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Video Codec Windows 10 Download Free for Multimedia Playback

Posted by Kaylee Wood | Last update: April 28, 2020

Why download video codec for Windows 10? Simply because if the Windows 10 or the native Windows 10 media player doesn’t include the corresponding video codec, it is impossible to play specific video file on Windows 10. Put succinctly, the codec is the key to encode and decode the video and audio from files, streams and broadcasts, so as to let your media player and computer understand and play them.

The codec-related problem needs codec download to solve, so this place provides delicately-selected codecs for Windows 10 to help you play all video formats successfully.

Video Codec Windows 10 Download is Necessary for Windows Media Player on Windows 10

When you need to download codecs for Windows 10, I guess your Windows Media Player on Windows 10 would have received an error message like “A codec is required to play this file”, “Windows Media Player encountered an error”, “Windows Media Player cannot play the file because the required video codec is not installed on your computer.”, or “Invalid file format”. Actually, the default Windows 10 media player - Windows Media Player doesn’t include the codecs for FLAC files, FLV files and more. Besides, it doesn’t play the most common MP4 and MKV files very successfully when these media files are encoded with H.264, H.265 or any other incompatible codecs.

BTW, Windows Media Player won’t play DVD on Windows 10 especially when there is lacking of compatible video codec Windows 10, say proper DVD decoder installed on computer.

So, if you have known who publishes the best codec pack for Windows 10 you need, you can go to the codec manufacturer’s website to download it. Otherwise, find the proper one here.

Top 2 Codec Pack for Windows 10 Download Free

No.1 Windows 10 Codec Pack

Download site: https://www.windows10codecpack.com/

32-bit and 64-bit version available, the Windows 10 Codec Pack is suitable for Windows Media Player 12/11/10 and any other video player compatible with DirectShow. With the help of it, your Windows Media Player on Windows 10 will support almost every compression and file type used by modern audio and video including MP4, MKV and FLV files.

Supported video codecs: x265, h.265, HEVC, 10bit x264, x264, h.264, AVCHD, AVC, DivX, XviD, MP4, MPEG, MPEG2, etc.

Just free download the video codec pack for Windows 10, and follow the guide to install it on your Windows 10 computer. For simple installation, select “Easy Installation”. For advanced installation, just choose “Detailed Installation”.

No. 2 K-Lite Codec Pack

Download site: https://codecguide.com/

Same as Windows 10 Codec Pack, this video codec pack is compatible with all the DirectShow players including Windows Media Player to allow for multimedia playback on Windows 10. It also supports Hardware accelerated decoding of common formats including MP4 MKV in 4K.

Supported video codecs: H.264, H.265/HEVC, VP8, VP9, AV1 , VC1, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG-4, H.263, etc.

This Windows 10 video codec pack is highly recommended is also because it is updated frequently.

Disadvantages of Windows 10 Video Codec Pack

These codec packs indeed help beef up your Windows Media Player to play multimedia files without troubles, but they are actually not that satisfying.

Firstly, codec pack from unauthorized sites may contain virus, adware or spyware that will corrupt the operating system of your computer or leave some other potential risks to your PC. Secondly, the newly downloaded Windows 10 codec pack may conflict with the existed codecs on your PC. Thirdly, the third-party codec packs doesn’t update frequently, so they may not be compatible with your Windows 10 media player.

Though we have tested the above two codec packs for Windows 10, we are not 100% sure that they won’t bring troubles to your Windows Media Player or computer in the future. So, we’d like to introduce a better way for you Windows 10 users to play videos encoded with different video codecs, say video player for all formats .

No Need of External Video Codec Windows 10, Play Any Videos

The versatile video player for all formats we suggest here is 5KPlayer, which contains a variety of audio and video codecs like MP4 codec and MKV codec for common and rare media files. It is designed to be a multimedia player for MP4, MKV, FLV, AVI, WMV, MOV, HEVC, H.264, etc video playback in HD/1080p, 4K, 5K and even up to 8K. As a brand-new media player for Windows 10 with visionary insight, 5KPlayer has also been preparing for the upcoming H.266/VVC video codec for Windows 10. Try it and you will love it.