Do you want to install the most versatile media player, VLC on Ubuntu?
Whether you’re a seasoned Linux user or just starting out, I will walk you through 3 simple steps through which you can easily install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu Linux.
Let’s get started.
Installing VLC Media Player on Ubuntu
There are 3 ways you can install the VLC Media Player on Ubuntu Linux.
One way is to navigate to the Ubuntu Software Store and install the VLC Media player from there.
Otherwise, you can directly use the apt package manager or the snap to install VLC on your system using the terminal.
All these steps are elaborated below:
How to install VLC Media player on Ubuntu using the Software Store
If you would like to install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu using the App Center it would be pretty simple; no copying commands or opening the terminal.
Step 1: Launch the Ubuntu App Center.
Step 2: Type and search for “VLC“.
Step 3: Click on the VLC icon from the search results. VLC’s software store page will open up.
Step 4: Click on the “Install” button. This will ask you for your user password. Enter your password and proceed with the installation.
Now the Installation process will begin and VLC will start downloading and installing.
Step 5: After the installation has been completed you’ll get the option to “Open” the VLC Media Player. You can directly launch your freshly installed VLC Media Player by clicking the open button.
How to install VLC Media player on Ubuntu using Terminal
It’s a straightforward process to install VLC Media player on Ubuntu through a terminal and I think most of the Linux enthusiasts prefer to turn to the terminal only.
Anyways these are the simple steps you can follow to install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu using the terminal window:
Step 1: Launch Terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T.
Step 2: Type the following command –
sudo apt install vlc
Step 3: Now you’ll be asked to enter your password.
It will look for all the VLC dependencies and ask you to confirm if you want to continue to begin installing the VLC Player.
Step 4: Type Y and hit enter.
It will begin installing VLC Media Player on your Ubuntu System. After the process has been completed you can find VLC Media Player installed in your app list.
How to install VLC Media player on Ubuntu using Snap
Alternatively, you can also install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu using Snap as well.
Although most people don’t like snap and have it disabled.
But in case you haven’t disabled Snap, you can follow these steps to get VLC Media Player from the Snap store.
Step 1: I think it would be a no-brainer that we need to launch the terminal first.
You can press the key combinations: Ctrl + Alt + T to launch Terminal.
Step 2: Write the command –
sudo snap install vlc
Step 3: Snap will download and set up a few things here and there and then show that VLC has been installed.
Now you can find the VLC Media Player installed on your Ubuntu system in the installed apps list or you can also launch VLC directly from the terminal by typing –vlc
How do I update VLC Media Player on Ubuntu?
You can update the VLC Media player on Ubuntu using both the terminal or the Ubuntu App Center.
How to update VLC Media Player on Ubuntu using Ubuntu App Center
To update the VLC Media player through the App Center, follow these steps:
Step 1: Hit the Windows / Command key & search for “App Center” and launch the application upon listing.
Step 2: Now click on the “Manage” option on the bottom left side menu. It will open a menu of all the applications that you’ve installed on your Ubuntu Linux.
Step 3: It will show all the apps on top separately for which, app updates are available under “Updates Available“.
Step 4: Click on the “Check for updates” button to check if any newer version of any installed app is available.
Step 5: Click on the “Update all” button and all the applications with pending updates will get updated including VLC Media Player if it has any newer version available.
How to update VLC Media Player on Ubuntu using Terminal
To Update the VLC Media Player using the terminal, you can use the following commands:
Step 1: Add the VLC Media Player’s Repository to your system.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/stable-daily
Step 2: Update the packages.
sudo apt update
Step 3: Update VLC Media Player.
sudo apt-get install vlc
Troubleshooting common installation issues
The most common issue you might encounter while installing VLC or any other software through the command line or software store is that you won’t be able to find the application you’re trying to install even after searching the store or the install command won’t work in Terminal and will result in an error.
All you need to do is refresh the App Center cache if you’re encountering the problem in App Center in Ubuntu or run a full package update using the following command if you’re having the issue on the terminal:sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
It might need a reboot after running these commands to solve the issue successfully.
How to make VLC Media Player the default Player on Ubuntu?
Press the windows/command key on your keyboard which will pull up a search layout. Type “Settings” and launch settings upon listing.
After launching settings, follow these steps to set VLC Media Player as your default media playback platform on your Ubuntu system:
Step 1: Scroll down to the bottom in the left menu of the settings layout until you find the option “Default Apps“.
Step 2: Find the “Video” option in the right-hand panel after clicking on the Default Apps section.
Step 3: Click on the dropdown icon and select VLC Media Player as your default application for playing video files.
You can also choose VLC as your default music player instead of Rhythembox just one option above the video section.
Playing Media Files
After you’ve selected the VLC Media Player as your default media playback application, all the media that you’ll play be it audio or videos; it will play directly through VLC only.
But if you want to play your media using the VLC Media Player without setting VLC as your default application for media playback you can do it in two ways.
Either you can launch VLC Media Player and then press Ctrl + O to open the media and then locate and play it directly into VLC.
Or, you can either right-click on any supported media file and click on the option called “Open with” and then select VLC Media Player from the list and then click “Open“.
As long as you don’t check the option “Always use for this file type” VLC will not be set as the default app to open that extension of media format by default from the next time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Is VLC Media Player safe to use on Ubuntu?
Yes VLC Media Player is safe to use on your computer.
VlC Media Player is an open-source project, available for all major platforms for download.
Since its code is in the public domain with millions of eyes on it, there could not be anything malicious going on there without getting noticed and fixed.
Although I can’t deny the controversies that had been in the past around VLC Media Player’s security and tracking issues. Like –
VLC media player is reportedly under Chinese malware threat
Blocked in April 2022, Indian IT Ministry lifts VLC Media Player ban
2. How do I fix audio/video sync issues in VLC on Ubuntu?
If the issue is with a certain file you can use the keyboard shortcuts ‘K‘ and ‘J‘ to slow down or fasten up the audio to match and sync with the visuals.
3. What are some keyboard shortcuts for VLC on Ubuntu?
Here are some of the most commonly used VLC Media Player Shortcut Keys:
Pause/Play: Space bar
Full-screen mode: F
Volume Up: Ctrl + Up Arrow
Volume Down: Ctrl + Down Arrow
Audio Track Change: B
Open File: Ctrl + O
Mute/Un-Mute: M
Crop Aspect Ratio: C
Explore all the VLC Media Player Shortcut keys Here:
4. Does VLC support subtitles on Ubuntu?
Yes, VLC Media Player does support subtitles on Ubuntu if the media has subtitles included with it.
You can toggle subtitles on or off by pressing the key: “C“
5. How do I enable hardware acceleration in VLC on Ubuntu?
You can enable hardware acceleration in VLC on Ubuntu by launching the VLC Media Player and then going to
Tools >> Preferences >> Input/Codecs
In the very first option, you’ll see “Hardware-accelerated-decoding“
Set it to “Automatic” if in case it is disabled.
Conclusion
So these were three major steps you could use to install VLC media player on Ubuntu Linux.
We’ve gone through some of the common issues you face after installing the VLC media player on Ubuntu and how to solve them.
As well as how to update the VLC media player on Ubuntu, & how to make it your default media playback app for the media files, and some of the major misconceptions and doubts people have regarding the VLC Media Player.
Ask me in the comments if you still have any doubts regarding VLC installation.
Visit Geeky Gene for more related Linux guides.