HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) is a video compression standard that offers better compression efficiency than H.264/AVC. However, HEVC is not natively supported by all media players, including VLC. To play HEVC-encoded videos in VLC, you need to install the HEVC codec.
Most HEVC issues in VLC on Windows occur because the OS itself is blocking hardware-level access to the codec.
Here’s a short guide focused .
Change (or similar HEVC settings) to Non-key to reduce CPU load. 4. External Codec Packs (Optional)
Use your distribution's package manager to install the appropriate VLC HEVC plugin ( vlc-plugin-libde265 for Debian/Ubuntu, vlc-plugin-ffmpeg for Arch, or enable RPM Fusion for Fedora). install hevc codec for vlc exclusive
Look for the dropdown menu (usually found near the top).
Go to and select All at the bottom left. Navigate to Input / Codecs > Video codecs > FFmpeg .
Under the Video Decoding section, ensure is checked for hardware acceleration. Finish the installation and restart your PC. Method 4: Enable HEVC via Terminal (Linux Users)
Scroll down to the bottom and under "Show settings," select All . Navigate to Input / Codecs > Video Codecs > FFmpeg . HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) is a video
sudo pacman -S vlc sudo pacman -S libhevc x265
sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras
"I was getting frustrated trying to play high-quality movie files on VLC. Every time I opened an HEVC (H.265) file, I either got a black screen or an error saying the codec was missing. I thought I’d have to ditch VLC for a different player.
Sometimes the HEVC codec is already present in VLC, but your computer processor cannot handle the heavy decoding workload. You must route the video decoding directly to your graphics card (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel). Open VLC and go to > Preferences (or press Ctrl + P ). Click on the Input / Codecs tab at the top. Locate the Hardware-accelerated decoding dropdown menu. Most HEVC issues in VLC on Windows occur
: Navigate to Input / Codecs and increase File caching (ms) to 1000–3000ms to allow more buffering.
How to Install HEVC Codecs for VLC: The Ultimate "Exclusive" Guide
HEVC utilizes heavy in-loop filtering to smooth out blocks. You can disable this to save CPU cycles. In Tools > Preferences > Input / Codecs > Video Codecs > FFmpeg , look for Skip the loop filter for H.264/HEVC decoding and change it to All .
sudo dnf install vlc ffmpeg