VLC Media Player is a free, open-source player that supports virtually every video and audio format — including DVDs, Blu-rays, network streams, and local media files.
On Linux Mint, you can install VLC via APT, Snap, or Flatpak — APT gives you the stable repository version, while Flatpak installs the latest release directly from Flathub.
Quick Answer
Run sudo apt update && sudo apt install vlc in the terminal. APT installs VLC from the Linux Mint repository — it’s the fastest and most straightforward method available.
How to Install VLC on Linux Mint
Method 1: Install VLC Using APT
APT is the default package manager on Linux Mint — it installs VLC directly from the official repositories with full dependency resolution in just two commands.
Step 1: Update the system repositories to make sure you get the current version available in the Mint package index before installing.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
Step 2: Install VLC with the command below. APT resolves all required dependencies automatically — no manual steps needed after the package downloads.
sudo apt install vlc
Step 3: Verify the installation was successful by checking the VLC version number — any version output confirms VLC is correctly installed and available system-wide.
vlc --version
Method 2: Install VLC Using Snap
Snap packages are containerized with all dependencies bundled inside — useful when you want an isolated VLC installation that won’t conflict with other system libraries.
Linux Mint disables Snap by default. To enable it, remove the nosnap preference file that blocks snap installations, then install and enable the snapd daemon.
sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/nosnap.pref
sudo apt update && sudo apt install snapd
sudo systemctl enable snapd
Once snapd is running, install VLC as a snap package. The snap version includes all codecs and stays up to date independently of the system package repositories.
sudo snap install vlc
Method 3: Install VLC Using Flatpak
Flatpak is pre-installed on Linux Mint and fetches packages from the Flathub repository — it provides the most up-to-date VLC release, often newer than the APT repository version.
Step 1: Check that Flatpak is available by verifying its version. If Flatpak is not installed, add it with sudo apt install flatpak before continuing.
flatpak --version
Step 2: Install VLC from the Flathub remote. The org.videolan.VLC ID tells Flatpak exactly which package to fetch — Flathub must be configured as a remote source first.
flatpak install flathub org.videolan.VLC
How to Launch VLC on Linux Mint
After installing via APT or Snap, open VLC from the terminal by typing vlc and pressing Enter — or search for “VLC media player” in the Linux Mint application menu.
vlc
If you installed VLC via Flatpak, use the longer Flatpak run command instead — the standard vlc command will not work for the Flatpak-sandboxed version.
flatpak run org.videolan.VLC
To launch from the GUI, open the Linux Mint application menu, search for “VLC media player”, and click it — this works for all installation methods including Flatpak.
How to Uninstall VLC From Linux Mint
Use the uninstall command that matches your original installation method — mixing methods (e.g., using apt remove on a Snap installation) will not work.
APT: Remove VLC and any packages that were installed solely as its dependencies using the autoremove flag to keep the system clean.
sudo apt autoremove vlc
Snap: Remove the VLC snap package and its associated data from the system using the snap remove command.
sudo snap remove vlcFlatpak: Remove VLC along with its user data using the --delete-data flag — without this flag, Flatpak keeps user settings even after the app is removed.
flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.videolan.VLC
When to Use Each Installation Method
Use APT for the simplest, most integrated install — it updates with your system packages, uses minimal disk space, and is the recommended method for most Linux Mint users.
Use Flatpak when you need the latest VLC release — the Flathub version is updated quickly after new releases and often ahead of the distro’s official repositories.
Use Snap if you prefer isolated app installations or if the APT version has a codec issue — the Snap package bundles all codecs and libraries together independently of the system.
Related Guides
These guides cover related Linux and cross-platform setup tasks you may need when configuring media and remote access tools on your Linux Mint or Debian system.