How to uninstall VLC on Windows

Save any playlists you want to keep, stop playback, and quit VLC. Videos and music you opened with it stay where you saved them; only VLC's own program files and settings go with the uninstall. This guide covers VLC installed machine-wide from the VideoLAN.VLC winget package, which installs the same signed package VideoLAN ships.

If you only want to reset preferences

For a playback or interface problem, try the reset option in VLC's own preferences first, then test with a file you know plays. Do not uninstall the app just to reset it. VideoLAN's preferences documentation

Quit VLC first

Close every VLC window and stop any playback. Check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any vlc.exe still listed before you uninstall.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

Go to Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find VLC media player, and choose Uninstall, or run:

winget uninstall --id VideoLAN.VLC

Because VLC installs for every account on this PC, both the Settings row and the winget command raise a UAC prompt.

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%ProgramFiles%\VideoLAN\VLC`	Program files	Removed by the uninstaller
`%APPDATA%\vlc`	VLC's preferences and support data, if you changed any settings	Check for anything you saved there first; safe to remove for a clean reset
Start Menu shortcuts (the player, release notes, and "reset preferences and cache files") and the Public Desktop shortcut	App shortcuts	Removed by the uninstaller

Exported playlists and any videos you opened are not in these folders; a playlist usually just references where the media lives, so removing VLC does not touch the media itself.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process vlc -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id VideoLAN.VLC
Test-Path "$env:ProgramFiles\VideoLAN\VLC"
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\vlc"

No output from Get-Process only means this query observed no matching process; a suppressed error leaves the running state unknown. A listed process means a window is still open.
A completed winget list query with no match means the package record is gone; a matching row means the uninstall did not finish.
The first Test-Path returning False means the program folder is gone; True means files remain there.
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\vlc" returning True means your VLC settings are still there; False means either you never changed a setting or you already removed it.

Opening a media file you kept may prompt Windows to ask which app should play it; that is a file-association change, not a missing file.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same uninstaller Settings › Apps uses and removes the same program files; it does not touch %APPDATA%\vlc on its own.

What Mole lists

For VLC installed machine-wide from winget:

The program folder, every Start Menu shortcut under VLC's group, and the Public Desktop shortcut are selected by default.
This test's install had never been opened to change any settings, so no %APPDATA%\vlc row appeared in the review; when it exists, Mole recognizes VLC's short name and lists it, but only for your own review, never selected by default.

What this test covered

Tested with VLC 3.0.23 installed through winget, machine scope. This build of VLC installs as a Windows Installer package rather than a self-extracting installer, so removal ran through Windows' own installer service. Every listed row was ticked and removed in this test. Not verified: settings created after regular use, and playlists.