The VideoLAN Forums

Everyone... It freakin WORKS NOW!!!! IT'S ALIVE!!!!
Just in case let me share and hopefully offer some specifics here. First off I downloaded the latest 64-bit version of VLC from the nightlies.videolan.org website. In this case I chose to download the zip file so that I could extract the entire content of the zip file. I opened up the VLC folder and made my way to where the youtube.luac file resided. This is where I made a mistake and then corrected the issue. I took the 64-bit youtube.luac file and placed it in the Program Files (x86) where VLC resided. Being a "newbie" at Windows 10 I didn't realize that the difference between this folder and the one labeled "Program Files" is that the latter is for 64-bit programs and the "x86" folder is for 32-bit programs (you learn something new every day!!!). Anyway I unzipped the file a second time and repeated the process only this time I placed the youtube.luac file in the same place where the original you.luac file resides but this time in the 64-bit folder of VLC (I hope this is making sense here...). I relaunched VLC; copied and pasted a youtube video link into VLC and VOILA!!! It worked!!!! Even though I previously stated that I gave up, everyone in this thread who got it to work encouraged me to keep going!!! I'm glad I did!!! Thank you everyone!!!

Here's the solution so far, follow these steps:

Important: First make sure no instance of VLC Player is running: Close your VLC Player and download the file "youtube.luac" from github (or you need to download a nightly vlc 4.0.0 zip archive from the videolan download page and find - after unzipping - the "youtube.luac" file in the "lua" directory. Copy it, you need this file later...

1. On a Windows 10 64-bit system you need to go to program files directory and find VLC install folder e.g.: 2. Go to and delete there the file "youtube.luac". You may need an Administrator password if you're asked for.
3. After deleting the file you only have to paste the copied "youtube.luac" (which is newer and will replace the old one you deleted for the benefit of playing youtube videos from now on...) in the same directory where the old one was. Don't try to rename the old one, it must be deleted before the new one is inserted/pasted in! You may need an Administrator password if you're asked for.
4. OK, thats it. You're done.

1. On a Windows 10 32-bit system you need to go to program files (x86) directory and find VLC install folder e.g.: 2. Go to and delete there the file "youtube.luac". You may need an Administrator password if you're asked for.
3. After deleting the file you only have to paste the copied "youtube.luac" (which is newer and will replace the old one you deleted for the benefit of playing youtube videos from now on...) in the same directory where the old one was. Don't try to rename the old one, it must be deleted before the new one is inserted/pasted in! You may need an Administrator password if you're asked for.
4. OK, thats it. You're done.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/videolan/vlc/master/share/lua/playlist/youtube.lua

click this link: http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/win32/
open this one: vlc-4.0.0-20200124-0249/
downloaded this one: vlc-4.0.0-20200124-0249-dev-win32
opened it: downloads/vlc-4.0.0-20200124-0249-dev-win32/vlc-4.0.0-dev/lua/playlist
then i dragged the "youtube.lua" file to: windows-SSD (C:)/programs files/videoLAN/VLC/lua/playlist

It didn't work with v3.0.8. But luckily I still have v3.0.7.1 around which works. Thanks for the instruction.

It works with 3.0.8. What you need is correct file name! "youtube.luac" NOT "youtube.lua".

I got this working in VLC 64 bit version 3.0.8 after following the wonderful contributions in this thread.

Just couple of points to note though.

As already mentioned, it is important that it is the youtube.luac file and not the youtube.lua file that is replaced.

Note the new location of the folder for file replacement is now in C:\program Files\VideoLan\VLC\Lua\Playlists

The youtube.luac file from github did not work for me.

But the one from the VLC nightly build archive does. use latest ver 4 and find the win64.zip file in this folder:

https://nightlies.videolan.org/build/win64/vlc-4.0.0-20200214-0833/

Thanks for the previous contributions. Found my way without much hassle.

Here's the solution so far, follow these steps:

Important: First make sure no instance of VLC Player is running: Close your VLC Player and download the file "youtube.luac" from github (or you need to download a nightly vlc 4.0.0 zip archive from the videolan download page and find - after unzipping - the "youtube.luac" file in the "lua" directory. Copy it, you need this file later...

