13 Best Amazing VLC Media Player Tips and Tricks

VLC Media Player is one of the most popular and widely used media players for PC. It offers many rich features like from playing almost every video format to adding subtitles to your favorite movies and TV Series. Many people still think VLC as a simple video player but it can do a lot more than that if they may know about the hidden tricks inside the VLC Media player.

List of 13 VLC Tips and Tricks

1. Play YouTube Videos
2. Convert Media Files
3. Download Subtitle using VLC
4. Record Desktop
5. VLC Inception Trick
6. Record and Capture Videos using VLC
7. Play Videos as ASCII Code
8. Free Internet Radio
9. Manage Podcasts
10. Record video using Webcam
11. Rip DVD/Disk drive
12. Bookmark a Video
13. Add Watermark on a Video

Unlike other media players, VLC is free of Ads and Spyware. So, you don’t need to worry about the security as it doesn’t track or record the user information. VLC media player is free to download and is available for desktop OS and mobile platforms- Windows, Mac OS, Ubuntu, IOS, and Android.
Here in this article, I will show you Top 13 VLC hidden Tips and Tricks that are not known to many people.

1. Play YouTube Videos in VLC

To play YouTube Videos in VLC media player, follow the steps:

• Open YouTube and copy the URL of the video from the address bar.
• Open VLC, Select Media from the top and click on Open Network Stream.

• Paste your YouTube video’s URL here, and hit the Play button to watch the video.

2. Convert Media Files using VLC

Did someone tell you before that VLC can be used to convert media files to another format? VLC media player allows users to convert media files to another media format by following these steps:

• To convert media files, Press Ctrl+R from the keyboard.
• Click “Add” to add media file from your computer.

• Click on Convert/Save button located at the bottom.
• On the next screen, select the format you want the file to be converted and hit the “Start” button to begin the conversion.

3. Search and Download Subtitles

This is one of the most useful tip for VLC Player users that lets you search and download subtitles automatically for Movies and TV Series. It has an inbuilt plugin called “VLSub” Plugin/Extension which allows users to get subtitles without using a third-party plugin.
Install VLSub Plugin from the Tools > Plugins and Extensions. For detailed steps, read- how to download subtitle in VLC.

4. Record Desktop using VLC Player

VLC can also be used to record a video of your Desktop, makes it work like a screen recorder software.  Navigate to Media > Convert/Save. Go to the Capture Device section and choose Desktop from the Capture mode and then click Convert/Save. Now select the desired Profile and the destination file and hit Start button to start recording desktop. Press stop button to stop the recording.

If you want to record your mobile screen, read this post discussing about recording your Android screen. 

5. VLC Inception Trick

This is an another awesome VLC Trick not everyone knows about. This trick lets you capture a never-ending screenshot and shows an inception like effect.

Follow steps to Perform this Trick:

• Open VLC and Press Ctrl+N keys from the keyboard.
• Type screen:// in the URL space.
• Hit the Play button to start the trick. 

6. Record and Capture a Video

This is another hidden VLC tips and tricks that allows users to record and capture a snippet of a currently playing video.

• To do so, play a video file in VLC, now go to ‘View’ > ‘Advanced Controls’.
• More buttons will appear on the screen. While playing video, Click on the red color Record button to record the screen.

• Press the snapshot button next to the Record button to capture the screenshot of the video.
• Your video and snapshot will be automatically saved to your system Pictures and Video Folder.

Read: How to capture screenshot in Windows 10

7. Play Video as ASCII Codes

VLC player lets you play a video in ASCII characters. You can use this feature to trick your kids to not let them watch movies. To enable this cool feature, go to Tools > Preference. Click on Video Tab and change the ‘Output’ to color ASCII art video output.

Hit the save button and now all your videos will be played in ASCII character format. To disable this feature, select ‘Automatic’ under Output.

8. Free Internet Radios in VLC

This VLC Player trick allows users to listen to free internet radios using its inbuilt internet radio listings. Go to ‘View’ menu and open Playlist. At the left sidebar, you will find different Internet radio services.

Click any of them to load the album and start listening free radio.

9. Manage and Subscribe to Podcasts

Using VLC, users can subscribe to their video/audio Podcasts. Go to View > Playlists. Click on the Podcasts option from the left sidebar and click the ‘+’ symbol to add the podcast URL to add it to your podcasts subscription list and hit OK.

10. Record Video using Webcam

VLC media player allows you to record a video using your web camera.

• Open VLC and go to Media > Open Capture Device.
• Select DirectShow as Capture mode and choose your video and audio device selection.

• Hit the play button to start recording video using your Webcam.

11. Rip DVD/disk drive

This VLC trick allows you to rip your DVD into your PC. It will create a backup of your disc drive into your computer

Use VLC to rip your DVD

• Open VLC and go to Media > Convert/Save.
• Go to the Disc Tab and choose your desired settings. Make sure you check the No disk menus option.

• Click Convert/Save button to start ripping the DVD.

12. Bookmark a Video

VLC player lets users bookmark a video so that certain part of that video can be watched later.

How to Bookmark a Video in VLC

• Play a video in VLC which you would like to bookmark.
• Go to Playback > Custom Bookmarks > Manage or you can press Ctrl+B.
• Click on the create button at that part of the video you want to bookmark.

13. Add Watermark on a Video using VLC

With this VLC trick, you can add Watermarks on your video without using a video editor software.
To add Watermarks to a video in VLC, follow the steps:

• Open VLC and play a video in which you want to add Watermark
• Go to Tools > Effects and Filter.
• Adjustments and Effects window will open, go to the ‘Video Effects’ tab and click ‘Overlay’.