How do I fix my video on my laptop?

Videos not playing on laptop is not new. There are consistent complaints that videos fail to play on laptop after transfer, videos won’t load, show black screen, missing sound, stuttering, error, etc. It is an annoying problem, especially if you are a professional who is required to create, download, view, edit, or share videos.

But no worries. If the video problems on Windows laptop are troubling you, here you will find the effective solutions.

Why videos are not playing on laptop?

Not supported file format, absence of right video codecs, outdated drivers, or even corruption in the file structure won’t let your videos play on computer.

The video playback issue can also pop up soon after a recent Windows update or installing the latest Windows 11. Besides, a bug in the media player program or virus in the laptop can also lead to video playback problem.

Some common causes of videos not paying on laptop are:

• Video file format not supported by media payer
• Missing video codec
• Outdated media player
• Outdated video graphics card drivers
• Incomplete or glitch during Windows update
• Virus in the laptop
• Video file corruption
• Improper video file transfer
• Others

Best solutions to videos not playing on Windows laptop  

You may find it difficult to trace the exact cause of videos not playing on your laptop. Hence, given the probable reasons, troubleshoot the problem accordingly. First, try the simpler solutions that can fix videos on laptop.

Let’s get started with right solutions to fix video on laptop.

1. Reboot your laptop

Begin by rebooting the laptop. If the video problem is due to a glitch in Windows default apps, it will be fixed.

2. Update Windows of your laptop

If the operating system bug is not letting videos play on laptop, then updating Windows may help to fix the issue. Open Settings and navigate to Update & security. Click on Windows Update > Check for updates. All the pending Windows updates will start downloading.

3. Convert the video file format

Another way to fix video not playing on computer is to convert the file format. You can try the widely used MP4, MKV, MOV, AVI, or WMV file formats that can play on Windows Media Player.

Use any secure online video converter. Besides there are video file converter software for laptop too, like VLC Media Player, Handbrake, or Stellar Converter for Audio Video.

4. Download the missing codecs

Video errors on laptop could appear due to missing right codec. If the Windows Media Player throws an error like ‘A codec is required to play this file’ or ‘unknown error occurred’, download a video codec pack.

K-Lite is a popular video codec pack available for Windows 11/10/8/7 laptops. Make sure to download video codecs from the secure website.

You can also download codecs automatically for Windows Media Player on your laptop by following the given steps:

1. Open Windows Media Player.
2. Navigate to Tools> Options > Player.
3. Select the Download codecs automatically and click
4. Next time, when you play the video in Windows Media Player, it will ask to install the codec. Just select Install button to play the videos smoothly.

5. Install the latest version of media player

Update or install the latest version of your media player. Usually the ‘update’ option is available in the ‘help’ tab of the media player or you can directly install from its official website.

Below are the steps to install the latest Windows Media Player 12 on laptop (Windows 10) to fix the videos not playing problem:

1. On your computer, in the Windows search box at bottom, type features.
2. Select Turn Windows features on or off.
3. Expand Media Features.
4. Clear the Windows Media Player check box and click OK.
5. Now restart the laptop to remove the current Windows Media Player version.
6. Now repeat steps 1, 2 and 3.
7. Select check box of Windows Media Player and click OK.
8. Now restart your laptop to reinstall the latest version of Windows Media Player.

6. Play video in another media player

If the media player cannot play your video on laptop, switch to another player. It can be possible that the player you are using is not compatible with the video file format. Download VLC Media Player, Winamp, or other Windows supporting media player on laptop.

7. Troubleshoot video playback on laptop

If the media player doesn’t paly videos on laptop, run the video playback troubleshooter on Windows. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Open Control Panel on your laptop.
2. Click and move to Troubleshooting > View All.
3. Click on Video Playback. Click Next and follow the prompts to troubleshoot the video playback issue on Windows laptop.

As the process finishes, restart your laptop and play the videos.

8. Repair corrupt videos with a professional software

You tried all the above ways to fix video problems on laptop. But if unfortunately, nothing is helpful, the file may be corrupt or damaged. Download an efficient video repair tool like Stellar Repair for Video on laptop.

The repair software is well-designed to fix damaged file header, frame movement, data, sound sections etc. Stellar Repair for Video can fix unplayable, stuttering, choppy, or jerky videos. It can repair MOV, MP4, FLV, AVI, MKV and other video file types.

Further, the advanced repair tool doesn’t require any technical know-how. It is user-friendly and fast to repair multiple videos at a time. Its video repair process includes only the following steps:

1. Add video files
2. Click on ‘Repair’ button.
3. As the process finishes, preview and save the repaired videos.

9. Use VLC Media Player to repair corrupt video

VLC Media Player has an added functionality to repair corrupt AVI video files. If your unplayable video is of AVI file format, then try to repair it using VLC Media Player. Here’s how to fix video not playing on laptop with VLC Media Player:

1. Open video in VLC Player
2. Click Tools and navigate to Preferences > Input or Codecs.
3. Scroll to Damaged or incomplete AVI Files and select Always Fix from the drop down.
4. Click on the Save button below.

Now, open the AVI video in VLC or other player. The video playback issue should be resolved.

10. Update to the latest graphics card drivers

High-resolution or large sized videos may not able to play on laptop due to outdated graphics drivers. Update them when your computer won’t play videos or sound.

You can update laptop graphics drivers via Device Manager by following the below steps:

1. 1. Press Windows+R keys on laptop to open the ‘Run’ box.
   2. Type msc and click OK.
   3. In Device Manager window, scroll to Display Adapter and double click over it.
   4. Select and right click on your graphic card.
   5. Click on Update Driver.
   6. Select Search automatically for updated driver software and follow the commands for Windows to update the drivers.

You can also download the graphic drivers from the official site. For instance to update NIVIDIA GeForce, visit nvidia.com while for ATI graphics card drivers download, go to amd.com

Finally,

Videos not playing on laptop can be due to diverse reasons, from missing codecs to video file corruption. Thankfully, you can fix video playback issue on a Windows laptop by using the given methods and enjoy them again. Since you may not be clear about the real cause of your video issue, troubleshoot the problem by first trying simpler fixes.