tools > Preferences > Video > choose the video Output mode from the drop down menu. Often the case that Direct3D11 video output works, and you can also try other options until the VLC no video Windows 10 problem gets resolved.

Mac: Click on VLC on the top left corner of Mac > Preferences > Show All > Click on Video on the left bar > Output modules > choose the output mode from the drop down menu.

6. The particular video has a video format that VLC doesn't support

Usually, when there is unsupported video codec contained in the video file, VLC not working happens causing VLC MP4 no video, VLC no sound or VLC black screen issue. In such case, you can convert the video to VLC more supported video format via VideoProc or other video converters. Alternatively, update your VLC to the newest version or download VLC codec pack to get the newest video codec to beef up the VLC media player to avoid VLC no video on Mac Windows 10.

Hope these solutions offer helps. If you have tried the above methods but find VLC no video problem still exists, maybe you should try a VLC alternative.

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