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3 Quick Ways to Fix VLC When It is Unable to Open the MRL

Claiming the file ownership often does the trick

6 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Are you seeing VLC is unable to open the MRL error wherever you are trying to play a video on the VLC Player?

If so, then you are not alone. It is one of the common errors of the VLC media player that pops up when you want to stream videos on VLC from a different source.

Notably, this error is triggered when you try to play videos from YouTube or other online sources and the VLC player is not able to find the target file.

This means you will come across the VLC is unable to open the MRL error when you try to open a file or stream a video that is not physically located on the local computer.

Thankfully, in this guide, we will give you three effective solutions that have been tested and tried to fix the VLC is unable to open the MRL error and help you get back to content watching. Let us get right into it.

What is VLC MRL?

What is VLC MRL?

MRL stands for Media Source Locator. It helps the VLC media player locate the multimedia resource. MRL is used by Xine media players as well as the Java Media Framework, in addition to VLC.

A media resource locator (MRL) is known as a string of characters used to identify a multimedia resource or part of a multimedia resource. An MRL is often used to identify inputs or outputs to the VLC media player.

You will come across the VLC is unable to open the MRL error when you try to open a media file that is located on external storage, online, or on another server. If VLC is unable to locate the file, then you will be shown this error.

If VLC is unable to open a certain video file format, you can try another media player. CyberLink Power DVD is a software decoder that allows you to watch high-quality MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 videos.

PowerDVD requires only a DVD drive on your PC to play DVDs, VCDs, SVCDs, and mini DVDs, as well as other video and audio files.

Notably, the MRL syntax is:

[[access][/demux]://]URL[#[title][:chapter][-[title][:chapter]]] [:option=value …]

How do you fix VLC Cannot open MRL file?

How do you fix VLC Cannot open MRL file?

1. Claim the file ownership

This issue, as already mentioned, happens when you try to run a video from an external drive. In such a case, you should ensure that you have proper rights to run the video.

Following the above steps, you can claim ownership of the file and try running it on the VLC media player to check if this fixes the issue or not.

If you are facing other issues, likeVLC could not open the MP4a audio encoderissue, we recommend you check out this informative guide to find solutions.

2. Update or reinstall VLC

3. Check the source video

There are chances that the video you are trying to stream on VLC itself has a problem, which is why you are coming across the VLC unable to open the MRL issue.

In such a case, we would suggest you copy the URL and try running it on another player. You can also take the help of some of the online streaming players.

If the video is not working on another player, then the problem isn’t with the VLC player, but with the source of the video instead.

How do I allow VLC through the Firewall?

Chances are that the Windows Defender Firewall isn’t allowing the VLC player to stream video from a website for security reasons, which could be a false alarm.

In such a case, simply allow the VLC media player software through your Windows Defender Firewall and check if this fixes the issue or not.

VLC is unable to open the MRL on YouTube?

In case the above doesn’t help, you can check out our guide on thebest universal video playersthat you can install on your Windows OS PC and enjoy video watching.

That is it from us in this guide. Let us know in the comments below if this guide helped you fix the VLC is unable to open the MRL error or not. You can also share any other method that helped you resolve the problem.

Sagar Naresh

Sagar is a web developer and technology journalist. Currently associated with WindowsReport and SamMobile. When not writing, he is either at the gym sweating it out or playing country music on his guitar.

He is an avid traveler and has been to 15 countries, going to more places soon. TRAVEL and WORK is his mantra for a peaceful life.

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