A video stutters or won't play

What to try

1. Update Vantage Player. Version 2026.10.1 plays 4K video more smoothly, including on screens smaller than 4K. The Microsoft Store installs updates, and Vantage Player shows a notice when one is ready.
2. Turn hardware decoding off. Open Settings (Ctrl+,) and turn off Hardware decoding (GPU). Close Vantage Player and open it again; the change takes effect on the next start. This helps when a file tears, shows blocks or a black picture, or used to play and now fails.
3. Try a copy on this PC. A large video on a network drive or a slow USB stick can stall while it loads. Copy it to the PC and play it from there.
4. Check the file. Some files do not play in any player: copy-protected (DRM) video, DVD or Blu-ray disc menus, and files that did not finish downloading or copying.

If hardware decoding off does not help, turn it back on. It uses less power and is faster on most PCs.

Still not playing?

Press ? on the control bar → Send feedback / report a bug. Tell us the kind of file (for example "4K HEVC MKV from a phone") and what you see. Leave Include diagnostic info checked so the log goes with it. File and folder names are removed from the log first.

For more detail in that log, turn on Debug logging (verbose) in Settings, restart Vantage Player, and play the file again before you send it.

Related

• Open videos: the formats Vantage Player plays
• Privacy: what a support message sends