1. On a Windows 10 64-bit system you need to go to program files directory and find VLC install folder e.g.: 2. Go to and delete there the file "youtube.luac". You may need an Administrator password if you're asked for.
3. After deleting the file you only have to paste the copied "youtube.luac" (which is newer and will replace the old one you deleted for the benefit of playing youtube videos from now on...) in the same directory where the old one was. Don't try to rename the old one, it must be deleted before the new one is inserted/pasted in! You may need an Administrator password if you're asked for.
4. OK, thats it. You're done.

1. On a Windows 10 32-bit system you need to go to program files (x86) directory and find VLC install folder e.g.: 2. Go to and delete there the file "youtube.luac". You may need an Administrator password if you're asked for.
3. After deleting the file you only have to paste the copied "youtube.luac" (which is newer and will replace the old one you deleted for the benefit of playing youtube videos from now on...) in the same directory where the old one was. Don't try to rename the old one, it must be deleted before the new one is inserted/pasted in! You may need an Administrator password if you're asked for.
4. OK, thats it. You're done.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/videolan/vlc/master/share/lua/playlist/youtube.lua

If you download the file above make sure to rename it correctly:
youtube.luac

Pay attention to the correct spelling of the file name and its extension.

Not working for me.
Using the nigtly build lua only list and play 1 file.

Also tried the lua from addon videolan site.

using 3.0.8 64 bit

Not working for me.
Using the nigtly build lua only list and play 1 file.

Also tried the lua from addon videolan site.

using 3.0.8 64 bit

It plays a single youtube video but dont list the playlist. I want vlc to play the whole playlist (100 videos).
Using the lua file from github 'author thecrazymax' its loads the whole playlist but it wont play, it just keeps skipping to the next video.

The problem is that the latest VLC official release is broken.
Completely delete your current version of VLC.
Download version 4.x from http://nightlies.videolan.org/

Once you run it the new GUI is developmental.
Run the stream then pause it and look for the vertical triple ... on the lower bar.
The metadata is under tools.

had same problem today. VLC v3.0.8
after searching this forum:
First I uninstalled VLC completely
Installed latest nightly build (v4.0.0) -> http://nightlies.videolan.org
I took "youtube.luac" file from this build -> saved to different folder
reinstalled version 3.0.8 and copied luac file from nightly build

and converting / streaming works for me.

I downloaded and installed the 64 bit version of 4.0.0 and made the swap; so far, all is well again. My test video, previously failing, now plays in VLC.

I suggest to not install the v4.0.0 version (.exe or .msi), and pick up the file youtube.luac from the .zip file.
I did it and it works
That said, thanx for the trick!
Windows 10, 64bits, VLC 3.0.8

I'm running VLC Media Player version 3.0.7.1 on a Windows 10 64-bit system. My version of Windows 10 64-bit contains the VideoLan files in Program Files (x86) and appears to run correctly. Why are the files not in Program Files?

I'm running VLC Media Player version 3.0.7.1 on a Windows 10 64-bit system. My version of Windows 10 64-bit contains the VideoLan files in Program Files (x86) and appears to run correctly. Why are the files not in Program Files?

Because you are running the 32-bit version of VLC, which installs in Program Files (x86).
If you use the 64-bit version of VLC, it will install in Program Files.

The instructions in the first link given here fixed this for me!
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=151896&p=499858#p499716

Repeated here for convenience:

If the videos list appears in the Vlc "playlist" view but the videos won't start, follow this steps:
1) delete the file "youtube.luac" in [vlc directory]/lua/playlist directory (ex: c:Program FilesVideoLANVLCluaplaylistyoutube.luac)
2) get the latest version of thr "youtube" script from here:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/videolan/vlc/master/share/lua/playlist/youtube.lua
3) place the file in the directory [vlc directory]/lua/playlist (where "youtube.luac" was)

Greetings

Thanks, Daiyan now it works for me too.

For anyone who wondered where the youtube.luac is in mac here is how to find it.

