VLC is one of the best video players for Linux Ubuntu. VLC Media Player is a free and open-source media player available for Ubuntu. It can play all video and audio formats, notably play MKV, MP4, MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, MOV, WMV, QuickTime, WebM, FLAC, MP3, Ogg/Vorbis files, Blu-Rays, DVDs, VCDs, podcasts, and multimedia streams from various network sources. It supports subtitles and closed captions.
Here is a guide on how to install VLC Media Player from the official website and how to install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu using the terminal. Let’s discuss them one by one.
How to Install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu
First of all, let us discuss how you can download and install it from the official website.
For that, follow these steps:
1. Open any browser (I’m using Google Chrome) and visit videolan.org. It is the official website to download VLC Media Player for any operating system.
2. On the website select your operating system from the drop-down menu and download the correct version for your Linux Operating System. Or, you can simply click on this link for Ubuntu.
3. Click on Get it from the Snap Store and select open xdg-open to launch the App Center application.
4. It will open the VLC installation page, just click on the Install button.
5. Now, you have to enter the password to authenticate the installation. After that, wait for the installation process to complete.
6. To open VLC Media Player go to Show Applications, search for VLC, and open it. Now, you are ready to play any video and audio format using it.
How to Install VLC Media Player using Terminal
If you prefer not to use the graphical method for installing VLC, you can install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu using two different Terminal commands: snap and apt.
Let’s discuss them one by one.
1. Installing VLC via Snap
If you want to use the Linux terminal to install VLC Media Player via Snap, you can follow the steps mentioned below:
1. Press Ctrl + Alt + T on your keyboard to open Terminal.
2. Now, run this command to install VLC Media Player from the snap store on Ubuntu.
sudo snap install vlc
3. If asked to enter your account’s password, just enter the password and hit Enter. When you type the password, nothing will display on the screen. That is perfectly normal.
4. Now, wait for the installation process to complete. After that, you are ready to use it on your Ubuntu system.
Bonus Tips
If you want to update VLC Media Player, you can run the following command in the Terminal: sudo snap refresh vlc. This command will update your VLC Media Player to the latest version available from the snap store.
2. Installing VLC via APT
Sometimes, the Snap Store version of VLC may not integrate well with the system. In such cases, you can also install VLC Media Player using the apt command.
To do so, follow the steps mentioned below:
1. Open the Terminal.
2. Before installing VLC Media Player using the APT software repository, you need to update the APT repository. To do that, run the following commands in the Terminal.
sudo apt update
3. After that, run the below to install VLC on Ubuntu.
sudo apt install vlc
Bonus Tips
Run this command in the Terminal: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade. This command will update your VLC Media Player to the latest version available from the APT.
How to Uninstall VLC Media Player in Ubuntu
However, if you need to uninstall VLC Media Player from your system for any reason, there are several methods to do so.
Below we have mentioned the most effective ways to completely uninstall VLC Media Player in Ubuntu using the App Center and the Linux Terminal application. So, let’s dive into it.
1. Removing VLC via App Center
The simplest way to uninstall VLC Media Player in Ubuntu is through the App Center. Especially if you have installed VLC using it.
Here’s how:
1. Open the App Center.
2. In the latest version of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, we have a new and modern App Center interface. To remove the VLC app, click on the Manage tab.
3. Here, you’ll find the list of installed apps. Look for VLC, click on the three-dot icon, and select the Show details option.
4. Click on the three-dot icon and select the Uninstall button.
5. A prompt will appear. Enter your system password and click on the Authenticate button.
6. After that, wait for the process to complete. Once done, restart your system.
2. Removing VLC via Terminal
There’s another way to uninstall VLC Media Player using the terminal application. You just need to run a few commands.
1. Open the Terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or by searching for Terminal in your applications menu.
2. Here, type the following command and press Enter:
sudo apt-get remove vlc
3. After that, type your account password. This command will remove the VLC package.
4. If you want to remove the VLC’s configuration files, you can use the purge command. For that, run the following command:
sudo apt purge vlc
5. Finally, to remove any unnecessary packages that were installed with VLC Media Player, you can run:
sudo apt autoremove
Conclusion
You have successfully installed and integrated VLC Media Player on Ubuntu Linux. However, if you encounter any issues using VLC Media Player on Ubuntu, you can refer to our guide on how to fix VLC not working on Ubuntu 22.04. This guide will provide you with solutions to any problems you may be experiencing with VLC on Ubuntu.
