The VideoLAN Forums

Please help!

I have been using VLC for years and never had a problem.
I recently reset Windows 10 with a fresh install and then downloaded all my programs again.

Got VLC and it's a COMPLETELY different program than what I had. It looks absolutely terrible, there are no options, no way to open the playlist... it's the complete opposite of user-friendly.

What is this? It looks like QuickTime player but with a VLC log and I'm extremely disappointed and frustrated with it. I just want the normal VLC... I want to be able to open a file and see it playing instead of being brought to this new VLC interface that shows a bunch of folders and I just hear my file playing somewhere in the background while I try to navigate this cluttered intro screen that opens with every file I play.

PLEASE HELP!

I was going to just move to WinAmp and call it quits but I figured I'd ask here, as a last resort. There is nobody talking about this.. How is nobody talking about this? What happened to the simple VLC with a play/stop buttons that shows the length of the file being played? Where is that?

This is really lame. I'm sorry but I have to be honest. Why would you change something that wasn't broken? VLC used to be great... now it is borderline un-usable.

Can anyone out there link me to the original version? I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

I don't see any of the things you describe on my vlc 3.0.10 (portable version).
Did you download it from the official site? Are you using a skin?
You're probably on the 'Custom skin' interface.
Right-click on vlc window, this should show a context menu >> 'Interface' >> 'Preferences (Ctrl+P)'
On the 'Interface' block, 'Look and feel' section, click on the 'Use native style' radio button.
Pressing 'Ctrl' 'P' should also take you to the Preferences window.

Anyway, you have previous versions here:
https://get.videolan.org/vlc/

@LojaRich: delete the app you downloaded from Windows Store and install the VLC you want from www.videolan.org - it's 2 different apps with a different UI!

I completely agree, and I didn't download it myself, the program automatically updated itself after I ignored earlier prompts to update. I am beyond frustrated now - nothing works! Can't add anything to playlists, can't specify folders, nothing!

EDIT: Ah, I now see there are two VLC programs now (even though I had only installed one - the media player). One is the inexplicably unusable one that updated against my wishes (I cancelled multiple previous prompts to update). Another is the VLC Media Player, which seems pretty much the same. I've used VLC for ages, why do such weird things now??

I went to the VideoLAN folder in my Start Menu, and pinned the "VLC Media Player" instead of "VLC". The frustration from before was 30 minutes of bad heart health I'll never get back.

I completely agree, and I didn't download it myself, the program automatically updated itself after I ignored earlier prompts to update. I am beyond frustrated now - nothing works! Can't add anything to playlists, can't specify folders, nothing!

EDIT: Ah, I now see there are two VLC programs now (even though I had only installed one - the media player). One is the inexplicably unusable one that updated against my wishes (I cancelled multiple previous prompts to update). Another is the VLC Media Player, which seems pretty much the same. I've used VLC for ages, why do such weird things now??

I went to the VideoLAN folder in my Start Menu, and pinned the "VLC Media Player" instead of "VLC". The frustration from before was 30 minutes of bad heart health I'll never get back.

Go to Tools ---> Preferences and in the menu which opens scroll down to Privacy/Network interaction. Remove the checkmark from "Activate updates notifier". It means vlc won't advise you when new updates are available so you'll need to check the videolan site from time to time to determine if a new version is available or not. But neither will you be prompted to update usually when it's most inconvenient. It's my own preferred setting.

But in any event, vlc versions downloaded from videolan.org don't update automatically. Only versions downloaded from the Windows Store do that.