Plays almost every audio and video format
VLC Media Player is a free, open-source player from the non-profit VideoLAN project, and it is one of the few programs that can open almost any audio or video file you throw at it. MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, FLAC, MP3, OGG and many more formats play straight away because the decoders are built in — there is no need to hunt for separate codec packs.
Beyond everyday playback, VLC can stream network video, play DVDs and audio CDs, convert files between formats, record your screen, and fix subtitle or audio timing with a few keyboard shortcuts. It also handles partly downloaded or damaged files better than most players, which makes it handy for previewing downloads.
The interface is plain rather than pretty, and advanced features such as conversion live in menus that take a little exploring. VLC does not organise a media library the way Plex or Kodi do. For a light, ad-free player that simply works on almost any Windows PC, though, it remains the first program many people install.
Pros
- Open-source and ad-free
- Huge format support
- Hardware acceleration
Cons
- Dated interface
- No media library management
