[6 Solutions] Fix MP4 Files Not Playing On Windows 10 (VLC/WMP/QuickTime)

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With Microsoft’s latest upgrade to Windows 10, there has been a lot of glitches that it has brought with it. With the upgrade, Windows 10 has been in the news for a few days and the problems that have been faced by users were also annoying.

With many problems that users are facing with this upgrade have been varied one depending upon the configuration of a system. There were many bugs in the latest update which has been giving fixes and workaround to solve the problem but still many problems are out there which need fixes. “MP4 not playing on Windows 10 (VLC/WMP/QuickTime)” problem has been an irritating one and users have a complaint about this.

As it is known that .mp4 works perfectly with Windows but this latest update has troubled lots of users. However, if you are looking for solutions to fix MP4 not playing on Windows 10 then this blog will definitely help.

Just move ahead and check out the solutions to deal with such errors or issues.

What Are The Common Reasons Behind MP4 Files Not Playing On Windows 10?

The common causes for MP4 not playing on Windows 10 (VLC/WMP/QuickTime) are:

  • The codec of your mp4 file may have been corrupted due to which you are getting this error.
  • Your mp4 file has corrupted due to infected malware on your PC. It might have infected your file too and thus has made it inaccessible.
  • If your file hasn’t been downloaded/copied properly or they have been any error while downloading/copying, it might make your file unusable for viewing.
  • May happen that your hard disk drive has bad sectors on which the mp4 file is stored and that’s why your file is not able to playback.
  • Due to incompatible media players, your mp4 file is not able to load.

These are the few reasons among many of them due to which you are not able to play an mp4 file on Windows 10. If you are facing these, don’t worry read further to know about the workaround for mp4 error in your VLC/WMP/QuickTime players.

What Are The Ways To Troubleshoot MP4 Files Not Playing On Windows 10?

Now it’s time to dive into the fixes that will help you to solve the error and your MP4 files will start to play once again on Windows 10.

Solution 1: Run Troubleshooter

  • First, press Windows Key + I > open Settings
  • Then go to Update & Security
  • After that, move to the Troubleshoot option
  • There, choose Video Playback > tap on Run the troubleshooter

  • Next, follow the on-screen instructions to continue further

In addition, you can also run Troubleshooter via Control Panel. Here are the steps:

  • First, press Windows Key + S > type control panel
  • Now choose Control Panel
  • Then, tap on Troubleshooting

  • Next, select View all

  • Now choose Windows Media Player Settings

  • And after that, follow on-screen instructions as guided

Solution 2: Troubleshoot MP4 Codec Problem

Sometimes, there is a codec issue that might stop your favorite MP4 videos from playing. When there are no proper codecs installed then it’s obvious that your MP4 videos will not play on Windows 10. Therefore, it is highly instructed to download and install the codec on your computer.

K-Lite codec pack is one of the highly suggested to download and install it on PC. You can also use another codec as well.

Here are the steps that you need to follow:

  • K-Lite codec pack and CCCP codec pack are a few of the most trusted packs that are used in WMP to make it support media files that are unplayable. On Windows 10 but make sure that you download it from a trusted and secure site.

Note: Previous codecs file should be removed in case you find any conflict with CCCP.

  • Install CCCP to remove Mp4 unsupportable error in Windows 10 by following the instructions in the installation wizard.
  • Download FFmpeg (static windows version) and check your mp4 file with ffprobe.exe. It will give the information about the codecs used, knowing this you will be able to get to know the supportable files.

Solution 3: Change File Extension

When the error is not resolved then you can try other ways as well. Changing file extension can help you to solve the error.

Here are the steps to follow:

  • First, locate the video that is showing an error and not playing
  • Now make sure file extension is revealed
  • After that, tap on View and choose File name extensions

Optional– You can create a backup of the video file before changing its file extension

  • Now find and rename the file
  • After that, change the file extension from .mp4 to .mp4v
  • And then tap on Yes to confirm

And now play the video again and see if it’s playing or not.

Solution 4: Disable Hardware Video Decoding Function

Several times, the VLC hardware decoding is not capable to handle the rendering effect of video files. And this usually occurs when there are lots of subtitle tracks on the video file.

Therefore, you should disable the hardware video decoding feature in VLC. Follow the below steps:

  • First, open VLC media player > go to Tools > choose Preferences
  • Now in the opened tab, tap on the Show Settings option from lower left on window > choose “All” button
  • Here, you will see all the options displayed on the window. Then go to Input/Codec >>Video Codecs>>FFmpeg > disable “Hardware decoding” option

After doing all these, close the VLC media player and restart it once. After that, play your MP4 video file and see if it’s playing perfectly without any error.

Solution 5: Switch Off WMV DirectX Video Acceleration

  • First, open Windows Media Player
  • Next, tap on Organize > go to Options

  • Then go to Performance tab > disable Turn on DirectX Video Acceleration for WMV files
  • Now tap on Apply option > then OK to save all changes

  • At last, Restart Windows media player

Solution 6: Use Video Repair Software To Fix MP4 Files Not Playing On Windows 10

This kind of error many times occurs due to corrupt or damaged MP4 files. In such a situation, you need a reliable tool like Video Repair to fix the issues. This is a professional repair tool that easily fixes any kind of MP4 file error without any problem.

This tool is designed to fix all types of video file formats. It has an advanced scanning algorithm that fixes severe MP4 file corruption easily. With a few simple clicks, your video file error will be repaired and will be playable once again. So just download and install this amazing video repair tool and solve MP4 files not playing on Windows 10.


Follow The Below Steps To Fix MP4 Error

Step 1: Download, install, and launch Video Repair software on your system. Click on ‘Add Files‘ to add corrupted video files.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Repair‘ button to begin the repairing process. This start repairing your added video files one by one.

Step 3: You can click on ‘Preview‘, in order to preview the repaired video file within the software and click on the ‘Save Repaired Files‘ button to save the repaired videos at the desired location.

Conclusion

Well, the MP4 file error can occur to anyone and their favorite videos will stop playing. However, there is nothing to panic about as there are ways to fix MP4 files not playing on Windows 10. This blog totally describes different solutions to fix the MP4 file error and hopefully, your favorite videos will play once again.

I will also suggest you to go for Video Repair software for quick solution. This is the best way to solve the MP4 file error.