Test if the VLC Plugin WorksĬlose VLC (if open) and reopen it. You should see that other Lua plugins are already present by default. However, this location might vary by operating system and distribution, so double check. sudo cp a /usr/lib/vlc/lua/playlistĬopying to this location applies the plugin system-wide for all users.

On Linux Mint 17.3, this is located at /usr/lib/vlc/lua/playlist. VLC needs this plugin in its playlist directory. This is a VLC plugin written in Lua that enables the proper parsing of YouTube video URLs so they will play in VLC. Update November 20, 2016: This site for a has been offline, but a search for a should return mirrors. We want to configure a simple “open with VLC” option. This requires work, and there are other ways to obtain the stream URLs. If 1080p, 2K, 4K, and 8K streams are available, they will be listed too. The URL is the playback URL that will play directly in a browser. Copy and paste a YouTube video URL to see its stream information. One example is the YouTube Video Info site that shows detailed information about the audio and video streams available for a given YouTube video.

Update July 2016: VLC 2.2.2 in Linux Mint 18 plays YouTube videos by copying and pasting the link into VLC, so this article might not be necessary for Linux Mint 18.Ĭertainly, there are ways to obtain the playback URL. Other media players might have issues and refuse to play the video. This means VLC cannot properly parse the YouTube URL. Other times, VLC will stay blank. Sometimes, if you try to play a YouTube video in VLC, you will see an error message regarding an “unable to open MRL” issue. While this how-to uses Firefox and VLC on Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon as an example, it should work with other browsers and Linux distributions.

Regardless, there are times when an external player, such as VLC, may be preferred. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. There were even browser plugins facilitating the process. It used to be that you could simply copy and paste the YouTube video URL into VLC or almost any other media player, and the player would play the video without hassle. An external player usually plays videos instantly and with improved motion smoothness.Īlso, maybe it is just me, but something seems broken or unreliable lately when attempting to play YouTube videos in VLC (VideoLAN Client). Whether it be the Flash Player or the HTML5 player, there are times when YouTube’s browser player is less than adequate, such as no full screen or excessive stuttering. Are you having trouble playing YouTube videos in VLC?

Vlc download video from youtube