Removal Tutorial: Uninstall VLC Media Player Step by Step

VLC Media Player is a lightweight, open-source and cross-platform multimedia player and streaming media server written by the VideoLAN Project. This software claims to be completely free, no spyware, no ads and no user tracking. It supports many audio and video compression methods and file formats, including DVD-Video, video CD and streaming protocols. With the intuitive interface, it can also stream media over computer networks and transcode multimedia files. All those features enforce VLC Media Player’s position at the top of the free media players. Many users get into trouble when uninstalling VLC Media Player from the computer, and the problems come like that: VLC Media Player does not appear in the program list of Add/ Remove Programs; unknown error pops up to interrupt the uninstall process; the associated files left in registry or hard drive cannot be completely removed… So what is the proper way to uninstall VLC Media Player? And how to remove all the leftovers without hassle? Read on this post to find the answers.

How Can I Uninstall VLC Media Player Thoroughly?

As is know to all, Windows users can uninstall unwanted programs by using the Add/Remove Programs applet (located in the Control Panel). But this conventional means may also fail to uninstall VLC Media Player successfully, and it would not help you to remove all the program components left behind. To ensure a complete uninstall of VLC Media Player, firstly you should log on with the user account that has administrative rights, and then follow the removal steps listed below.

Step 1. Star Windows in Safe Mode / Exit Related Processes (Optional)

1-1. Before uninstalling unwanted or stubborn program, you can reboot system into Safe Mode to troubleshoot potential problem that may cause incomplete uninstall:

For Windows 7 Users:

• Reboot the computer, and tap the F8 key as soon as the Windows’ logo appears.
• Select the Safe Mood in Advanced Boot Options and then press Enter key.

For Windows 8 Users:

• Access the Run dialogue by pressing the Windows + R keys, type “msconfig” and click on OK.
• Click the Boot tab in the System Configuration interface, check the “Safe boot” box and click on OK.

• Then your computer will boot into Safe Mode after it restarts. Notice: after the uninstall process is finished, you should first uncheck the “Safe boot” box in this tab and then reboot your PC.

1-2. If you don’t want to reboot computer into Safe Mode, then you are supposed to end all the related background processes in system tray before uninstall begins. Otherwise, error message may arise to stop the uninstallation, and some of the program components that are in use will not be deleted successfully.

• Right click the taskbar on the bottom of the screen and select Task Manager option.

• Select the background process(es) associated with VLC Media Player in the Processes tab, and then click on End Task to terminated them one by one.

Step 2: Uninstall VLC Media Player via Control Panel

For Windows 7 Users:

• Hit the Windows key on the keyboard and click on the Control Panel option.
• Choose View by Category in the upper-right corner and click on Programs.
• Scroll through the list of programs to find the software called VLC Media Player.
• Right click on VLC Media Player and click on Uninstall.

For Windows 8 Users:

• Right click on Start menu and then Programs and Features in the list.
• Highlight VLC Media Player with one single click and click on Uninstall.

• Click on Next in the pop-up window to start the uninstall process.

• Tick the box “Delete preferences and cache” and click on Uninstall.

• After the uninstall is completed, click on Finish to close the wizard.

A is mentioned before, after VLC Media Player has been uninstalled through Add/Remove Programs, its traces still can be found around your system (especially in Windows Registry). Now you need to continue these two necessary steps:

Step 3: Delete Associated Entries in Registry (Important)

• (Right) click on Start menu and then click on Run to launch Run dialog box.
• Type “regedit” in the Open: box and press Enter key to activate Registry Editor.
• If you are prompted by UAC for confirmation, click on Yes.

• Click Find on the Edit menu in the Registry Editor.
• Type the keyword(s) of target program or its vendor in the search box.

• Click on Find Next (and then hit F3 key) to locate and delete associated keys/values.

Warning: Be cautious. VLC Media Player remnants are ambiguous to identify, and their locations varies with different system settings. Manually removing those entries is not only tedious but also risk-taking. You must be very careful in making any change there. To avoid unnecessary mis-operation, we strongly recommend you to utilize a registry cleanup tool, or a professional uninstaller to handle this task.

Step 4: Delete Associated Files/Folders in Disk

• Go to Start menu > Control Panel > Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
• Tick Show hidden files and folders and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (recommended) in the Advanced settings.
• Click Apply and thn OK to save the changes.

• Open up File Explorer and type VLC Media Player in the Search Bar.

• Go through and delete the matched items in the search results.

After performing all these steps you should have successfully remove VLC Media Player as well as its residuals. If there are other media player you wanna uninstall(e.g. QuickTime, RealPlayer, iTunes), perform the same steps to get rid of them. But if you are tired of the tedious manual solution, why not try the automatic approach we recommend below to erase any PUP in your laptop safely and thoroughly?

Any Shortcut to Remove VLC Media Player? Sure!

With a user-friendly interface and a powerful scan engine, Max Uninstaller is capable of removing VLC Media Player as well as all of its related components forcibly and completely without getting errors. This utility is also recommended for the users who wanna save time & energy or avoid possible risk in program removal. Here a video tutorial is provided and you will experience the convenience and effectiveness of MU.

1. Select Target Program.

• Launch Max Uninstaller after exiting related processes.
• Select VLC Media Player in the list of installed program.
• Click on Run Analysis to proceed.

2. Scan for Program Components.

• Click the Complete Uninstall button to activate default uninstaller.
• Follow the prompts to complete uninstall.
• Click on Scan Leftovers to enter the last step.

3. Perform Complete Uninstall.

• Click on Delete Leftovers button to start scanning.
• Click Yes in the dialogue box and then all VLC Media Player leftovers will be completely removed.

This post gives detailed instructions on how to uninstall VLC media player for Windows. The manual uninstall method requires some advanced computer knowledge, and it is also risk-taking in deleting ambiguous program leftovers. On the contrary, uninstalling VLC media player with Max Uninstaller enables you to clean up all its leftovers on your system safely and effortlessly. If you have any problems or suggestion in uninstalling VLC media player, feel free to leave your comment here : )

External Knowledge:
VLC media player (from Wikipedia)
What is User Account Control (from Microsoft)?