How to Make VLC the Default Media Player in Windows 11

Change your default media player to VLC.

By Ajoy Kumar 4 Min Read
Make VLC the Default Media Player in Windows

If you’re unsatisfied with the default Movies & TV app, which is the Windows Media Player, you can replace it with the VLC Media Player in Windows 11. The VLC Media Player is one of the most widely used media players among Windows users.

However, if you want all media file formats to open up in the VLC Media Player app, you’ll need to make it the default player. Although there’s no one-click option available, you can still get it done. Let’s go through the steps.

How to Make VLC the Default Media Player in Windows 11

In this section, we will be discussing two methods that can be used to set VLC Media Player as the default media player in Windows 11.

Before proceeding with the steps, please ensure that VLC Media Player is already installed on your computer. In case it is not, you may refer to our guide on downloading and installing VLC on Windows 11.

Once done, you are ready to make it the default media player in Windows. So let’s get started.

1. Using Windows Settings

Windows settings are all in one place to make any changes to the operating system. So, to make VLC Media Player the default, you can make some changes in the Default Apps settings.

For that, follow the following steps:

1. Click on the Start Menu and select Settings to open the Windows Settings. Alternatively, you can use the Win + I shortcut key to open it.

2. Click on the Apps tab from the left panel of the Settings window and then select the Default Apps options present to the right of your screen.

Accessing Default Apps Settings

3. On the Set default for applications search box, type VLC Media Player and select it from the search results.

Search for the VLC App

4. You will find a list of media-related files along with the application they are currently associated with. You need to change the associated app for each file type to VLC.

Change the App for Media File Type

5. For that, select each file type, and a pop-up window will appear. Here, choose VLC media player as the default player and click on the OK button to save the changes.

Note

You need to repeat this process for every media file type that you want to open with VLC Media Player.

Set VLC the Defautl Player

2. Using Open With Option

There is another method to set VLC as the default player. For that, you can use the Open with option. Just right-click on the media file, select Open With, and choose VLC.

Here are the detailed steps:

1. Navigate to the media file location.

2. Select the video file, right-click on it, from the context menu that appears, select Open With, and click on Choose another app.

Open With Options

3. Next, select VLC media player from the available options and then check Always use this app to open .mp4 files.

4. Finally, click on the OK button to set VLC as the default app for that media file type.

Make VLC Media Player the Default App for .mp4

Conclusion

That’s it; this is how you can set up VLC Media Player the default media player in Windows 11. However, if you are facing any problems related to media playback on VLC, then you can check out our guide on fixing VLC Media Player not working in Windows 11.

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He is a prominent tech writer with over six years of experience and the founder of TheCoderWord. He delivers high-quality content revolving around troubleshooting and how-to guides for Windows, Linux, macOS, Chrome, and more.
3 Comments
  • My Windows 11 doesn’t offer “Always use this app to open .*** files.” option. I have changed EVERI single video file association for VLC PLAYER. Despite that, Windows would always ask me whith which app i want to open the video fioles. Very annoying

    • You can try reinstalling VLC Media Player. Before that, make sure to delete the VLC Media Player folder from your C Drive’s Programs Files folder.

  • Windows 11 is terrible at this. Windows 10 was bad, but Win11 is worse. I just want an application to become the default for ALL of the file associations it can open. I don’t want to sit there and click on every goddamn file type for something like VLC. This is insane.

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