Open finder > PRESS shift + command + g OR from menu bar choose 'Go' > 'Go To Folder'
Paste absolute path below in go to folder popup
/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/playlist

Hi, I am not sure but youtube.lua which worked many months is not working from 1/5/2020
propably I am not only one who is affected. may be Youtube changed cipher function
or changed JS.code and youtube.lua need to be updated again but on git is version from january/2020

The instructions in the first link given here fixed this for me!
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.ph ... 58#p499716

Repeated here for convenience:

If the videos list appears in the Vlc "playlist" view but the videos won't start, follow this steps:
1) delete the file "youtube.luac" in [vlc directory]/lua/playlist directory (ex: c:Program FilesVideoLANVLCluaplaylistyoutube.luac)
2) get the latest version of thr "youtube" script from here:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/video ... outube.lua
3) place the file in the directory [vlc directory]/lua/playlist (where "youtube.luac" was)

Thanks so much, @Daiyan. I saved it as a .lua file in the correct directory, restarted VLC and it was happy again!

I've been using VLC for a while now, and came across the ability to stream videos from You tube by chance. I thought, this is a nifty little feature.

It worked a treat, but then it stopped. I found the info on how to fix it on here, and have been getting the most recent code from the github url other users have posted above. I have had to do this process a handful of times over the last 12 months, but was getting it to work.

However, it is very hit and miss. sometimes it works. other times it doesn't. yesteday and today it is not working at all. It will either spew out an error message, or when I hit play or enter to stream the url video, it literally looks like it's starts to load for just over a second then stops completely. the screen is blank and no video appears. I have uninstalled and reinstalled VLC, and then tried the suggestion above of extracting the LUA file from the version 4.0 zip file. Now the little orange loading bar at the bottom goes from side to side as if it tries to load the video, but nothing appears, and eventually it just stops. arrghhh.... lol

Not sure if this is an appropriate fix, but it seemed to work for me. Not sure why it stopped working, but youtube.luac included in the updates (when opened in Notepad++) seemed to be borked. I'm not a programmer or savvy, so I might just be mistaken.

Any rate... what I did was create a copy of the lua found below, so that I had a youtube.luac and a youtube.lua in the lua\playlists directory.

Download this lua: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/video ... outube.lua

Create a copy and rename it: youtube.luac

Copy both files into ... \VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist

You should have a youtube.luac AND a youtube.lua file in the lua\playlists directory.

Hopefully this works for some of yall. Also, not only would the videos not play, but they wouldn't appear in the playlist either; which might be incidental or completely useless information, but figured I'd mention it.

Okay. I have no idea. Several hours later, VLC wouldn't play Youtube videos. Today, I decided to try deleting the youtube.lua file, leaving only the youtube.luac file, and it's working again. Doesn't make much sense.

had same problem today. VLC v3.0.8
after searching this forum:
First I uninstalled VLC completely
Installed latest nightly build (v4.0.0) -> http://nightlies.videolan.org
I took "youtube.luac" file from this build -> saved to different folder
reinstalled version 3.0.8 and copied luac file from nightly build

and converting / streaming works for me.

Made an account just to say thank you, this fixed it for me.

You should have a youtube.luac AND a youtube.lua file in the lua\playlists directory.

Not true. The playlist folder contains only luac files. If you're creating a youtube.lua file as well then that's entirely superfluous and has no bearing on how vlc performs.

Not sure if this is an appropriate fix, but it seemed to work for me. Not sure why it stopped working, but youtube.luac included in the updates (when opened in Notepad++) seemed to be borked. I'm not a programmer or savvy, so I might just be mistaken.

Any rate... what I did was create a copy of the lua found below, so that I had a youtube.luac and a youtube.lua in the lua\playlists directory.

Download this lua: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/video ... outube.lua

Create a copy and rename it: youtube.luac

Copy both files into ... \VideoLAN\VLC\lua\playlist

You should have a youtube.luac AND a youtube.lua file in the lua\playlists directory.

Hopefully this works for some of yall. Also, not only would the videos not play, but they wouldn't appear in the playlist either; which might be incidental or completely useless information, but figured I'd mention it.

Thank you! This worked for me.

