How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer
This wikiHow teaches you how to use VLC Media Player to stream a video playing on one computer to another computer on the same Internet network. To do this, you'll need the free VLC Media Player program installed on both computers, and...
Part 1 of 3:
Preparing to Stream
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Picture 1 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Install VLC Media Player on both computers. If you haven't yet done so, you'll need to install VLC Media Player on both the computer that you want to use to stream and the computer on which you want to receive the stream.- VLC is available for free on both Windows and Mac computers, as well as on most Linux distributions.
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Picture 2 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Find the IP address of both computers. In order to stream a video from your computer to another computer on your network, you'll need to know the IP address of both computers. -
Picture 3 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Make sure that both computers are on the same network. Both your computer and the other computer must be connected to the same Internet network (e.g., your home router) for you to be able to stream video to the other computer.- If your router has multiple channels (e.g., a 2.4 GHz channel and a 5.0 GHz channel), make sure that both computers are on the same channel as well.
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Picture 4 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Understand that streaming may not work on your network. If your network has a low upload speed or several items using it at once (e.g., phones, consoles, other computers, etc.), you may be unable to stream across your network. This can be remedied by upgrading your Internet speed through your service provider.- If your router and/or modem are more than a few years old, attempting to stream may cause one or both of them to crash.
Part 2 of 3:
Streaming on Windows
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Picture 5 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Open VLC Media Player. Its app icon resembles an orange-and-white traffic cone. -
Picture 6 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Media. This tab is in the top-left corner of the VLC Media Player window. A drop-down menu will appear. -
Picture 7 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Stream…. It's near the bottom of the Media drop-down menu. Doing so opens the Stream window. -
Picture 8 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Add…. You'll see this button on the right side of the window in the "File selection" section. This will prompt a File Explorer window to open. -
Picture 9 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Select a video. Click a video that you want to stream. You may first have to select a folder in the left-hand sidebar or open a folder in the main File Explorer window to find the file that you want. -
Picture 10 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Open. It's in the bottom-right corner of the window. This will add the video to the stream. -
Picture 11 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Stream. You'll find it at the bottom of the window. -
Picture 12 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Next. It's in the bottom-right side of the window. Doing so takes you to the Destination Setup window. -
Picture 13 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click the "New destination" drop-down box. This drop-down box usually has the word "File" in it. A drop-down menu will appear. -
Picture 14 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click HTTP. It's in the drop-down box. -
Picture 15 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Add. This is to the right of the HTTP box. Doing so opens the HTTP setup page. -
Picture 16 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Note the port listed here. You'll need to know through which port the stream is traveling later. -
Picture 17 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Enter the other computer's IP address. Do this in the "Path" text field. You'll notice a slash (/) in the "Path" field—don't delete the slash when entering your IP address. -
Picture 18 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Next. -
Picture 19 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Uncheck the "Activate Transcoding" box. It's near the top of the window. -
Picture 20 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click the "Profile" drop-down box. You'll find this on the right side of the window. Doing so prompts a drop-down menu. -
Picture 21 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Select the "TS" format. Click Video - H.264 + MP3 (TS) in the drop-down menu. -
Picture 22 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Next. -
Picture 23 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Check the "Stream all elementary streams" box. It's near the top of the page. -
Picture 24 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Stream. It's at the bottom of the window. Doing so will complete the stream setup and begin streaming your video to the other computer. -
Picture 25 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Open VLC on the other computer. -
Picture 26 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Open the Network Stream window. Click Media, then click Open Network Stream…. -
Picture 27 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Enter the stream's address. Type in http://ipaddress:port where "ipaddress" is the streaming computer's IP address and "port" is the port number that was listed on the "HTTP" page.- For a stream from a computer with an IP address of 123.456.7.8 and a port of 8080, you would type http://123.456.7.8:8080 here.
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Picture 28 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Play. After a delay of up to 30 seconds, you should see the other computer's video begin playing in your media player.
Part 3 of 3:
Streaming on Mac
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Picture 29 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Open VLC Media Player. Its app icon resembles an orange-and-white traffic cone. -
Picture 30 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click File. This menu item is in the upper-left side of the Mac's screen. A drop-down menu will appear. -
Picture 31 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Streaming/Exporting Wizard…. You'll find this option near the bottom of the drop-down menu. -
Picture 32 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Check the "Stream to network" box. It's near the top of the window. -
Picture 33 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Next. This blue button is in the bottom-right side of the window. -
Picture 34 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Choose…. It's to the right of the "Select a stream" text box. A Finder window will open.- The "Select a stream" checkbox should be checked, but if it isn't, check it before clicking Choose... here.
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Picture 35 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Select a video. Click a video that you want to stream. You may first have to click a folder in the left-hand Finder pane or open a folder in the main Finder window to find the video. -
Picture 36 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Open. It's in the bottom-right corner of the window. -
Picture 37 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Next. -
Picture 38 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Check the "HTTP" box. This option is in the middle of the page. You should see "Port" and a "Source" (or "Path") text fields appear on the page. -
Picture 39 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Note the port listed here. You'll need to know through which port the stream is traveling later. -
Picture 40 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Enter the other computer's IP address. Do this in the "Source" or "Path" text field.- If there's a slash (/) in the text field, leave it there and enter the IP address after it.
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Picture 41 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Next. -
Picture 42 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Make sure that both "Transcode" boxes are unchecked. Both of these should be in the middle of the page. -
Picture 43 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Next. -
Picture 44 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Check the "MPEG TS" box. It's in the middle of the page. This may be the only option that you have for the stream. -
Picture 45 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Next twice. Do this on the current page and on the "Additional streaming options" page. -
Picture 46 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Finish. It's a blue button at the bottom of the window. Doing so completes your stream setup and begins streaming to the other computer. -
Picture 47 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Open VLC on the other computer. -
Picture 48 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Open the Network Stream window. Click File, then click Open Network…. -
Picture 49 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Enter the stream's address. Type in http://ipaddress:port where "ipaddress" is the streaming computer's IP address and "port" is the port number that was listed on the "HTTP" page.- For a stream from a computer with an IP address of 123.456.7.8 and a port of 8080, you would type http://123.456.7.8:8080 here.
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Picture 50 of How to Use VLC Media Player to Stream Multimedia to Another Computer Click Play. After a delay of up to 30 seconds, you should see the other computer's video begin playing in your media player.
Update 05 March 2020
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