How to Fix Your Input Can’t Be Opened VLC Error on Windows 11

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Despite the fact that Windows has a plethora of video player apps, users still prefer VLC Media Player. VLC is an open-source media player app for PC with a plethora of features. It’s a full-featured media management tool that can be used for a variety of tasks.

The “VLC is unable to open the MRL” error is a common one among VLC users. When they play a DVD from an external DVD player, the following error message appears: Your input cannot be opened: VLC is unable to open the MRL ‘dvd:/d:/’. Details can be found in the log. This also applies to those who stream online, play a local file, or a file located somewhere other than the local computer, such as an external storage drive, an online website, or another server.

The good thing about VLC is that it can assist you in getting rid of some software. If you use VLC, for example, you won’t need to install a separate screen recorder, video converter, video-to-audio converter, and so on. We’re talking about VLC because many users have recently reported receiving an unusual error message while playing videos. VLC Media Player displays the error message ‘Your Input can’t be opened’ while playing videos.

So, if you just got this error message while playing a video in VLC, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve included a few simple steps below to help you resolve the VLC ‘Your Input Can’t Be Opened’ error message. We have mentioned ways below to Fix Your Input Can’t Be Opened VLC Error on Windows 11

Ways to Fix Your Input Can’t Be Opened VLC Error on Windows 11

Disable Windows Defender Firewall

Most of the time it happens that YouTube URLs are blocked by Windows Firewall. Because of this, the error message “VLC error, your input cannot be opened” may appear.

To fix this issue, you can disable Windows Defender Firewall. To do so, carefully follow the instructions below:

First, tap and type the search icon on the taskbar and click “Windows Defender Firewall”.

After that, turn Windows Defender Firewall on/off by clicking on it.

In the settings for a private and public network, you need to check the “Turn off Windows Defender Firewall” checkbox.

Finally, tap OK.

Change File Ownership

Find a video and give it a right tap.

Select Properties from the popup menu.

Then, navigate to the Security tab and select the Advanced option.

Click on Change >> type “Administrator” into the box. To proceed, press OK.

Check the box that says “Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object” and then click Apply >> OK.

Update VLC

This error may bother you if you haven’t updated VLC to the latest version. Check to see if updating VLC to the latest version resolves the issue. Here’s how you can go about it:

Open VLC and select Help.

Now, select Check for Updates.

VLC will now check for updates automatically.

To update VLC on a Mac, go to the top menu bar and select VLC Media Player, then check for updates.

Take Ownership of the Media File

Navigate to the location where the file is stored in File Explorer.

Select Properties from the context menu when you right-click on the media file.

Open the Security tab in the Properties dialogue.

Then, select the Advanced option.

Click the Change Owner button.

Then, in the Enter the object name to select the field, type your user account name and click Check Names.

If the user is discovered, click OK.

To save the changes, click Apply and OK on all open dialogues.

Reinstall VLC Media Player

To open Settings, press Win + I.

Next, in the left pane, select the Apps tab.

Then, under Installed apps, look for VLC.

Uninstall the VLC media player by clicking the three-dot menu. To confirm the action, click Uninstall once more.

After you’ve uninstalled VLC, go to the VLC media player page and download the installer. Install the app and check for updates.

Disable Third-Party Antivirus

Third-party antivirus software installed on your device may occasionally cause the error Your Input Can’t be Opened in VLC. Disable your anti-virus software to see if this resolves the problem. If disabling the antivirus does not work, temporarily uninstall it and check for the same.

Turn off Windows protection apps

If Windows protection tools such as Windows Defender Firewall and antivirus software have blocked the video source to protect your system, VLC will not be able to open it. It’s not a bad idea to disable your computer’s antivirus or firewall before attempting to open the file in VLC Player. It may resolve the VLC error ‘your input cannot be opened’. To temporarily disable antivirus on your computer, right-click on the antivirus icon in Windows or Mac. Select the appropriate option from the drop-down menu, such as Disable, Pause, or Stop. Alternatively, you can configure VLC to open the input video files from the source.

Use a video repair software

If your video file does not open in other media players, the problem is most likely video file corruption. Download and install Stellar Repair for Video on your computer right away. A specialized video repair tool restores the corrupt file header, data, sound sections, frames, and movement, among other things. It resolves the video playback issues and restores playability.

What Causes the ‘Your Input Can’t be Opened’ Error in VLC?

Before attempting the solution, you must first understand why the error message appears. We’ve listed several possible causes for this error message on the VLC Media Player below.

Corrupted video file due to an invalid/broken streaming URL

The file format is incompatible.

The streaming network is protected by encryption.

VLC Media Player Preferences/Settings are incorrect.

Final Words

We hope like our article on How to Fix Your Input Can’t Be Opened VLC Error on Windows 11. VLC is a popular media player that supports all audio/video file formats, local media files, and videos from YouTube and other websites. The ‘Your Input Can’t Be Opened’ error can also occur while streaming local videos, resulting in the video file not being able to be played.