4 Ways to Play MP4 on Computer

It's very common to play MP4 video on computer, anyone who is fond of videos (which most of us are) play MP4 video on computer with different way. Some people like to play MP4 video with Windows Media Player, someone don't like the Microsoft local media player and choose other media player for MP4 video. How do you play MP4 video on your computer? In this post, let's see how many ways you can use to play MP4 video on computer. By the way, we have collected some frequent issues when you are playing MP4 on computer, hope to help you.

Method 1: Play MP4 on Computer (Windows 12)

To play an MP4 File on your PC, you are required to have a MP4 player that does so. If you are using Windows 12 and above, congratulation to you, Windows Media Player will be able to play your MP4 video, you don't need to install other MP4 media player any more, simple steps are below:

1. Run the Windows Media Player

2. Click File and add the video from PC to this software doe playback.

mp4 to wmp

Method 2: Play MP4 on Computer (Windows 11& Below)

However if you have Windows 11 or below (including 8.1 and Windows 10), you may need to spend some time on getting a codec or 3rd party media player, such as VLC which plays almost any type of media file. Following will show you how to play MP4 with VLC.

1. Run the VLC media player

2. Imported the converted MP4 videos to it by clicking “Media File…” ＞ “Open File…” for smooth playback.

play mp4 on vlc

NOTE: We learn that MP4 is really one of VLC Player supported video formats, but you must know it has strict requirements: VLC Media Player is only compatible with MPEG-4 ASP, DivX 4/5/6, XviD, 3ivX D4 and H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC. If your an MP4 file contains a VLC unsupported audio or video codec. How do to? Refer to MP4 to VLC post.

Method 3: Play MP4 on Computer (Windows 11& Below)

Another media player which is similar to VLC, QuickTime, you can install one as the 3rd party media player, this media player is easy to do, like this:

1. Run the QuickTime media player

2.Choose File and load the MP4 video to QuickTime and play

mp4 to quicktime

NOTE: Quick Time only plays MP4 files compressed with the codec of MPEG-2 (OS X Lion or later), MPEG-4 and H.264 codec. If you try to open MP4 files with incompatible codec with QuickTime player, you will meet the error message. How to do? Mac Issue: MP4 on QuickTime is ready for you.

Best Method 4: Play any MP4 on Computer (Windows 12& Below)

From above information, we know that even though you can play MP4 on Windows Media Player, VLC or QuickTime, you also will meet all kinds of troubles due to the video format compatibility. MP4 is a video container which can holds different video and audio codec, if the media player can't support the video codec or encode the codec, you may get the error message. How to get a media player and play any MP4 video at will? Here, best MP4 video converter is waiting for you: Pavtube Video Converter (best video converter review), you can input any MP4 video with any video and audio codec to this software, then you can convert MP4 video to media player supported video formats, like: AVI. MOV, MKV, HEVC, etc. You must can find your dream video formats from the 250+ output video list.

Good news: You not only can play MP4 video on the media player, you also can choose various devices for better enjoyment, like: iPad, iPhone, PSP, Xbox one, etc. This MP4 video converter also provides the detailed video setting, when you want to upload the MP4 video to Youtube, Facebook or other video share websites, if the video size is too large, you can reduce the MP4 video by change the video resolution, frame, bitrate. Also you can cut or split the MP4 video into some clips. This software won't let you down.

Qucik Guide: Take Full Use of MP4 Video Converter

Step 1: Load mp4 files into the program.

After the successful installation, click "File" > "Add Video/Audio" or "Add from Folder" to load unsupported mp4 files into the program.

Step 2: Select Output video format.

Click "Format", from its drop-down option, choose one of yout media player best playable video formats such as "MKV HD Video (*.mkv)" from "HD Video" main category. Also you can enjoy the HD MP4 video, 4K MP4 video or 3D MP4 video. For safety reason, you can click "Settings" on the main interface to open "Profile Settings" window to tweak the output video codec, bit rate, frame rate, resolution or audio codec, bit rate, sample rate or channels, etc according to your own needs.

mp4 video setting

Tip 2: Check an item to active the "Video Editor" function, then click the pencil like icon on the top tool bar to open the "Video Editor" window, you can trim video length, crop video black bars, add watermark, apply sepcial rendering effect, remove/replace audio in video, etc.

edit mp4 video

Step 3: Begin the conversion process.

After all setting is completed, hit right-bottom "Convert" button to convert MP4 to computer media players readable video and audio file formats.

Tip: Why MP4 Files Play Slow on a Computer

Even while one MP4 may play fine on your computer, another may run slowly or stutter. In many cases, slowdown during video playback is caused by outdated video drivers or codecs, running a video too high-resolution for your computer's speed, or poorly optimized video files and video players.

Drivers and Codecs: An old version of the driver may have errors that lead to slow playback, so always keep the driver updated. Most video player software also relies on codecs. These files decode the compressed information inside the video file to play it back, and missing or outdated codecs can cause playback errors.

Alternate Programs: Different players use different systems to decode video – some don't even rely on codecs – so trying another player may solve slowdown. On Windows, Windows Media Player natively opens MP4 files, but if they play slowly, try downloading another player, such as VLC Media Player, Media Player Classic or Apple's QuickTime Player or iTunes.

Damaged Files: If only one particular MP4 plays slowly, it's likely that the file itself has errors. Video file errors can manifest in several ways, such as slowdown, skipping, stuttering or the inability to use the seek bar. If you downloaded the file from the Internet, try redownloading it in case the file was corrupted during download.

Slow Computer Speed: If no other solutions alleviate slow playback, your computer may simply be incapable of playing the video in real-time. Video playback – especially HD video playback – uses a significant amount of processor power, so older computers may suffer from unavoidable lag. Check that no other processor-intensive tasks are running simultaneously, such tasks include computer games, virus scans and photo or video editing software.

In general, play MP4 on computer is easy to do. Enjoy the Mp4 video on your computer happily. Good luck to you.

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