How to fix an unsupported video codec error? Other than lack of supporting codec, the invalid file format error may also appear when the video file is corrupt. So if your media player or device doesn’t support the video format or codec, it won’t play the video file. A container is the file format that contains the file metadata while codec is required to encode or decode the video data. Technically, a video file comprises a codec and a container. The error as obvious with the messages, appears due to absence of a codec that is required to play the video file on your computer or smartphone. Why does unsupported codec or format error occur? Unsupported format errors are also reported while trying to open a file in video editing tools.

You can get such error messages when trying to play a video on PC, Mac, Smart TV, Android or other devices. ‘Windows Media Player cannot play the file because the required video codec is not installed on your computer.’Īn error occurred. An item was encoded in a format that’s not supported.’ It’s annoying to receive unsupported video codec or format errors as they don’t let you play videos. Figure: Missing codec error in Films & TV app

Codec media player windows 8