How to Install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu 18.04
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VLC is one of the most popular open-source multimedia players. It is cross-platform and can play virtually all multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, and different streaming protocols.
This tutorial explains how to install VLC media player on Ubuntu 18.04. The same instructions apply for Ubuntu 16.04 and any Ubuntu-based distribution, including Kubuntu, Linux Mint, and Elementary OS.
Prerequisites
You’ll need to be logged in as a user with sudo access to be able to install packages on your Ubuntu system.
Install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu
The deb package included in the official Ubuntu 18.04 repositories always lags behind the latest version of VLC.
The recommended approach to install VLC on Ubuntu 18.04 is by using the snappy packaging system. This way you will always have the latest major VLC version with all codecs, security and critical bug fixes, and optical media support installed on your desktop.
At the time of writing this article, the latest stable version of the VLC media player is version 3.0.6.
Open your terminal using the Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut and type the following command to install VLC on your Ubuntu desktop:
sudo snap install vlcOnce the installation is complete, you will see the following output:
vlc 3.0.6 from VideoLAN✓ installed
That’s it. VLC media player has been installed on your Ubuntu system, you can launch the player by clicking on the VLC Media Player icon (Activities -> VLC Media Player).
When VLC is launched for the first time, a window like the following will appear with information about the VLC privacy and network access policy.
Set VLC as the Default Media Player
To set VLC as the default media player in Ubuntu 18.04, open the Activities screen, search for “default applications” and click on it.
When “Default Applications” window opens, in the Music dropdown select “VLC Media Player”:
Conclusion
You have learned how to install VLC on your Ubuntu 18.04 desktop. You can now explore your new Media Player and start watching streams videos or listening to your favorite artists.
To find more information about VLC visit the VideoLAN’s Documentation page.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
