Play MP4 - with these programs it works

To play video files in MP4 format on your PC, you need a suitable media player. On Windows PCs, Windows Media Player is the most suitable for this purpose. Which alternatives there are to the Windows Media Player and which programs are suitable for Linux and Mac users, we explain to you here.

How to play videos in MP4 format with Windows Media Player

On Windows computers, Windows Media Player is pre-installed and ready to use. However, by default, it does not support the playback of MP4 files. To still use the player to play MP4 files, please perform the following steps:

1. Depending on whether you are using the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows, please download the appropriate Codex Pack.
2. Then run the installer and follow the instructions to install it. Pay particular attention to check "MP4" to install the required codec.
3. If the installation is complete, MP4 files can be played with Windows Media Player. If necessary, however, a restart of the PC is required before.

Play MP4: These other programs exist

Instead of Windows Media Player, there are several other players that are suitable for playing video files in MP4 format. One of them, which is free and supports many other video formats, is VLC Media Player. This one is suitable not only for Windows computers, but also for Linux and Mac. Especially easy for Apple users is the playback of MP4 videos with QuickTime. The in-house media player from Apple is already installed on all Macs can play MP4 formats without any problems.