Set up VLC for the VLC Remote - Windows

NB: It is much easier to do this setup with the Setup Helper.

These instructions are based on VLC 2.0. If you have VLC 2.1 or later, then please click here.

A) Enable the HTTP Interface

1. Open the VLC settings
• VLC Menu/Tools/Preferences
2. Enable 'All Settings' (by default VLC only shows the most used settings)
• Click on the 'All' button at the bottom left of the screen
3. Find the 'Main interfaces' preference page
• Expand the options for Interfaces
• Select Main interfaces
4. Select the 'Web' checkbox.
   • This should show 'http' in the text box.
5. Save the Preferences
6. Exit VLC then restart it

B) Give your phone permission to access VLC

Once you have enabled the http interface, press re-scan on your phone remote.

If you see a traffic cone beside the computer you are trying to control, then you can skip this step.

If you are using a recent version of VLC then you will see a cone with a red X through it. This means you need to give your phone permission to access VLC.

VLC in the latest versions uses a file called '.hosts' to define which computers can access the VLC remote player. You need to open this file and edit it:

1. Open Word Pad (Not Notepad)
   • Start/All Programs/Accessories/Word Pad
2. Open the .hosts file
   • Click 'Open File'
   • Make sure that 'Files of Type' at the bottom shows 'All Documents *.*'
   • Navigate and select C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\http\.hosts
3. Make the changes suggested below and save the file.
4. Quit and restart VLC and all should work.

if you want to access VLC from your local network, then you will need to remove the # signs in the 'private addresses' area so that it looks like this

if you want to access VLC from the entire world, then remove the # in the 'The World' section. As VLC says, this is 'not quite safe' as you allow the whole world to control your VLC player.

C) Let VLC through your firewall

When you launch VLC, Windows may ask you whether to block or unblock VLC.

If you see this option, then you should choose 'unblock'. This allows VLC to communicate to your phone (and vice versa).

If you don't see this alert and VLC remote isn't automatically finding your VLC player when you press 're-scan' then you will need to manually allow VLC through the firewall

1. Open the Control Panel (start/Control Panel)
2. Type 'firewall' in the search box
3. Select 'Allow a program through Windows firewall'



4. Make sure that there is a checkmark next to VLC for both public and private networks.

D) That's it!

By now, you should be able to see your computer in the VLC Remotes page under 'Found Computers'. If VLC is running on your computer, then you should see a Traffic cone next to the computer entry.

You can then select that computer and control it remotely.

Troubleshooting...

If you can't connect, try the troubleshooting page.