Install Hevc Codec For Vlc Exclusive Jun 2026

Enabling hardware acceleration (Windows)

To install the free manufacturer version directly (if you want system-wide HEVC support, though not needed for VLC): install hevc codec for vlc exclusive

Appendix: verifying HEVC codec in a media file and alternate players Enabling hardware acceleration (Windows) To install the free

VLC might struggle to hand off the heavy lifting to an outdated or unconfigured Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Since version 2

VLC is a free and open-source multimedia player available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. It plays a wide range of video and audio formats including MPEG-1/2, H.264, WMV, FLAC, and ALAC. Since version 2.1.1 ("Rincewind"), VLC has included experimental decoding of HEVC and Webm/VP9, with modern versions offering robust, production-ready HEVC/H.265 playback support.

VLC for Android is available on the Google Play Store. It uses the device's hardware decoding (via MediaCodec API) when possible, which saves battery and ensures smooth playback.

Open VLC and navigate to > Preferences (or press Ctrl + P ). Click on the Input / Codecs tab at the top of the window. Locate the Hardware-accelerated decoding dropdown menu.