How to Downgrade to a Previous Version of VLC Player

Kevin ArrowsUpdated on January 20, 2024
Kevin is a certified Network Engineer

Although VLC media player comes with better and up to date features with their every version, there are quite a lot of reasons why users might still prefer the old one. Most significant of these reasons is the usage of older machines and operating systems. If users are using machines that do not have enough space or operating systems that do not support the latest version of VLC fully, they will certainly prefer older versions. Other than that, many a times, people are used to of older versions of a program. They find it difficult to search for features in the latest version or might be in love with a feature in older version that is not included in the newer one.

Uninstalling one version of VLC media player and installing another might not work as one expects due to issues in uninstalling it. In Windows, the program might not uninstall properly if some files are corrupted, lost or removed. And the version being installed afterwards won’t function unless the previous one is properly uninstalled.

Here, we will explain how to uninstall the latest version of VLC, that is, 2.2.4 properly and provide a reliable link to download previous version from.

Uninstall VLC from Windows properly and reinstall older version

Click Start and Type Control Panel, choose Control Panel from the search results displayed. Once you are in Control Panel, click on Uninstall a Program under the heading of Programs. The Programs section would be at the bottom of the list on the left or Hold the Windows Key and Press R and type appwiz.cpl in the run dialog.

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Next, search for VLC Media Player in the list that opens up. After you find it, select it and click on Uninstall/Remove. This option would be on the top of the list, next to Organize. Click on the Next button in the dialog that opens. Now you are standing at the most significant part of uninstalling VLC; do not miss this. The next dialog box that opens will have an option Delete preferences and cache. Make sure you check it and then click uninstall. Once this is done, click the finish button.

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Doing this will uninstall the VLC media player on your computer system successfully. Next, to get any of the older versions, visit here. Download the older version of the VLC media player and launch the setup by double clicking on it. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the VLC media player on your computer system.

Kevin ArrowsUpdated on January 20, 2024
Kevin is a certified Network Engineer
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Kevin Arrows


Kevin Arrows is a highly experienced and knowledgeable technology specialist with over a decade of industry experience. He holds a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification and has a deep passion for staying up-to-date on the latest tech developments. Kevin has written extensively on a wide range of tech-related topics, showcasing his expertise and knowledge in areas such as software development, cybersecurity, and cloud computing. His contributions to the tech field have been widely recognized and respected by his peers, and he is highly regarded for his ability to explain complex technical concepts in a clear and concise manner.

Comments

3
    WW
    Willem Willemse Jun 6, 2018

    Hi Kevin
    Your instructions for installing the older version, is as follows:
    “Next, to get any of the older versions, visit here. Download the older version of the VLC media player and launch the setup by double clicking on it. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the VLC media player on your computer system”
    Now – I have visited the site “visit here”, but do not know what to download or how to get the ‘setup file’ that you are talking about. On the website where the link redirects, there are just a whole lot of folders, and then more folders when you go into that, and nowhere do I see a setup file to be downloaded.
    Even when I did download the zip file for my windows 64 system, there is no ‘setup’ file inside the zip file.
    Please give some more direction here if possible.
    Thanking you.

    Reply
      RC
      Ray Connor Jun 7, 2018

      Hello,
      You are looking at the index of all the versions of VLC when you click the link. You should select the version of the VLC player you want to download and click it. Now you will be navigated to the download page. There will be no setup files directly present; you have to download the zipped file and extract it using WinRaR or similar software. There will be also an option to select the version according to your operating system (macOS, Windows 32 or 64 bits etc.).

      Reply
      PD
      Paul Dermond Jun 29, 2018

      If you download the .exe file it will install VLC. For example, in the “win64” folder you would download the “vlc-2.2.8-win64.exe” file and run it. Hope this helps.

      Reply