How to Stream Videos from VLC to Chromecast in Windows

VLC Player is probably the most popular video players out there. It’s simple and supports most multimedia file formats. However, it still doesn’t come with the support for Chromecast. This means that you cannot stream videos or songs from you PC to your smart TV using a Chromecast.

VLC has been working on bringing the Chromecast support and it has not yet been fully launched. You can still use this feature by following a few steps.

Important Note: You might experience some crashes as the feature is still unstable.

What Do You Need?

To execute the following steps, you’d need these things:

1. Latest Nightly Build of VLC Player
2. Chromecast
3. Windows PC

How to Stream from VLC in Windows PC to Chromecast

Step 1. Download Latest Version of VLC Player

Download the latest version of the VLC player from the official Nightly. Click here to find the download links for 32-bit Windows and 64-bit Windows versions of the player.

After downloading the .exe file, run it to install on your computer.

Make sure your Chromecast is connected to your TV and both of them are powered on.

Step 2. Scan Your Chromecast

After installing the VLC player, open it and click on Video. You will now see a Renderer tab. Click on it and select Scan.

Step 3. Select Your Chromecast

VLC will now search for your Chromecast device. Click again on Video > Renderer and select your Chromecast.

Up next, open a file from your Windows PC that you want to stream using the Chromecast. Head to Media and click on the Open a File option. You can also drag and drop a video file onto the VLC window to play.

Step 4. Accept Certificate Permanently

As soon as you add a file to the VLC player, you will see a prompt that says Insecure Site. You’d then have to click on View certificate. 

Click on Accept Permanently to add the certificate to your PC. Doing so, you will not see the certificate prompt again.

Step 5. Stream Videos to Chromecast

The video file will now play on your Chromecast. You can use the VLC window to pause, fast-forward, rewind, and control the playback.

It must be noted that while streaming via Chromecast the video will not appear on your Windows PC you will just see a black screen on the Player.

Here’s Another Way

As mentioned earlier, the latest build of VLC is not yet stable and might crash more often on some devices. In such cases, there is another way to stream videos from VLC via Chromecast.

Open Google Chrome, click on the three-dot menu icon at the top-right corner and go to Cast > Cast Desktop. Now, you just need to play the video in the VLC Player and maximize the window.

However, you must know that the video quality will not be as good as what you get while streaming directly.

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