How to Play Xvid Movies in VLC [Error & Fix]

Xvid (formerly "XviD") is not a video container format like MP4, but a video compression format (codec) for compressing video to and decompressing video from the MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile (ASP) format. Video encoded with Xvid is MPEG-4 ASP video, and it is mainly stored in the AVI container. But you may also see Xvid content with .m4v, .3gp2, and .xvid extensions.

Xvid-encoded videos can be decoded using all ASP-compatible decoders and players, such as the libavcodec-based VLC media player. Generally speaking, VLC can play Xvid files without any additional software. However, you may sometimes encounter issues with VLC not playing Xvid. Such errors may be caused by missing Xvid codec. To resolve this issue, this post offers three methods. Read on

By using the latest version of VLC, you can get an up-to-date VLC codec library, which may just contain the missing Xvid codec. Follow these steps:

Step 1. Open VLC.

Step 2. Click Help > Check for Updates...

Step 3. If an update is available, click Yes to download the latest version.

Alternatively, you can uninstall the current VLC, then download and install the latest VLC from https://www.videolan.org/vlc/.

If updating the VLC codec library doesn't work, you can try installing a third-party Xvid codec for VLC. The specific method is as follows:

Step 1. Visit https://www.xvid.com/ and download the Xvid software. Or, you can install a codec pack, such as the K-Lite Codec Pack, which has a range of commonly used codecs including Xvid.

Step 2. Click on the downloaded Xvid software and follow the on-screen prompts to install the codec into the VLC installation directory.

Step 3. Now, open VLC and check if it can play Xvid.

You can also convert Xvid videos to VLC supported formats for smooth playback using a handy video converter such as WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro. Please download download the software and follow the steps.

Step 1. Launch the software and click 'Converter'.

Step 2. Click '+ Add Files' to import the Xvid video into the converter.

Step 3. Click the format image on the right. Under the 'Video' tab, choose 'MP4' or 'H.264' (for MP4).

Step 4. Click 'Run' to start converting. After the conversion, you should be able to play the converted file in VLC without any problem.

Although VLC should play Xvid files, if you encounter playback failure, you can try updating VLC, installing Xvid codec, or converting Xvid file to fix this error. I hope this article was useful to you. Thanks for reading.