How to Uninstall VLC Media Player Completely

This article is created to help those people who want to uninstall VLC Media Player from their PCs. If you have any difficulties in uninstalling the app, it is highly recommended you to read the post carefully. Please continue reading.

 

VLC Media Player Introduction

VLC Media Player program is created by VideoLAN Team Corporation. It is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVD, Audio CD, VCD, and various streaming protocols. Usually, the default installation directory of the app is C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC.

Problems you may encounter when uninstalling VLC Media Player

Receiving error message dialog box when uninstalling VLC Media Player

Cannot find the program in the list of installed programs

Cannot find the Uninstall/Remove button when uninstalling the program

Usually, you can’t normally uninstall the program with Windows Add or Remove Programs due to improper installation or some configuration information of the program have been damaged or deleted. Of course, malware or virus invasion may lead to you can’t uninstall the program.

 

How to Uninstall VLC Media Player Manually?

 

Step1. Terminate VLC Media Player program in Task Manager.

· Right-click your Taskbar, then select Task Manager/Start Task Manager from the list.

·When the window shows up, find out the target program, then click End Process button for Windows 7/Vista/XP. Click End Task button for Windows 8/10 to terminate the program.

 

Step2. Uninstall VLC Media Player via Windows built-in uninstaller.

 

·Click Start menu, and then select Control Panel.

·Click Uninstall a program link under Programs/Add or Remove Programs.

·Find out the program from the list of installed programs, click Uninstall/Remove to delete it.

 

Step3. Show hidden files, folders, and drives.

·Click Start > Control Panel >Appearance and Personalization > Folder Options >View

·Tick Show hidden files, folders, and drives, uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)

·Click Apply > OK button.

 

Step4. Delete VLC Media Player associated files and folders.

C:\Program Files\VLC Media Player

C:\Document and Settings\All Users\VLC Media Player

C:\Users\Funla\AppData\Roaming\Easeware\VLC Media Player

Step5. Delete the entries created by VLC Media Player in Registry.

·Simultaneously press Windows + R keys on your keyboard.

· Type regedit into the run box and then click OK button to open Registry Editor.

·In the opened window, click Edit menu and then select Find/Find Next button.

·Type VLC Media Player into the dialog box and then click Find Next button.

·Delete the following entries.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\VLC Media Player_RASAPI32

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\VLC Media Player_RASMANCS

Warning!!!

 

The above step is never recommended to computer novices or inexperienced computer users. Any wrong step may cause serious system problems. Therefore, for the sake of computer safety, it is strongly recommended using an automatic uninstall tool to completely clean all the registry entries created by VLC Media Player.