I am using 3.0.11 Vetinari on Windows 10 64 bit and mostly youtube videos will play without problem (I only ever play single videos). However, every now and then the odd one won't play. I get a window with a load of screed starting "Your input can't be opened: VLC is unable to open the MRL 'https ..." but long and short, it won't play.

I have no idea whether this is caused by the above lua(c) issues and being a bit of a technophobe I don't want to start changing files if it could be something else.

Given that it is just the occasional video could anyone take a stab at whether I should do the lua / luac thing?

Many thanks in advance.

I''m using 3.0.11 Vetinari on Windows 8.1. VLC fails to open a Youtube - video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFD0Rwfb2s0), by using Media >> Open .. network and providing that url (sorry, my interface is not in English).

I used level 2 in Messages. Few examples, from guessing importance:
*
lua debug: Found 107-character scrambled signature for youtube video URL, attempting to descramble...
lua error: Couldn't process youtube video URL, please check for updates to this script
*
lua debug: Title: The Iron Maidens, 2019 Live Concert Show, 2019 Cincinnati Bogarts!
*
main debug: deleting item `get_video_info?video_id=BFD0Rwfb2s0'
main debug: EOF reached
main debug: incoming request - stopping current input
*
main debug: dead input

Video is playable. I'm not sure if I should copy the whole message output here ?

Jukka

I''m using 3.0.11 Vetinari on Windows 8.1. VLC fails to open a Youtube - video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFD0Rwfb2s0), by using Media >> Open .. network and providing that url (sorry, my interface is not in English).

I used level 2 in Messages. Few examples, from guessing importance:
*
lua debug: Found 107-character scrambled signature for youtube video URL, attempting to descramble...
lua error: Couldn't process youtube video URL, please check for updates to this script
*
lua debug: Title: The Iron Maidens, 2019 Live Concert Show, 2019 Cincinnati Bogarts!
*
main debug: deleting item `get_video_info?video_id=BFD0Rwfb2s0'
main debug: EOF reached
main debug: incoming request - stopping current input
*
main debug: dead input

Video is playable. I'm not sure if I should copy the whole message output here ?

Jukka

I'm also using 3.0.11 on Windows 8.1 and as you can see from the screenshot there's no problem playing the iron maiden video on vlc.


(click to enlarge)

Your first mistake here is using the URL to the page the video is located on, not the video itself. You have to click the SHARE button underneath the video to get the correct URL. You can also do it manually by removing these characters watch?v= from the URL you posted instead.

But generally speaking you have to create a new youtube.luac file every time Google makes a change to the youtube site. So follow my instructions in this post to create a new youtube.luac file and your troubles will be over.

I''m using 3.0.11 Vetinari on Windows 8.1. VLC fails to open a Youtube - video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFD0Rwfb2s0), by using Media >> Open .. network and providing that url (sorry, my interface is not in English).

I used level 2 in Messages. Few examples, from guessing importance:
*
lua debug: Found 107-character scrambled signature for youtube video URL, attempting to descramble...
lua error: Couldn't process youtube video URL, please check for updates to this script
*
lua debug: Title: The Iron Maidens, 2019 Live Concert Show, 2019 Cincinnati Bogarts!
*
main debug: deleting item `get_video_info?video_id=BFD0Rwfb2s0'
main debug: EOF reached
main debug: incoming request - stopping current input
*
main debug: dead input

Video is playable. I'm not sure if I should copy the whole message output here ?

Jukka

I'm also using 3.0.11 on Windows 8.1 and as you can see from the screenshot there's no problem playing the iron maiden video on vlc.


(click to enlarge)

Your first mistake here is using the URL to the page the video is located on, not the video itself. You have to click the SHARE button underneath the video to get the correct URL. You can also do it manually by removing these characters watch?v= from the URL you posted instead.

But generally speaking you have to create a new youtube.luac file every time Google makes a change to the youtube site. So follow my instructions in this post to create a new youtube.luac file and your troubles will be over.

This and all fixes like it haven't been working for me. The video I wanna stream pops up for less than a second and then immediately disappears without any error message. Link to video in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7takIh1nK0s I have tried both this one and the "share" link neither work and they both do the exact same thing as described above.