How to Fix Video Playback Error and Issues on PC

Published 2022-08-12

Everyone wants smooth video playback, but some can ruin your experience. Video playback errors can surface in many forms. You might not be able to play a video, or you might encounter issues such as flickering video, video not in sync with the audio being played, patchy video playback, etc. In this post, we’ll look at various ways to fix the issue.

Before Moving Ahead, Consider This Scenario –

If you cannot playback a video, you might have accidentally deleted the video from your PC. In that case, you needn’t lose hope – If it hasn’t been too late, a video recovery tool might just be the hope you were looking for. Photos Recovery is one such utility that can help you recover lost videos and photos from all storage mediums and file systems.

How To Use Photos Recovery To Recover Lost Videos –

Download, install and run Photos Recovery.
Select the drive you want to scan for lost videos.
Select the video you want to recover from the file list.
Click the Recover button and select the location where you want to save the restored video.

That being said, if you have the video in place and encountering playback issues for some other reason, you can try one of the procedures mentioned below.

How To Fix Video Playback Problems on Windows PC

– Run Video Playback Troubleshooter

The first step you can initiate if you have encountered a video playback error is running a Windows native troubleshooter. This feature might help identify and remove any issues that have led to the video playback error on your Windows PC. Here are the steps to do the same –

In the Windows search bar, type Troubleshoot.
From the right-hand side, under Troubleshootsettings,click on Open.
Click on View All from the left-hand pane.
Select Video Playback.
Click on Next and follow the on-screen instructions.

Once the process is over, check if you are still facing the issues or not.

– Repair Video

A broken or corrupt video could be another reason you face problems with your video playback. A video repair software like Stellar Repair for Video can help you repair videos of all major file formats. Eventually, you will be able to resolve the video playback issue. Here is how you can use Stellar Repair for Video to repair corrupted video files –

Download, install and run Stellar Repair for Video
Click on Add File to select the video you want to repair.
Click on Repairto start the repairing process.
Select and preview the repaired file before you choose to save it at the desired location.

– Update Graphics Driver

Video playback problems can also arise if your display drivers are corrupt or have become outdated. While you can try out the manual ways to update drivers on Windows 11/10, the chances of making errors or erroneously stumbling upon wrong drivers prevail; hence, you can opt for a fast, secure and smarter way to update drivers, and that is to use a third-party driver updater software. Advanced Driver Updater is one such tool that can help you scan your PC for corrupted or missing drivers and then you can update them with minimal effort. The driver updater utility comes packed with several other benefits such as –

Ability to back up and restore drivers.
Functionality to schedule driver scans.
Update driver database.

The above are just a few of the many benefits offered by Advanced Driver Updater; you can check the rest in this Advanced Driver Updater review.

How Does Advanced Driver Updater Work?

Download, install and run Advanced Driver Updater.

Select the driver you want to update by clicking on the checkbox left of the driver’s name. You can even choose to select all or multiple drivers for updating them.
Click on the Update drivermentioned at the farthest right of every driver enlisted.

– Restore Windows To A Point When Things Were Working Fine

You could have recently installed an update that didn’t work out as expected, and you are therefore facing video playback issues on your Windows PC. In such a scenario, you can restore your PC to a point when everything was functioning well. For this, you must have already created a System Restore point before. If you are new to creating a System Restore point, you can check out this post where we have outlined all the steps to create one.

Now, let’s get down to how you can use a previously created System Restore point –

In the Windows search bar, type System Restore point.
From the right-hand side, click on Open.
When the System Properties window opens, click on System Restore, as shown in the screenshot below.
When the System Restore window appears, click on Next.
From the restore points listed, select the one that you want to restore your PC to and click on Next
Click on Finish to confirm rolling back to the selected restore point.

Wrapping Up

Video playback errors on Windows can be frustrating, but it doesn’t mean they can’t be resolved. Try the fixes we have mentioned above, and let us know which of the above worked out for you in the comments. Just like this, we put out troubleshooting guides and other useful tech content regularly, so do check out WeTheGeek for more such content, and you may just resolve the error that has been troubling you for long.