How to Play Videos on Chromebooks (And the Best Video Players to Use)

You can play videos on Chromebooks using the built-in file manager, gallery app, or third-party multimedia software. The built-in media players are often barebones with minimal features and controls, while third-party alternatives are feature-packed and support more video formats and codecs.

This tutorial will show you how to play videos on Chromebook using the built-in apps and third-party video players.

Play Videos in the Chromebook Gallery App

The default gallery app on Chromebooks lets you view and edit images, watch videos, play audio, and view or edit PDFs.

1. Open your Chromebook’s launcher (press the Search key) and select the Gallery app.

2. Select Open video in the “Watch videos” section.

3. Navigate to the folder containing the video file you want to play. Choose the video and select the Open button in the bottom-right corner.

4. Select or tap the Play icon to play the video.

The Rewind and Forward controls are on the left and right side of the Play/Pause button, respectively. Tap the buttons to move playback forward or backward by 10 seconds.

Select the three-dot menu icon in the bottom corner to reveal more playback options.

Select Loop playback to play the video repeatedly or Picture in picture to play the video in picture-in-picture mode.

Use the Google Photos App

Some Chromebook devices have the Google Photos app pre-installed by the manufacturer. Install Photos from the Google Play Store if it isn’t pre-installed on your Chromebook. You’ll get a prompt to allow access to your files the first time you launch the Photos app.

Open the Library tab to view and play video files in your Chromebook’s local storage.

Unlike the Gallery app, Photos lacks playback controls like fast-forward, rewind, picture-in-picture mode, etc. However, the app lets you loop playback and cast videos to Chromecast-supported devices.

Supported video formats and codes include mpg, .mod, .mmv, .tod, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .divx, .mov, .m4v, .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m2t, .m2ts, .mts, and .mkv.

VLC Media Player for Android

VLC is a god-tier video player for mobile devices and computers. The Android version of the media player works on ChromeOS devices.

The app doesn’t have the finest interface, but it features tens of gesture controls, functionalities, and settings for smooth navigation and playback.

When playing a video, you’ll find controls to change screen orientation, adjust video aspect ratio, and a subtitle menu. The collapsed settings menu houses the equalizer, sleep timer, playback speed control, and screen lock. The media player also has an “Audio-boost” feature that increases playback volume by up to 200%.

On touch-enabled Chromebooks, swiping up or down the right-hand side increases or decreases your display brightness, respectively. Swipe up or down the left-hand side of the player to adjust playback volume.

Swipe left or right to seek through the video, or double tap the center to pause/resume playback.

You can also install and run the Windows and Linux versions of VLC on your Chromebook. Download the .exe setup file from VLC’s website and install it using emulators like Wine or CrossOver. Refer to our tutorial on running Windows apps on Chromebooks for step-by-step installation instructions.

MX Player (Or MX Player Pro)

MX Player supports as many video formats as VLC but features more functionalities. Night mode, for instance, reduces the strain on your eyes when watching videos in low light. hardware acceleration

There are two versions of the MX Player in the Google Play Store. “MX Player” is the free and ad-supported version, while “MX Player Pro” costs $5.99 without ads and more features.

MX Player Pro has advanced gesture control, 8K support, and a built-in MP3 converter that lets you extract audio tracks from videos.

Play Videos Using Kodi

Kodi isn’t just a media player. It’s a complete entertainment hub in one app. Aside from playing local media files, Kodi lets you watch and record live TV programs, play games, browse the web, and more. The possibilities of media streaming are endless with Kodi.

You can also connect streaming services (Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.) to the Kodi app using add-ons. Kodi is open-source, free to use, and ad-free.

Install Kodi from the Google Play Store and launch the app. Open the “Videos” tab on the sidebar to view and play videos in your Chromebook storage.

Play Videos on Your Chromebook

Do you have multiple video players on your Chromebook? You can play videos directly from your Chromebook’s file manager using any video player app.

Open the Files app, right-click the video file, select Open with, and choose your preferred video player.

Any Android-supported video player should work on your Chromebook. Reboot your Chromebook or update its operating system if you have trouble installing or using any video player. Also, ensure you have the latest app version installed on your Chromebook.

Download or install the latest app version from the Google Play Store or the developer’s website. Contact the app developer or your Chromebook manufacturer if the video player still malfunctions.